This issue of a+u magazine offers a retrospective on sacred spaces from its archives – significant projects that have helped to shape the discourse on fostering transcendent experiences through architecture. Each of the spaces presented not only provides a space for worship, but also conveys innovative architectural approaches to express sacredness. Projects such as Bagsværd Church by Jørn Utzon align humanity with nature, whereas a project such as Seema Malaka by Geoffery Bawa draws on traditional architectural language to create connections to both nature and culture. In addition to the retrospective, this issue contrasts various ways a work of architecture can nurture a relationship with a higher force, from Lina Bo Bardi’s community-oriented Church of the Holy Spirit of Cerrado, to the more introverted and quiet sensibility seen in Christian Kerez’s Oberrealta Chapel. Finally, this issue extends the architectural archive by highlighting new spaces of contemplation, such as Cobar Sound Chapel by Glenn Murcutt and Motorway Chapel by Herzog & de Meuron, projects that reflect the significance of sound as well as vision in the human experience.

This issue of a+u magazine offers a retrospective on sacred spaces from its archives – significant projects that have helped to shape the discourse on fostering transcendent experiences through architecture. Each of the spaces presented not only provides a space for worship, but also conveys innovative architectural approaches to express sacredness. Projects such as Bagsværd Church by Jørn Utzon align humanity with nature, whereas a project such as Seema Malaka by Geoffery Bawa draws on traditional architectural language to create connections to both nature and culture. In addition to the retrospective, this issue contrasts various ways a work of architecture can nurture a relationship with a higher force, from Lina Bo Bardi’s community-oriented Church of the Holy Spirit of Cerrado, to the more introverted and quiet sensibility seen in Christian Kerez’s Oberrealta Chapel. Finally, this issue extends the architectural archive by highlighting new spaces of contemplation, such as Cobar Sound Chapel by Glenn Murcutt and Motorway Chapel by Herzog & de Meuron, projects that reflect the significance of sound as well as vision in the human experience.