Early Church Architecture

Hello guys!! I'm back on the blogging track again. I'm going to talk about several Early Sacred and Modern Sacred Architecture building according to respective religions in the coming posts. I'll start off with early Church Architecture as Christian consists of 32 percent of the world’s population (Jennifer, 2016).

Church Architecture reflected the faith's growing social as Christianity grew in public recognition.  Christianity had a rough start at first but then it slowly expanded thoroughly through the Roman Empire (Newton, n.d.). As the Christian population increased, it often required ceremonies and places for meeting that was why in the Early Church Architecture it adapted architectural supplies from Roman Architecture for example, basilica, the atrium of the house, baths, tombs and mausoleums, paintings and mosaics (Newton, n.d.).

Though Roman had plenty of temples that can be converted into a Church but they were not suitable for Christianity as it liked to hold religious meetings in ancient times that was why Basilica was selected. Moreover, Roman temple architecture mostly emphasized on the exterior instead of the interior, it can be seen in most of the famous Roman Architecture like Colosseum, Baalbek and so on. Basilica is defined a kingly, and secondarily a beautiful, hall in architectural term while in canonical sense it's defined as 'a title assigned by formal concession or immemorial custom to certain more important Churches' (Newadvent.org, n.d.). Basilica had the ideal amount of space to consist legions of Christians to come for meeting.

The exterior of Colosseum 

Source : (Colosseum of Rome Pictures, n.d.)

The inside of Colosseum

Source : (Italy Travel Agent | Rome, n.d.)

 The exterior of Baalbek

Source：(Temple of Bacchus, Baalbek, n.d.)

The inside of Baalbek

Source : (Top 10 Most Beautiful and Biggest Temple, n.d.)

Basilica used 'typical architectural elements of the Roman empire, such as arches, clerestory windows, and colonnades with entablatures' (профиль, 2010). Entablature is defined as 'a horizontal part in classical architecture that rests on the columns and consists of architrave, frieze, and cornice' (Webster, n.d.). The basilica usually had a central aisle, accompany with rows of columns at both of the sides. The interior was lavishly decorated with stunning marbles and mosaic portraying religious scenes and art to educate believers (Oldandsold.com, n.d.). The exterior of early Christian Structures were made of stones and brick as it was influenced by the Roman Architecture.

Exterior of St. Peter's Basilica 

Source : (St. Peter's Basilica Facade Picture, n.d.)

One of the most famous Basilica in Rome, St. Peter's Basilica

Source: (Inside St. Peter's Basilica, n.d.)

I'm going to end the post now, feel free to leave comments, i'll be more than grateful to reply. Ciao!

............................................................................................................................................................................

References :

Jennifer, H. (2016). 84 percent of the world population has faith; a third are Christian - Washington Times. [online] Washingtontimes.com. Available at: http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/watercooler/2012/dec/23/84-percent-world-population-has-faith-third-are-ch/ [Accessed 25 May 2016].

Oldandsold.com. (n.d.). Features of the Early Church Architecure. [online] Available at: http://www.oldandsold.com/articles10/famous-buildings-14.shtml [Accessed 25 May 2016].

Newadvent.org. (n.d.). CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Basilica. [online] Available at: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02325a.htm [Accessed 25 May 2016].

Newton, K. (n.d.). Early Christian Architecture: Examples, History & Characteristics - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com. [online] Study.com. Available at: http://study.com/academy/lesson/early-christian-architecture.html [Accessed 25 May 2016].

Study.com. (2016). Early Christian Architecture: Examples, History & Characteristics - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com. [online] Available at: http://study.com/academy/lesson/early-christian-architecture.html [Accessed 25 May 2016].

Webster, M. (n.d.). Definition of ENTABLATURE. [online] Merriam-webster.com. Available at: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/entablature [Accessed 25 May 2016].

профиль, П. (2010). arch: Early Christian Architecture. [online] Lena-arch.blogspot.my. Available at: http://lena-arch.blogspot.my/p/early-christian-architecture.html [Accessed 25 May 2016].



Image Sources :

Colosseum of Rome Pictures. (n.d.). [image] Available at: http://famouswonders.com/wp-content/gallery/colosseum-of-rome/inside-the-colosseum.jpg [Accessed 25 May 2016].

