The Need for Sacred Emptiness
Implementing Insights by Paul Tillich and Rudolf Schwarz in Church Architecture Today
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3139986 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Bert Daelemans (0000-0001-8375-5385, Universidad Pontificia Comillas, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 515 |
| Publication date | 2022-06-06 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel13060515 |
| OpenAlex | W4281632690 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 13 |
In a time when the minimalist emptiness of many contemporary church buildings rightly encounters criticism for its incapacity to create a sacred atmosphere, it is good to plead again for sacred emptiness as a religious symbol in its own right. Because this term concerns the apophatic dimension of religion and the importance of mystery and transcendence in daily life, it is not just an important question for architects but for anybody who considers the meaning of religion today. This article recovers first the insights of two thinkers of the twentieth century who pleaded for sacred emptiness, the Protestant theologian Paul Tillich and the Roman Catholic architect Rudolf Schwarz, before examining the fruitfulness of sacred emptiness for church architecture today. The conclusions of this research will be that their approaches are complementary and that their plea for sacred emptiness has gained importance today but must be answered in a new way. Some contemporary case studies of sacred space by renowned architects demonstrate the importance of sacred emptiness. At first, it is still anonymous, but gradually, through the mystagogical interaction with visitors and users, sacred emptiness gains more definite meaning
Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Criticism · Emptiness · Epistemology · Literature · Plea · Political science · Protestantism · Sociology · Architecture and Cultural Influences · History · Law · Philosophy · Religious studies · Religious Tourism and Spaces · Urban Development and Cultural Heritage · Architecture
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2025 (2) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |