Gods’ Flatshare

Thesis Statement [WHY]

Religious sacred places symbol believers’ culture and identity. However they always become the attack targets in order to show the power of terrorist by easing the memory and cultural identity of the followers. I believe that without political solution, these sacred places will constantly be at risk. My project will show how architecture foster the equilibrium of power from different parties. Spacial arrangement can foster the religion coexist and increase the sensitivity and understanding among people.

Site Background

Homs (around 1.2 km2) is the only city in Syria whose centre completely destroyed due to the Siege of Homs in the Civil War.The war in the old Homs ended in 2015 and refugees have started to move back, thus there is an urgent need to rebuild the city. Healing Homsi’s huge post-war trauma, religion, as spiritual sustenance, will be one of the solutions.

Syrian architect, Marwa Al- Sabouni, mentioned in her book, “before the war, Syrian communities were united by a shared approach to life. They were generally fairly tolerant and were historically used to variety, accommodating a wide range of beliefs, origins, customs, goods, even climates and food.  This variety, in facts, inspired tolerance on a level that many other societies with similar economics and political systems almost certainly lacked.” At that time, Muslims and Christians peacefully coexisted in the intimate network of streets, squares and souks that made up the Old City. It was common to hear Christian bells and the Muslim call to prayer echoing along the streets at the same time. However after the master renewal urban plan, ‘Homs Dream’, there old urban fabric has been demolished. Everything were rebuilt in form of separate high rise in divided zones, the whole plan was carried out without referring to history.

old-city-connection-01

Map of Old Homs

 

Description of contexts and key ideas driving the thesis [WHAT]

I would like to design an architecture consisting church, mosque, synagogue, temple and stupa in the center of Old Homs. Plans are the significant symbols for representing those sacred places. Through overlying the plans, common spaces will be found (e.g.  classics book library and meditation room), which can be opened and shared among the visitors. I will ensure the privacy of those sacred space without isolate them . Believers of different religions can be visually and physically connected in the building. For example the House of One in Berlin,  ”. It facilitates three different religions under one single roof. Each religions have their own geometries, which associate with respective religions

plan

Typical plans of church, mosque, synagogue, temple and stupa (left to right)

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Floor plan of House of One

 

Also as the building is situated at the strategic location. Refuge can be placed underneath, which can reduce the casualty during the war. As terrorists are less likely to target here otherwise they will also destroy their own religious sacred places. This can minimize the risk of terrorist attack based on religious hatred.

Description of Project Intended to Test the Thesis Statement

The statement will be tested in various scale:

  • Urban scale: the project will become the new center of Old Homs, as it satisfies the spiritual needs of the citizens and become a gather place of the new city. I will also look into how it interacts with other public programs (e.g. Old Souk) to create an coexist community. The Old Souk was the marketplace before the war. It was not just an economic center where trade generates money, which was also a place of constant interactions, where new encounters happen everydays.
  • Building scale(memory) : As Robert Bevan mentioned in his book, Destruction of Memory, ‘The link between erasing any physical memory of a people and its collective memory, and the killing of the people themselves, is ineluctable. The continuing fragility of civilised society and decency is echoed in the fragility of its monuments.’ My project contains some traces for the Homsi to recall their past. For example, the wall of the New Synagogue by Wandel Hoefer Lorch + Hirsch contains the last remaining fragments of Semper’s synagogue. It echoes with the old one, while applying modern materials and forms. In this way it doesn’t deny the evidence of what happened, on the other hand it starts to write a new conscious memory.
  • Building scale (Atmosphere):  As the common places in the building are ‘neutral buffer zones among religions for easing the tensions. There will be solemn and clam atmosphere instead of strong religious colour. The mood is created by light, materiality and tectonics. For example Haus Der Stille (The House of Silence) in Frankfurt does not facilitate any particular religions, but rather attempts to create an atmosphere that enables the users to experience ‘the sacred’.

Methodological Processes/ Outline of Research/ Design Experiments [HOW]

(Research part) I study the follow factual aspects of five religions (i.e. Christian, muslim, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism) Then I figure out how the programmes and circulations can interview together in order to create one united piece.

Other:

  • Daily routine of the clergies and the believers
  • Ceremony/ Festival  
  • Taboo which may cause conflict

Sacred Places:

  • Vertical arrangement/ section of the sacred place
  • Geometry/ Plan of the sacred place
  • Orientation
  • Symbol and metaphor of those religions
  • Programe  

Annotated Bibliography

    • Barrie, Thomas. Sacred In-between: The Mediating Roles of Architecture. 2010.
    • Al-Sabouni, Marwa, and Roger Scruton. The Battle for Home: The Vision of a Young Architect in Syria. NY, NY: Thames & Hudson, 2016.  
    • Bevan, Robert. The Destruction of Memory: Architecture and Cultural Warfare. London: Reaktion, 2005.
    • Seetharam Vallabhaneni, “Opaque. Transparent. Translucent: Thoughts on spatial fluidity in contemporary sacred architecture”, March, 2016
    • Magliozzi, Zaira. To destroy architecture is to attack the cultural identity of a nation.  Architectural Review. 13 Feb. 2016
    • Slessor, Catherine. Editorial: Destroying a way of life in the insane fog of war, Architectural Review. 26 Feb, 2014

Book List

    • James-Chakraborty, Kahtleen. “Reconstructing Faith.” Architectural Review. 1 Apr. 2016
    • Wilkinson, Tom. Typology: Multifaith. Architectural Review. 21 Apr. 2016
    • Peterson, Jane. “Religious Service Commended.” Architectural Review. 1 Apr. 2016
    • Lyle, Emily B. Sacred Architecture in the Traditions of India, China, Judaism, and Islam. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1992.
    • Nicholas W. Roberts. Building Type Basics for Places of Worship. July 2004

Precedents 

    • House of One, Berlin, Kuehn Malvezzi
    • Sai Mandir, Venached, SEA
    • Al – Islah Mosque, Singapore,  Formwerkz Architects  
    • Haus Der Stille, Frankfurt, Karl + Probst  
    • The Mosque – Cathedral of Cordoba, Spain
    • New Synagogue, Dresden,  Rena Wandel-Hoefer and Wolfgang   

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