Symposium explores
issues in designing religious spaces
The role of religion
in contemporary life, and how that role is reflected in the design and
construction of prominent religious structures, was the focus of a symposium at
the school on October 26 and 27. "Constructing the Ineffable: Contemporary
Sacred Architecture" explored the nature of the sacred in relation to the
architectural environment. "The building of religious spaces such as mosques,
synagogues, churches, and memorials has engaged and challenged the creative
capacities of the most prominent architects of the late twentieth and early
twenty-first centuries," said Karla Britton, a lecturer in the history of
architecture. "The relative marginalization of religion from issues in
architectural debates, however, has limited the discussion of the role these
works play in forming ideas of citizenship, culture, and identity."
"Constructing the
Ineffable" brought together architects, sociologists, philosophers, and
theologians to discuss these issues, and featured talks by architects Moshe
Safdie, Stanley Tigerman, Peter Eisenman, Thomas Beeby, Rafael Moneo, Fariborz
Sahba, Richard Meier, Steven Holl, and Zaha Hadid. Co-sponsored by the Yale
Institute of Sacred Music and Yale Divinity School, the symposium was held in
conjunction with the Institute of Sacred Music's conference "Sacred Spaces."
Students travel the
globe
Students in their
final year who are enrolled in advanced studio courses traveled around the
world in September as part of their studio project. About ten students from
each course visited project sites in Turkey, Egypt, China, India, Italy, and
England before returning to campus to work on their designs. One group, led by
visiting professor Massimo Scolari, went to Egypt to study the work of Imhotep,
an ancient Egyptian architect; another studio traveled to the Indian Institute
of Management in Ahmedabad, with visiting professors Billie Tsien and Tod
Williams, as part of their project to design a dialogue center. Visit the
school's website to view photos from these trips.
Photographs illustrate
urban sprawl
An exhibition of
aerial photographs depicting the problem of sprawl in America was on view in
the school's temporary home, the new sculpture building on Edgewood Avenue, in
September and October. "A Field Guide to Sprawl" included textual commentary by
Dolores Hayden, professor of architecture and American studies, and illustrated
such terms as "mall glut" (shopping malls and surrounding parking lots) and "ball
pork" (patronage benefits for developers who are building sports complexes).
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