Institute for Christian Teaching
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND SPIRITUAL LIFE:
ILLUSTRATION AND PARALLELS
by
Tae Eun Lee
Sahmyook College
Seoul, Korea
516-03 Institute for Christian Teaching 12501 Old Columbia Pike Silver Spring, MD 20904 USA
Prepared for the
30th International Seminar on the Integration of Faith
and Learning
held at
Sahmyook University, Seoul Korea
Ⅰ. INTRODUCTION
Architectural design
generally consists of 7 basic design elements and 7 basic design
principles. These elements and
principles are used to design beautiful and useful buildings if they are
reasonably combined together by a master architect. We call it architecture.
Like architecture, our spiritual life is also composed of similar elements and
principles. If appropriate elements and principles, which have significant
spiritual meanings, are combined according to the structure given by the
heavenly Architect, a wonderful character can be seen and we may call it
architecture of the soul. As a
well-designed building is beautiful, useful and solid so that it might be loved
by people, beautiful architecture of the soul is charming, healthy and helpful
to others so that it will be "in favor with God and man" (Luke 2:52).
Ⅱ. SEVEN ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL DESIGN
(1) FROM POINT TO FORM
Every composition possessing unity should have ONE and
only one focal point. This does not imply that there cannot be more than one
point of interest in the composition to arrest the attention, but rather that
there should be only one focal point, or center of interest where the eye
finally comes to rest. In a successfully balanced architectural composition,
the focal point should ordinarily be the most interesting and important point
in the design. The same is true in our spiritual lives. A spiritual focal
point, which gives tension and attraction to our empty and void human life, is
needed. Jesus, way and the truth and the life (John 14:6) must be the only
focal point in our Christian lives.
Every composition starts from one point. Points make a
line, which is called one dimension by moving in a certain direction. Lines can
be composed of a two dimensional plane in the same way and planes also can be
three-dimensional by moving in a certain direction. So most architectural
structures are not built at the same time but gradually built from very basic
elements. We may find the same application in the spiritual life. The basic
spiritual elements are necessary to form a beautiful Christian character. What
is the most basic element in the beginning of the spiritual life? It is
definitely the Word of God. In the Bible, the Word of God is described as a
seed as Jesus explained in the parable of the mustard seed. "The kingdom
of Heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field.
Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the
largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come
and perch in its branches."(Matt 13:31)
Although a point as small as a mustard seed has no dimension at all but
it will grow up to the heavenly dimension in the life of the believer. It has
power to produce life and growth and fruit in the soul. Sometimes we try to
meet people with brilliant form like philosophy and psychology and
entertainment and all kinds of things. Sometimes we think our students need
entertainment or gimmicks to keep their attention. Maybe we need to remember
the power that is in the Word of God, that "lives
and abide forever."
(2) DIRECTION
Architecture has various directions, which are vertical,
horizontal and oblique. These directions are decided according to the character
of buildings and the types of structure. The vertical direction is emphasized
for holiness and authority, the horizontal direction represents stability and
peacefulness, and the oblique direction shows dynamics and variation. The
architectural designer regards direction as a very important element not only
because of aesthetic reasons but also because of functional and environmental
reasons. The facade of a building is related to symbolicity,
and directions of important rooms are related to direction of sunlight and they
must have a good prospect. The direction of winds is also taken into
consideration for the windows.
As completed buildings are related to directions, our
Christian lives need to have its direction toward Christ who is the sun of
righteousness. Jesus said, "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear
its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it
is with everyone born of the spirit." (John 3:8) We need to have big windows in the direction
from where the Holy Spirit comes so that we may let Him inside of our spiritual
houses as deeply as possible. When we fix our eyes on Savior, we can have the symbolicity as ambassadors of God's kingdom.
As Christians, we have to have vertical direction toward
the heaven that we are all longing for. But also we need to have the horizontal
direction for our fellow man with open arms and hearts. Sometimes we might have
the oblique direction that is able to overcome high walls of Christian
formalism.