Inside St. Peter's Basilica. (n.d.). [image] Available at: https://b.geolocation.ws/img/014/517/767-F.jpg [Accessed 25 May 2016].

Italy Travel Agent | Rome. (n.d.). [image] Available at: https://expatexplore.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/shutterstock_147643964.jpg [Accessed 25 May 2016].

St. Peter's Basilica Facade Picture. (n.d.). [image] Available at: https://www.askideas.com/media/39/St.-Peters-Basilica-Facade-Picture.jpg [Accessed 25 May 2016].

Temple of Bacchus, Baalbek. (n.d.). [image] Available at: http://pre07.deviantart.net/44ad/th/pre/f/2013/307/1/a/mg_0804_5_6_tonemapped_by_khaled_etman-d6syod2.jpg [Accessed 25 May 2016].

Top 10 Most Beautiful and Biggest Temple. (n.d.). [image] Available at: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bWCdZcBEaE8/TvvQqlq3cZI/AAAAAAAAApA/KYl4vok59l8/s1600/Baalbek+temple.JPG [Accessed 25 May 2016].

Evolution of architecture & Religious Building

Hola guys! I'm going to roughly introduce this blog and its owner which is me hehe I'm Amelia, a current Interior Architecture Design student which is based in Malaysia. The purpose of this blog is to act as a mind map and to collect ideas from various sources for my final assignment which I would say is a pretty innovative and interesting way for brain storming.

Let's go straight to the title of the assignment, 'What identifies a religious building? '. 84% of the world population has religion (Jennifer, 2016).  Religious building is a place to worship God and to chant one's prayer. In my opinion, religion helps providing hope and faith in life especially to those who are lost since ancient times. Different religions have different places for worshiping for example, Buddhists go to temples while Christians go to churches and Mosques are for the followers of Islam and so on.

As right now in this modern era, the evolution of Architectural Design is obvious and noticeable over centuries. The structures of religious building may alter through the evolution of architecture, but should future architecture for religious building designed in neutral-appearance or should it uphold to its respective religious significant characteristics? Well, in my opinion, religious building should has its style remained outstanding with its significant identities different from the contemporary architecture that can be in seen in other structures.

Religious building serves a total different meaning and purpose compared to other structures, it often evoke a spiritual feeling. One may say that a hollowed ambient space purely for prayer is enough but come to think of it visualization is very important, human are naturally drawn to good design (Hosey, 2013). A great religious building design may leave a mark in the history for example, the famous Church of the Light by architect Tadao Ando. Church of the Light is a great example of the mixture of remaining the characteristics of a church but yet including splendid architectural design.

Exterior of Church of the Light, concrete wall with church's significant symbol of the cross.

Source: (Church of Light by Tadao Ando, n.d.)

Source : (Tadao Ando’s Church of Light in Ibaraki, Japan., n.d.)

  

The cross cut in the concrete wall allows penetration of sunlight. The entire space looks minimal but yet it's a perfect place for sincere prayers, it's like you will be able to find peace just by sitting on the bench.

Source:(TADAO ANDO Church of the Light, n.d.)

That's it for today guys, hope you enjoy!!! Stay tuned for the next update. <3

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

References:

Hosey, L. (2013). Why We Love Beautiful Things. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/opinion/sunday/why-we-love-beautiful-things.html?_r=0 [Accessed 24 May 2016].

Jennifer, H. (2016). 84 percent of the world population has faith; a third are Christian - Washington Times. [online] Washingtontimes.com. Available at: http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/watercooler/2012/dec/23/84-percent-world-population-has-faith-third-are-ch/ [Accessed 24 May 2016].


Images Sources:

Church of Light by Tadao Ando. (n.d.). [image] Available at: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/dd/37/ae/dd37aea2b1e969a2cdaf5ad0a27ae81d.jpg [Accessed 24 May 2016].


TADAO ANDO Church of the Light. (n.d.). [image] Available at: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Y22LxAnHlWk/maxresdefault.jpg [Accessed 24 May 2016].

Tadao Ando’s Church of Light in Ibaraki, Japan. (n.d.). [image] Available at: http://www.projectfreerange.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/JB-Church-of-Light-4.jpg [Accessed 24 May 2016].

Heyy you!

Hey guyssss, I have started this blog for my assignment, I'm going to talk about interior architecture related stuff from today onward, stay tuned!