Architectural Beauty of Thorncrown Chapel - Essay Example

ARCHITECTURAL BEAUTY OF THORNCROWN CHAPEL The Architectural expressions of hierophant or an earthly manifestation of the sacred involves the acknowledgement of intrinsically compelling places and natural features (e.g., rocks, caves, mountains, springs, or other geographical anomalies) where it is believed that a numinous or sacred power has made its presence felt. Such sites are, from the perspective of the faithful, considered to have been designated by sacred or extra natural agencies and thus discovered rather than created by any human activity, including ritual. Architectural imitations of celestial precedents involve the constructions or development processes conceived as earthly replications of mythical, primordial, or heavenly buildings or building operations. The structural configurations designed as modeled after mythological precedents are especially relevant also to the commemoration of sacred history, particularly the sub-category of ritual-architectural commemorations of cosmogony. Architectural expressions of Thorn crown chapel involved constructions that are conceived as downsized replicas of the universe, or images of the world. Builders and users imagine in these cases that there is a direct parallelism between the macrocosm and the architectural microcosm. This version of homologized building entails a replication of the structure of the universe at any architectural scale. Such homologizing architectural practices serve often to reflect (or effect) the unification of space, time, colors, biological species, body parts, social structure and political affiliations. Architectural expressions of Thorn crown chapel, or the symbolism of the center assert to universalistic standards and proportions that are derived from mostly empirical observations of the natural world. This widespread possibility may include the replication in architecture of abstract laws of measure and that have been variously adduced from any – or usually all – of the following: Thorn crown chapel serve stage-setting or backdrop for the reenactment of notable mythic, historical, and/or miraculous episodes. It is noted that such very common configurations (e.g., countless stages, amphitheaters, daisies, or dance platforms) are nearly always connected to theatric modes of presentation and apprehension. Ritual-architectural commemorations of cosmogony: With respect to architectural embodiments of creation stories, consider, for instance: Construction (or remodeling) processes that are patterned after a cosmogony, which may entail either Building practices that are explicitly conceived by the builders as reiterative of the creation of the world (e.g., the erection of Hindu temples); and/or Building practices that, in the view of academic interpreters, are reiterative of a cosmogony pattern and logic. In such instances of these sorts of ritualized, cosmologically reiterative, building processes are directly related both to the homology priority and to one kind of permutation of the propitiation priority. Completed architectural configurations that express and thus facilitate reenactments of cosmogony themes. A ritual-architectural commemoration of mythic historical episodes or occurrences is another unique feature expressed by the Thorn crown chapel architecture. In these cases, the episodes, or happenings, being commemorated may be conceived as either: Strictly mythical insofar as they are understood to have occurred in some primordial, timeless era or dimension or One-time historical episodes insofar as the events are known to have taken place in ordinary human time, perhaps on some specifically dated occasion. Where such unique occurrences are commemorated, consider whether they are conceived as either Miraculous” insofar as they entailed some extra-human agency, for example, the apparition of a god, angel, or virgin or Exceptional but strictly human accomplishments such as the discovery of new lands, victory in battle, or insight in law-making. Architectural configurations of Thorn crown chapel serve as the actual embodiment, re actualization, or transmutation of the dead. This includes variations on the less obvious notion of architecture (broadly speaking) that, in some direct and significant sense, is the dead. Though, again, usually undertaken largely irrespective of actual bodily remains, these artistic and architectural configurations are conceived as facilitating a kind of conquest of death in that they keep the deceased present and alive. Considering the following possibilities: Configurations in which ancestors are embodied in natural stone features or stone constructions (e.g., British megaliths or Hindu rock-cut shrines, both of which seem to rely on an equation between the timeless permanence of stone and the on-going existence of dead ancestors); and Configurations in which ancestors are embodied in media other than stone Besides, the Architectural configurations of Thorn crown chapel are designed for the assiduous treatment and accommodation of the physical body. This includes the more obvious possibility of actual tombs. Consider, among prominent opportunities, the following, non-mutually exclusive variations on more explicitly mortuary architecture: Permanent resting-places or Temporary places of waiting. Architectural configurations that facilitate ritual interactions – particularly reciprocal negotiations – with a personalized deity or other sort of supernatural being (e.g., bargaining with a god, requesting the assistance of an [un]dead person, or placating a troublesome demon or ghost) Propitiatory ritual of standing (already-built) is anpother unique architectural feature of the chapel. With respect to architectural arrangements that facilitate and enhance propitiatory activities, two quite different sorts of ritual logic (which presuppose two quite different sorts of cosmological orientations) are particularly prominent. Architectural configurations that facilitate propitiatory activities that are not directed at any personalized deity or spirit. The logic of this quite different set of options, in which gods play little or no role, has often escaped the attention of scholars. Two closely related possibilities are especially prominent. Rituals designed to maintain and/or manipulate a cosmic equilibrium and Rituals designed to stimulate and/or channel the flow of some sort of impersonal, fluid-like spiritual energy or force (e.g. those interpretations of Aztec human sacrifice that feature the cosmic circulation of tonalli and other vital energies). The Architectural construction of the chapel conceived as propitiatory ritual: Not infrequently, building processes have been (and are) deliberately complicated, or “ritualized”, in response to incentives that are regarded as more important than efficiency and cost-effectiveness: Constructional iterations of cosmogony. (Re-) building or remodeling according to a regularized .Building according to a strategic through irregular schedule, which may entail The destruction of architecture as a political statement of force and/or Such practices, though clearly expedient, nonetheless served to announce, via ritual-architectural means, the beginning of a “new era”. With respect to sanctuary modes of allurement: The chapel also contains an Appropriation of natural sanctuaries, particularly caves: Though generally imagined as inherently sacred places, natural cave-sanctuaries are, nonetheless, nearly always ritually embellished and enhanced. Note also that, very often, architectural elements or whole buildings are designed to resemble caves, thus participating in the “womb-house” symbolism of caves. The chapel is a Preparatory sanctification of apparently ordinary places or human constructions: This possibility involves the performance of ritual procedures whereby a previously ordinary place or building is cleansed, purified, sanctified, and thus made ready for ritual use (e.g., Oglala sweat lodge). Note that such ritual procedures usually provide only situational and temporary sanctification and thus must be repeated periodically. Besides, it also has the feature that quantifies it to be Preparatory sanctification of human ritual actors: Very often this will entail the construction of a building or special context to which either ritual specialists or lay participants repair (for hours, days, or perhaps weeks) to be cleansed and purified prior to their involvement in the main ritual event. Read More