The definition of wandering is to lose direction. The
Bible shows us the wandering of the Israelites. "The Lord's anger burned
against Israel and he made them wander in the desert forty years, until the
whole generation of those who had done evil in his sight was gone." Israel
did not wander in the desert due to losing a mechanical compass but because of
losing the spiritual compass that it may lead them toward God. Without Jesus,
the compass of life, we are going to be wandering in the spiritual desert. The
believer's character is formed by the Word of God but the character does not
stay in one place. It moves forward like the apostle Paul said in Philippians
3:14,15. "Brothers, I do not consider myself yet
to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and
straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for
which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Let us have the
direction in our Christian lives.
(3) SCALE
Architects use the word "scale" very often.
They say "It is on a huge scale." or "It is reasonable and
harmonized scale." or "It is too small for the scale." The
design of a building needs scale that it is proper to its feature, function and
environment. Last month, I saw the biggest Buddhist temple in the Orient. As
soon as I saw it I was disappointed and regretted coming because it was out of
scale. The main building was bigger than the garden and surrounding open
spaces. Can we imagine the statue of a little kid that is three times bigger
than usual? The characteristics of things sometimes depend on their scale. So
when they lost their quantities like size and scale they will lose their
qualities too.
Every Christian should have appropriate scale in their
lives. Sometimes, the scale of a Christian can be seen as temperance. The
Apostle Paul said, "Everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in
all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an
imperishable crown." (1Corinthians 9:25)
On the other hand, the Christian scale must also cover the wide range of
social needs. As God provides food for the young raven (Job 38:41), we have to
have a very detailed view for the needs of children, family, neighbors and the
poor. As He does great things beyond our understanding (Job 37:5), we also have
vast, huge and broad scale that it is open to the whole world and universe and
even to eternity. As Christians, we should always try to find out the most
reasonable scale in our spiritual lives individually. "Do not think of
yourself more highly than you ought to, but rather think of yourself with sober
judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you."
(Romans 12:3)
(4) TEXTURE
We are able to feel the state of surface not by touching
the object but by just watching. That perception may be called texture. The
architect designs the appearance of a building with certain intention to the
texture. Each building has various kinds
of texture, warm and cold, light and heavy, soft and hard, dull and sharp,
natural and artificial so on. What kind of texture do we need in the Christian
life? The prophetic
book gives us an
answer. "Jesus was the fountain of healing mercy for the world; His life
flowed out in currents of sympathy and tenderness. The aged, the sorrowing, and
the sinburdened, the children at play in their innocent joy, the
little creatures of the groves, the patient beasts of burden,―all
were happier for His presence." (The Desire of ages
p.74)
Jesus took the texture of humanity and became our
example. Every Christian who follows Christ's example may claim those words,
"Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight."
(Isaiah 42:1)
(5) VALUE
Value is used continually throughout discussions of all
the visual arts. It refers to different degrees of light and dark, or the
quality that is sometimes called tone. It is very important that the architect
have complete mastery of the implications of light and value.
It was God who made value through light and darkness for
the first time in our universe. "And God said, 'Let there be light,' and
there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light
from the darkness." (Gen 3:3,4)
The use of values of either natural or artificial light to express the undulations of surface form is becoming more understood. Through the play of light and shade alone, it is possible to effect great changes in the aspect of a simple plane surface. In the same way, when the heavenly light shines upon surfaces of our spiritual lives, undulations of the surface of our souls such as wrinkles, spots, faults and cracks will get much more clear understanding. When the Christian life receives the light of Christ each and everyday, his life will be totally separated from the darkness like in the beginning and it will reflect the character of our Savior.
