Exploring the Relationship Between Contemplative Spaces, Human Experience and Spiritual Architecture

Abstract

To lead a fit and peaceful life, it has become very important to dwell in spaces that are contemplative and comforting. Space for contemplation can also lead the architect towards spiritual realms. The current era can be described as tumultuous, changeable, and unsettled. Rapid urbanisation and extreme intensification are being accompanied by technical advancements and a push for sustainability. Traditional architecture was often purpose-built with little care for adapting to new users, various purposes, or changing conditions down the road. Today, however, it is suggested that building flexibility is urgently required due to climate change, changing demographics, resource depletion, and affordability issues. It is believed that architecture in the twenty-first century must approach similar levels of flexibility and adaptability for a variety of reasons, one of which being the mental health and spiritual connection of the user. Rather than deconstructing structures to fill landfills, our architecture should be designed to be disassembled, reassembled, and reused in order to generate spaces of contemplation. There can be various ways in which architecture can bring out such spaces. It can be a garden oasis in urban land crowded with buildings, a small skylight in a dark space, framing a window to form a vista. Which language of architecture has to be used to create contemplative space depends upon for whom the space is being designed. The current study is the result of extensive literature reviews in the fields of contemplative architecture and spirituality. The focus of this paper is to study the impact of physical surroundings and architectural structures on leading a healthy lifestyle. Different spaces can be designed which connect the user to themselves in a deeper way by proposing a space where they have freedom to think or meditate and feel the present moment. People suffering from depression or stress can benefit from such contemplative spaces.