Sacred architecture has been a taboo subject for architects for decades. Due to its architecturally immeasurable, unquantifiable, and uncontainable nature, sacred architecture is often avoided or resisted in architectural discussions. (Lepine, 2016) However, in an era marked by a significant rise in personal spirituality, accompanied by concepts such as "mindfulness" and "meditation," sacred architecture may acquire a distinctive role beyond its traditional religious functions. Thus, this paper investigates the relationship between sacred architecture and spirituality within the broad context of profane secularisation.
Specifically, the paper focuses on analysing sacred architecture in contemporary Japanese society, examining The Church of Light, designed by Tadao Ando, as a case study. It begins by addressing the historical impact of iconoclasm on sacred architecture and its affinity for spatial emptiness, tracing its localised reinterpretation in Japanese society. The case study exemplifies how the Christian legacy of reductive emptiness in the Western iconoclastic tradition converges with the Japanese ingrained notion of "nothingness," first articulated by Kitaro Nishida as a philosophical foundation in the Japanese art movement known as the School of Things, was later introduced into the architectural field for shaping sacred design. (Baek & Ando, 2009) Japan's unique cultural synthesis of Western knowledge and complex indigenous Japanese traditions profoundly informed Ando's design approach to the church. Hence, the paper investigates the architect's position on designing sacred spaces by analysing Ando's nuanced methods of negotiating the architectural tensions between religious belief systems and eventually creating a new social imaginary.
To comprehend Ando's design approach to the Protestant church, the paper delves into his architectural and subjective attitude towards sacred architecture, which involves a complex interplay of logic and emotion. (Furuyama, 1993). This is evident through the Church of Light analysis, where design decisions embody these conceptual frameworks. The paper further articulates the Japanese architect's unique perspective on sacred architecture that amplifies the sense of sacred emptiness and facilitates spiritual transcendence.
In its final section, the paper reflects on the contemporary significance of sacred architecture within the modern condition of secularisation, examining its potential to address the growing demand for individualised spirituality. To sum up, the thesis evaluates the evolving role of contemporary sacred architecture in fostering spirituality, with The Church of Light as a case rooted in the philosophical principle of "nothingness."