(6) COLOR
The sensation of seeing color is the effect produced upon
the retina of the eye by the waves of different length found in light. It
should also be understood that the colors, which one sees are produced by what
physicists, call selective reflection. Various pigments or materials possess
different properties of reflecting the same light rays falling upon them. This
is selective reflection. Thus it is that a wall painted yellow is actually
painted a pigment that chiefly reflects the yellow rays of the spectrum, and we
call it a yellow wall. In the same way, as Christians, we should have the
pigment of Christ so that we might reflect the heavenly rays of the God's
spectrum. Then we can be the color of Jesus.
(7) SPACE
Laotzu,
the Chinese ancient philosopher said, "The finest thing has no
shape." Laotzu's idea of formation is heavily
concerned with emptiness or non-existence. To him who regards nothing as
persistent, what is essentially important in things is the possibility of it
becoming something, not the opportunity of remaining as something confronting
deterioration. Consequently, meaningful completion is taken as the most
desirable stage of tangible being.
Practically, what are useful in architecture are not
visible parts but the invisible parts of it. These invisible parts accommodate
the whole function and various behaviors in the building. It is like what faith
does in our hearts. The Bible describes faith as an invisible thing through
which we may have hope for what we expect.
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and
certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By
faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what
is seen was made out of what was visible." (Hebrews 11:1-3) As if the architecture as space is invisible
but it contains usefulness in the invisible, the architecture of soul should
take down the anchor for the soul (Hebrews 6:19) not in the visible but in the
invisible values.
A complete one appears static, rigid and lacks vividness
because it allows no room for the growing mind to function. If we are too
complete, we cannot have any room for others and there is no way they can
approach us. So first we empty our heart and then we should fill it with the
Spirit of Christ so that we will be the bowl that God can fill with treasures
of heaven.
Ⅲ. SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF SPIRITUAL DESIGN
(1)
UNITY
Unity holds perhaps the highest place in any form of
composition, because without unity or oneness there actually can be no
composition. Without unity there is no order and a composition breaks down into
separate and unrelated entities. In architecture, painting, or sculpture, unity
produces a single pleasing visual image.
In the spiritual world, unity can be found in God who has
internal plurality. There is no interval in the Trinity of God, which has
perfect unity as divinity. God created man in his own image. So being human is
an existence that has unity as its essence. The Bible describes a human being
as total organic unity. It says "May your whole spirit, soul and body be
kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." The Bible tells us
that we have triple united body that will be sanctified through and through in
the time of Jesus second coming.
The life of a Christian needs spiritual unity. The first
thing is unity with God. "Who does not love does not know God, because God
is love." (1 John 4:8) And it
continues to say, "Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to
love one another." (1 John 4:11) The
second is unity with fellow Christians. The highest perfection of human unity
is shown in Galatians 3:28. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor
free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." God's power is reveals unity when "all
the believers were one in heart and mind." (Acts 4:32)
(2)
HARMONY
Harmony is the aesthetical phenomenon, which occurs
between two or more elements and particles. The original meaning of harmony
includes appropriation. It was the
principle that God used
in the creation of the universe. "God saw all that he had made, and it was
very good." (Genesis 1:31)
So we may find harmony in nature such as the solar
system, the circulation of the ecosystem and symbiotic relationships. Also we
have many examples of harmony in our society like family relationship,
neighbors, team design etc. As the principle of harmony was applied in the
creation of this earth, it must be applied in the recreation of Christian
believers in the same way. Christians should be in harmony with God, it is
impossible to have harmony with God without the work of the Holy Spirit. When
we are harmonized with God's character we also may have harmony with our fellow
Christians. As we are approaching Jesus, we are able to closer to each other.
