Creating sacred spaces for the 21st century
War memorials and places of worship are all infused with meaning beyond the bricks and mortar. How are Australian architects creating sacred spaces that inspire, inform and transform?
Some places, like Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Belgium’s Ypres or Gallipoli’s Lone Pine, have evolved into sacred sites in a response to the past. Other spaces, like contemporary churches and mosques, are sacred because of what happens in them today.
But all sacred spaces have common links. They transmute our understanding of our world. They have the power to alter the way we think. And they remind us that we are not alone.
But how do architects respond to an architectural form crammed with community expectation?
The secret is to find a story to tell through the architecture that resonates with the history of the site, says ARM Architecture’s founding director, Ian McDougall.
McDougall’s team was responsible for the recent $45 million upgrade of Melbourne’s most visible war memorial, the Shrine of Remembrance.
The new Galleries of Remembrance (pictured), which repurposed 1,600 sqm of undercroft space into a visitors and education centre, offices and displays, has expanded the memorial beyond a static monument.
The redevelopment took out the S4B Studio Award for Best Heritage Development at the 2016 Property Council of Australia / Rider Levett Bucknall Innovation & Excellence Awards.
Sacred spaces like the Shrine of Remembrance are “charged with narratives and connections with the people who are commemorated or use the space,” McDougall says.
Designers of sacred spaces must balance both story-telling and the need to provide places of reflection, McDougall adds.
ARM’s design is laden with symbols of Australians at war. For example, the four walled courtyards – the only new additions that are externally visible – reference parts of the original 1920s Hudson and Wardrop design that were never built.
“Within these courtyards are gardens, and two are thematically linked to major theatres of conflict,” McDougall explains.
The north-western courtyard captures the story of World War I, particularly the Dardanelles. Plants, ground covers and materials were selected accordingly, while a central olive tree is both specific to the region and “a highly symbolic tree for peace”.
The south-western garden is themed around the conflicts in the Pacific and South East Asia, particularly World War II, and McDougall says “any visitor who is only vaguely familiar with these stories can get a sense of place and context”.
Secular spaces can become imbued with the sacred over time. After the September 11 terrorist attacks, the World Trade Centre site evolved from a hub of commercial activity to one that also encourages quiet contemplation and remembrance.
Telling the story of the Great War
Storytelling is also behind the construction of the Sir John Monash Centre (pictured, right) near Villers-Bretonneux in France.
The centre, which is slated to open on Anzac Day 2018, is named after the general who led the Australian Corps with great success on the Western Front. The new building is expected to become the centrepiece of the Australian Remembrance Trail connecting battlefield sites from Flanders to the Somme.
Ken Corke, director of the Office of Australian War Graves says there “is already a strong sense of how the new Centre incorporates into the existing Australian Memorial Site and its surrounds in a subtle, sympathetic and respectful way”.
The semi-subterranean building, designed by Cox Architects, is roofed with turf to harmonise with the existing Australian National Memorial and surrounding landscape.
Cox Architecture’s partner Joe Agius says war memorials may not be sacred spaces, “strictly speaking”, but they are “highly fraught with emotional intensity, and places of deep shared public cultural memory, and indeed shared loss, love and humanity”.
Aguis says war memorials “define our culture and values”.
“They anchor and bind us, and remind us of the essentials of the human condition”. And that is why narrative is fundamental to the design of any memorial.
While memorials must comply with “pragmatics” such as amenities, building codes and car parking, “unlike most other building types, memorials have an important role in building our shared cultural memory – they are civilising buildings,” Agius says.
Agius says the design process brings up many questions which require “reflective consideration”.
“Does it serve as a disincentive to war? Does it help rehabilitate or heal those directly impacted? Does it emotionally unite people regardless of background? Does it clearly and legibly tell the right story using the simplest direct means possible? Does it focus and amplify attention on the purpose of the memorial – without undue focus on the design object itself?”
Churches as civic spaces
The design of churches has remained relatively fixed for centuries: a high cathedral roof, the crucifix as a symbol, an interior nave dominated by a worship space.
But Koos de Keijzer, director of architectural firm DKO, argues that a church today is no different to any other civic space.
“Churches are a place where people can exercise their faith. But they are primarily a place to meet, to seek shelter and care,” he says.
DKO has been designing and specialising in churches for nearly a decade, and de Keijzer says the biggest shift in thinking he’s witnessed has been the recognition that “these facilities can be very expensive”.
He points to the Victory Christian Church in Auckland, designed by DKO in 2012, which includes an auditorium with 3,000 seats.
“This facility needs to be used seven days a week. It’s not just a Sunday story,” he says.
As a result, the design is flexible and adaptable, and the space can be used for purposes other than worship.
Over at the One Community Church in Melbourne’s Blackburn, the brief was to create a place for young people.
“More than 400 kids gather there on a Saturday night, and our client didn’t want any of the iconography of days gone by, but a space where kids could feel comfortable,” de Keijzer explains.
The pared-back design features rich timbers and cool greys, but there are subtle references to Christian traditions Рthe crosses patterning the caf̩ brickwork and the foyer window arousing memories of the stained glass of yesteryear.
“We are currently undertaking a large church expansion in Melbourne – and part of our design is a north-facing plaza where people can mingle after church services, have coffee, catch the northern sun and make connections with other people. It’s not just about worship.
“Many of the spaces are reminiscent of a Qantas lounge. It’s been designed not as one big space, but a series of spaces that helps people to sit in groups and socialise.”
de Keijzer says the distinction between theatre and worship is blurring, and designs need to accommodate more sophisticated audio visual equipment as “entertainment becomes more important than the traditional cruciform plan”.
“The briefs for contemporary churches is to make them more accessible to the average Australian – whether that’s a Christian, Muslim or Hindu”.
Meanwhile, Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning architect Glenn Murcutt has designed what is considered Australia’s first contemporary mosque, the Australian Islamic Centre in Newport, Melbourne.
The building, which opened last year, embraces Islamic design while also acknowledging the traditions of Australian communities. For Murcutt, the mosque is an opportunity to “inspire greater connections between peoples and faiths”.
The fundamentals are all there: a building oriented towards Mecca, a large central prayer hall, reflecting pools of water and separate spaces for men and women. But some of the typical design features are absent.
As Murcutt said at the 2016 Pritzker Laureate’s conference, “it is a mosque without a dome. It is a mosque without a minaret. It is a mosque without many of the courtyard walls. It is a mosque that is not exclusive, but inclusive. It’s a mosque that you can see into. It is a mosque that has water gardens but not entirely within walls.”
The Australian Islamic Centre, like the Shrine of Remembrance and One Community Church, changes the conversation about the sacred by creating a space that is accessible to everyone. And that may be the secret to designing sacred spaces for the 21st century.