Beyond walls and altars

Shaping Spiritual Landscapes in the Modernist Chapel Potentiality, Embodied Search for Transformation, Architectural Evolution of Spiritual Space

Student report (2024)

Authors

I. Ramshini Architecture and the Built Environment

Contributors

M.M. Teunissen Teachers of Practice / A - Architecture and the Built Environment (mentor)
Faculty
Architecture and the Built Environment, Architecture and the Built Environment
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Published Date

18-04-2024

Language

English

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Faculty

Architecture and the Built Environment

Abstract

This study examines the complex interplay of utopian vision, embodied experience, and social change within the context of modernistic religious architecture. Using Manfred Tafuri's critique of architectural utopianism (1976) and Giorgio Agamben's potentiality theory (2004) as a framework, the thesis analyzes two seminal structures: Peter Zumthor's Bruder Klaus Field Chapel and Le Corbusier's Colline Notre Dame du Haut. These case studies reveal how the manipulation of architectural elements such as form, materiality, and light creates opportunities for disruption and transformation within the visitor's experience. While embodying elements of utopian aspiration, the chapel's success hinges on the visitor's ability to engage with these design elements and connect on a personal level.

Beyond Tafuri's focus on the inherent limitations of architectural utopianism, this study draws on Agamben's theory to explore how Bruder Klaus and Notre Dame du Haut offer spaces for potentiality to manifest. This potential allows for personal and spiritual transformation that departs from experiences evoked by traditional hierarchies found within many religious structures.

The thesis contends that the pursuit of spiritual transformation through modernistic religious architecture exists within a complex and dynamic interplay of utopian idealism, embodied experience, and the realities of social and political power.

Keywords: Modernist architecture, religious architecture, utopianism, potentiality, embodied experience, Peter Zumthor, Le Corbusier