Harmony with God, harmony with church, harmony with fellows, harmony with the
society in which we are living and harmony with nature, these are all
connected. The Scripture says, "Live in harmony with one another. Do not
be proud, but willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be
conceited." (Romans 12:16) And the
Apostle continues to say "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you,
live at peace with everyone." (Romans 12:18)
(3)
CONTRAST
The concept of contrast can come out when two or more
totally different properties or quantities are compared with each other in the
same space and time. It occurs in the application of various elements in the
architectural composition such as direction, scale, value, texture, color,
location, weight and space etc. The purpose of contrast is not the simple
juxtaposition or mere comparison but the ultimate purpose is to create harmony
between two or more elements. It is more difficult to create harmony in
contrast than in similarity but the first one gives stronger and more
impressive effects on the composition.
Spiritually, we have to agree with the idea that there
are big differences between the Creator and His creatures. It is the first step
that we come to God. The Prophet Isaiah refers to this, "As high as the heavens
are above the earth, so high are my ways and thoughts above yours. (Isaiah
55:9)" "I form the light and
create darkness. I bring prosperity and create disaster." A Christian
doesn't always go through the bright side of life. Sometimes we have to overcome
circumstances and realities, which are in big, contrast.
Philippians 4:12 said, I know what it is to be in need,
and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being
content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living
in plenty or in want. By the grace of God, Christians can have the ability to
synthesize various conflicts in life and can change them into beautiful
contrasts. God is a God of contrasts. Because He said, "I am the Alpha and
the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." (Rev
22:13) God is a God of love and a God of
justice. In the same way, the spiritual life can never consist of unity or
harmony alone. As Christians we have to learn how to live a harmonized life in
the midst of severe contrasts in life conditions.
(4)
PROPORTION
Proportion means a constant volume relationship between
entity and parts or one part and the other. But definition, proportion can be
applied in a wide range of various domains. Generally, proportion has been used
in architecture and decoration from ancient time. It has been applied in detail
to design doors, windows, height or width of building elevation, width or depth
of floor plan and compositions of open space. We can find many examples of good
proportion in our surroundings such as the seeds of a sunflower, a turban
shell, various kinds of fishes, the shapes of plants,
animal and human bodies. The Great Architect and Designer used the same
principles to create the universe. The same principle have been adopted by
human artists in their works, painting, sculpture, ballet, design, architecture
of western and oriental countries.
In our spiritual lives, we need reasonable proportion. We
need to give the whole tithe that must be given to God in every part of our
lives according to a constant and reasonable proportion. To maintain the
balance of our lives we should set apart some proportion from our time, money,
talent and activities etc. Jesus said to his disciples, "Come ye
yourselves apart in to a desert place, and rest awhile." (Desire of Ages
p.360) Because the disciples needed to come apart from the
scenes of their busy activity, to commune with Christ, with nature, and with
their own hearts. Jesus knew that his disciples needed spiritual
proportion in their lives.
(5)
RHYTHM
Rhythm is systematic repetition of relative elements. It
appears as repetition, alternation, gradation and accent, which have the form
of visual stimulation. Rhythm can be experienced in many parts of nature and
our culture. We enjoy the rhythm of sunrise and sunset everyday, full moon and
new moon every month. Four seasons, flowers blooming, childbirth, sea tides,
these are all rhythms that give us joy and
happiness. All kinds of
arts, painting, sculpture, literature, dancing, music, architecture have
beautiful rhythm in themselves. Rhythm is really an inevitable principle in
every type of art.
As rhythm makes arts beautiful and dynamic, spiritual
rhythm encourages the spiritual state of believer. It is an indispensable and
essential principle in Christian life. Repetition of God's word through daily
devotion gives spiritual richness to believers. It is the strongest way to have
a relationship with God. By devotional repetition everyday, it leads a believer
to spiritual gradation. The sinful nature will be gradually hid and a desire
for goodness will gradually increase. Through this process, Christian believers
can experience justification and sanctification in their lives. Rhythm makes
design beautiful and spiritual rhythm makes Christian life meaningful so that
they might be glorified when Jesus comes.
