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Contemporary Ritual

Being a Hindu, the first thing that came to my mind while thinking of designing a spiritual place was a Hindu Temple. For this project I took the essence of a Hindu Temple and transformed it for a modern, globalised audience.  I focused on creating an innovative ceiling plan using wooden sticks to form waves in the ceiling and represent a transitional passageway which also guides you through the space. My inspiration to create a passageway came from many ancient Indian temples. In the past, the design consisted of a “mandapa”, a dome shaped passageway consisting of multiple arches creating an environment of grandeur and elegance.  I designed a geometric mandapa by placing the sticks at an angle forming a series of parabolic arches, translating the original model to make it more relevant to the twenty-first century.

To highlight the holy figure, there is a skylight directly above it, created by raising the parabolic arch through the roof in this one place.  The other main elements are light and shadow. The window walls of this space allow me to manipulate the light and shadow; I tried to create an atmosphere of serenity by allowing natural light to cast vivid shadows of the ceiling structure throughout the space, resulting in the feeling of being in a wide open, but still contained and defined, environment.

To accurately appropriate the essence of a Hindu Temple I have used two different color palettes for the wall coverings. The first palette uses tones of red, paying homage to the traditional color palette of Hindu Temples, which are generally represented using warm tones.  The second, which includes blues and greens, break the stereotype and go outside the realm of what is typically seen. The cool tones also help create a space of spiritual healing and peace.

For one to fully experience this place of divinity, one enters from the courtyard, through the glass wall, taking off one’s shoes and storing them in a double-sided entry wall created by the ceiling supports.  Now barefoot,  one passes through the ‘mandapa’ or passageway, and is guided by the way the ceiling structure rises and falls to enter the central prayer room, where one is invited to sit, facing the holy figure.  After sitting, one  heads to the courtyard through another door in the glass wall.  The exit is again through the courtyard, where one started the procession.