Sacred Buildings

The design of sacred spaces presents architects with a particular challenge. In few other design tasks is the need to achieve the right balance between function and atmosphere of such importance: which ritual requirements have to be incorporated, which pragmatic needs have to be met for a service? Which specific concerns and traditions of a particular religion must be considered? Which shapes of plan, what type of volume, and which lighting and acoustic concepts contribute to the sacred atmosphere of a space? The publication provides a survey of conceptual principles of designing sacred buildings for Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. It explains technical and planning guidelines for this building type. Altogether sixty-nine case studies from Europe, America, and Asia spanning the last three decades give exemplary answers to this most singular design task.