(6)
BALANCE
Balance is a stabilizing influence. In its most simple
form, balance is symmetry. Thus it is logical that man's earliest attempts at
aesthetic architectural compositions were symmetrical. It is easy to see that
balance could also be achieved by placing objects, different in mass and
character, on the opposite side of the scale and if these opposing objects were
of the same weight a condition of balance would exist. We may call it
asymmetrical balance. When these types of balance are applied to a composition,
the first will result in a static condition of repose, while the second will be
more dynamic.
We, as Christians, have to live balanced lives as God
said to Joshua son of Nun. "Be careful to obey all the law my servant
Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left." (Joshua
1:7) Christ demands us balanced devotion
whether we are rich or poor. The believer should take balance between faith and
deeds in their lives. It is as same as God himself balances mercy and justice.
The Christian should own a balance between the meaningful life in this world
and the hope for the coming world. Jesus said, "Let it be so now; it is
proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." (Matthew
3:15) This will be accomplished by
spiritual balance. We may find a metaphor of a rock in the book of Deuteronomy.
It describes the balance of God who has the extreme stability and
trustworthiness of a rock. It says, "He is the rock, his works are
perfect,
and all his way are
just." (Deuteronomy 32:4) The poet
of Israel sings, "He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples
with equity." (Psalms 98:9)
(7)
VISUAL ILLUSION
Human visual perception does not work like a camera,
which records the object simply and passively or mechanically, but it finds the
meaning and relationship that exists in the object and composes a structure of
the object. It is one of the high and creative human activities. Man's visual
perception always receives the object as if it has stable characteristic. So we
may call it continuity. But sometimes this continuity produces an opposite
effect, which is called visual illusion or distortion. The visual illusion
means a phenomenon of distortion that gives a different image than the real. So
we need to correct the distortion in our perception.
In the same perspective, our spiritual perception can be
easily distorted by visual illusion such as social position, wealth and
appearance. "God does not judge by external appearance." (Galatians
2:6) Our surroundings are decorated with
many elements that can distort our judgment. Especially Christian believers
have to notice not to be deceived by such visual illusions. We do not have to
depend on our senses but depend on God and His wisdom. The book of James says,
"If any of you lacks wisdom, we should ask God, who gives generously to
all without finding fault, and it will given to
him." (James 1:5)
Ⅳ. CONCLUSIONS
To have mature faith is not easy. It needs a process to
produce the results. Through this essay, seven elements and seven principles of
architecture are useful tools to examine mature faith in the Christian life. As
good architectural design consists of various elements and principles, in the
same way, the spiritual elements and principles in the balance are found in a
good spiritual life.
To summarize, they are:
|
No |
Seven Elements |
Seven Principles |
|
1 |
God's Word must be the focal point |
Unite the aspects of life |
|
2 |
Determine the direction of the life |
Live the Christian life in harmony |
|
3 |
Maintain appropriate spiritual scale |
Overcome the contrast situations |
|
4 |
Have texture as a Christian |
Have the appropriate faith proportion |
|
5 |
Be illuminated by heavenly light |
Let the rhythm change your character |
|
6 |
Reflect the color of Jesus |
Maintain the balance of the Christian life |
|
7 |
Insure space for the word of God |
Correct the visual illusion with God' help |
I hope these seven elements and seven principles
encourage us in our spiritual lives so that the Lord creates in us pure hearts
and renews steadfast spirits within us. At the end of the process, eventually
we will be beautiful architectural structures that God is pleased with what he
sees.
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Jeong
Jae Kim. (2000) “Aesthetic Design
in Architecture.” Seoul,
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Myeong Goo Kang.
(1993) “Aesthetic Design in Architecture.” Seoul,
Moonundang.
Amos Ih Tiao Chang. (1956) “Intangible Content in Architectonic Form.”
New Jersey,
Princeton.
Morris L Venden. (1980) “Parables of the Kingdom.” Oshawa,
Pacific
Press Publishing
Association.
Ellen G White. (2002) “The Desire of
Ages, Vol.1.” Seoul, Sijosa.