Form of Flow: Defining a New Spiritual Architecture

Abstract

Western civilization is engulfed in a process of change that Max Weber identifies as “rationalization,” the infusion of scientific method, technological improvement, and rational management in all areas of society. An unfortunate side effect of this rational knowledge is a loss of purpose, or spiritual disenchantment. Weber states that, “The sacred grove has been logged and sold, the enchanted pool pumped dry.” Parts of society, especially younger generations, no longer identify with the reassurances of religious myth in the light of a rationalized world.

Architecture, at its core, is a cultural artifact that responds to its social, political, economic, and environmental contexts and expresses a multitude of cultural beliefs and imperatives. Sacred architecture has historically reflected the symbolic religious axioms, beliefs, and rituals of particular cultures whose ultimate goal is some element of transcendence. The process with which sacred architecture is designed has lost much of its relevance for a culture that no longer adheres to faith based world religions but still searches for a spiritual outlet. Rationalization has resulted in a fundamental need for space to be developed for those looking to address their disenchantment in a rationalized world.

A psychological theory known as “Flow” developed by the Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi argues that people are most happy and fulfilled when in a state of controlled consciousness, where a person is fully immersed in the task at hand. This state might be be better recognized as being “in the zone,” which leads to an autotelic, or intrinsically rewarding experience. The flow theory, named for the word commonly used to describe the feeling, is ultimately concerned with cultivating happiness and promotes this state as optimal experience.

The spiritual sub-culture of the Flow Art community has harnessed this concept in their meditative and self transformative practice of "spinning." Flow Art is comprised of a number of different disciplines that each emphasize techniques meant to find flow through patience, balance, focus and coordination. Their aim is to utilize their craft as a tool to help themselves and others identify and cultivate flow in everyday life.

The sacred space architype lends itself to the application of flow while the young, evolving, and undiscovered culture of the Flow Art community offers an ideal program to explore the potential of flow in built space. The intersection of these concepts illustrate the theory of flow as an alternative lens for implementing and understanding the design of spiritual space as a derivation of sacred space.