Ishmail R. Coleman 6.10.

2015 Applied Activity 9

1.) Niklashausen Protestant Church- The appearance of this church has an Old European
Protestant Church feeling to it, mainly due to the color choice of red rugs and high
ceilings. The appearance of the Church looks holy and sacred and looks like a place of
Hierophany, especially the alter. The seating area of the church looks traditionally
Christian or Protestant, and looks formal. The area in the inside doesn’t look like it has
any contemporary architecture. The threshold or entrance of the church from the inside
doesn’t look quite intimidating. The red rug gives the room a powerful type of feeling or
aura. As we reach the end of the walkway toward the alter, the artwork on the wall
evokes a feeling of spirituality along with the wooden cross placed perfectly in the
middle, which gives a more powerful spiritual feeling as well.

Blue Mosque Istanbul, Turkey- the inside appearance of the mosque is very elaborate
and is designed with the finest architecture that I have ever seen. The outside and inside
has a very traditional Islamic mosque feeling to it. The layout within the inside has a
very sacred space feeling to it, in which it is embodied with Islamic religious texts. The
imago mundi of the sacred space seems to have all ideal aspects of Islam embedded in its
architecture, as far as the way the mosque is structured, located, and color scheme of blue
with the marble like text, which gives a type of sacred Islamic aura. The light fixtures on
the inside are very elaborate and beautiful and give a sense of royalty, along with the gold
color schemes that are present. The Quran verses that are present within this building
showcases how sacred the place is to the Islamic religion.

Kinninji Zen Buddhist Temple Kyoto, Japan- The appearance of this place showcases
the fundamental and spiritual aspect of the oriental culture, in this case the culture of
Japan. The design of this temple is very elaborate and showcases the meaning of being a
sacred space. The figure that is in the center of the inside space showcase and affirms
that this space is sacred due to the placement of the religious figure. The items that are
present at the axis mundi showcases that sacred rituals and religious practices are done
her and are revered. The elaborate colors of the gold and red are also very reminiscent of
oriental culture. The building has a very tranquil feeling to it and also displays the
values of Buddhism.

Quaker Meeting House Shrewsbury, NJ- This place of worship looks a little more like
a profane space and a space that displays natural, daily life events. However, it seems
that the sacred emerges from the profane here, in which although this place may be a
social sanctuary, it seems that religious events still take place here. The red/burgundy
color gives the room a powerful, attention like aspect to it, and is very alert. I think that
over time, this place has become a religious type of sanctuary, but back in the past, it
possibly was just a meeting hall. The architecture doesn’t look “Quaker-like” either.
Ishmail R. Coleman 6.10.2015 Applied Activity 9

Sistine Chapel Rome, Italy- This building is very elaborate when it comes to display
religious and class Greek and roman images. I think that this place can be a mixture of a
sacred space and a profane space. It is sacred in the sense that it embodies the aspects
that it had of past being a religious chapel, but also I feel that it also embodies a sense of
daily functionary activities, such as activities of the pope and his members. The art that
is present here has a powerful feeling because it embodies both Western Art and Western
religious spirituality. I think that the building also embodies the aspect of an imago
mundi because it encompasses the visual thought of what most people think a religious
building is supposed to look like.

2.) I believe that the Niklashausen Protestant Church, the Blue Mosque, and the Buddhist
Temple in Japan all embody the explicit aspects of being a sacred space. I think the
Quaker and the Sistine Chapel embody aspects of being profane space, however, I think
that the Sistine Chapel can be looks at as a profane space and a sacred space. The Sistine
Chapel and the Blue Mosque were similar in aspects of architecture and imago mundi, in
which I feel that the architecture both come off as the same type of design or aspect. The
Quaker Room and the Protestant room had similar feelings due to the fact that they both
represent aspects of the Christian religion, and also they had similar vibes by means of
architecture, similar wood framing, and seating; however, I feel that they were different
because the Protestant Church had more sacred images that gave you a sense of holiness,
while the Quaker house seemed like a waiting area. Also, the Buddhist temple and the
Sistine Chapel reminded me of one another because of the elaborate designs on the
ceilings, which invoked the same cultural powerful feeling. The Blue Mosque and the
Buddhist temple also reminded me of each other as far as the writing that were present on
both of the architectures inside portions, which gave you a sense of the cultural and
religious background of the building. Both the Protestant Church and the Blue Mosque
were similar because they both displayed aspects of the Abrahamic religions (Islam and
Christianity) and were very distinct in showcasing this aspect, in which you knew which
one you were walking into.

3.) The two religious spaces that I feel are the most unalike are the Quaker room and the
Buddhist temple due to the far that the two are vastly different on the inside. The Quaker
room is bland and doesn’t have that much elaborate effect as far as paintings. Also, the
Quaker room doesn’t really have that much of a cultural impact as much as the Buddhist
temple, in which the Buddhist temple is easily recognized as a Buddhist temple, whereas
the Quaker room can be taken as any kind of Christian type of room. Also, these rooms
are different because they represent two distinctively different religious backgrounds,
where one represents Eastern religions, and the other represents Western religion. Also,
the differences between the two is that the Quaker room is more of a profane space where
Ishmail R. Coleman 6.10.2015 Applied Activity 9

daily life and natural actions take place, whereas the Buddhist temple seems more sacred
space.

4.) The spaces that I enjoyed looking at the most were the Buddhist temple, the Blue
Mosque, and the Sistine Chapel. I liked these spaces the most because of their elaborate
architecture and paintings. I feel that these spaces give off the most cultural aspect as
well, in which when viewing these spaces, you get a great sense of the cultural that you
are surrounded with. Also, I loved the designs and paintings that were present within
these buildings, in which the artwork seemed very revolutionary for its time periods.
These spaces also showcase great religious images, and artwork which places it in the
realm of a sacred spaces because of how meaningful and what kind of responses that they
can cause. Furthermore, I enjoyed these spaces because they display the aspect of a
imago mundi to the fullest, in which they look like very detailed representations of the
core values of the particular religion.