Taewhan Kwak's 4.10 Long Essay

Many cultures use art and architecture to designate sacred places.  Dura-Europos Baptistery in Syria from 240 CE, and Great Stupa at Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh, India, from 3^rd century BC illustrate how different cultures used art and architecture to depict their own culture’s sacred space.

                Dura-Europos Baptistery demonstrate how early Christianity depicted sacred place with the use of many images related to Christian faith. Jesus’ tomb is depicted with 2 women, which represents baptism because it is symbol of being buried with Christ, then being raised out of the water, just as Jesus was raised from death. Many depictions of Jesus making miracles are present. They emphasize Jesus’ power. In addition, there’s a depiction of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, and Adam and Eve. These are aspects of Christianity understood by earliest communities, and depict Dura-Europos Baptistery as a sacred place.

                The Great Stupa at Sanchi is a Buddhist structure that use art and architecture to depict itself as sacred place.  It has reliefs showing scenes from the Buddha’s life, along with lotuses, animals, and geometric shapes, which are motifs of Buddhism. It is covered with white plaster to give it a shining look, as if to make it look like it is lighting. The dome has a railing at the top, which represents home of the gods at the top of cosmic mountain, and makes the stupa divine.

Natalie Proctor-Montesino's 4.10 Long Essay

Many different cultures use art and architecture in many ways. Some cultures use it to design sacred spaces. Two works that incorporate this ideal would be the Taj Mahal in Ara, India and the Hagai Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey.
Taj Mahal is located in Ara, India and was created dating all the way back to times between 1632-1653, it is a Muslim sacred space. Taj Mahal is said to be “The jewel of Muslim art”, a white marble domed complex structure mausoleum. The Mausoleum was built by Mugal emporer Shan Jahan to commemorate his beloved third wife in an elaborate way. The gold that was replaced by a copy of the original bronze gives an example of the Hindu and Persian decorative elements. The moon is very popular throughout Islam and is placed on the top of the Taj Mahal as a common motif. The minarets visible influence symmetry and show traditional elements of a mosque. Readings from the Quara’n are as well present throughout, this is a one of a kind sacred space.
Hagia Sohia representing Christianity dating back to 532-537 CE, was refurbished in the 15th Century in Istanbul, Turkey. When the Turks made Constantinople their capitol, they converted the Hagia Sophia into a mosque. This ruined many Turkish peoples ideas and caused them to suffer a great loss. The Hagia Sophia influences Christianity in many subtle ways. The Hagia Sophia presently has a longer layout than most of which were present in churches until Justinian changed them. With the 40 windows shown throughout, a halo-like shape is reflected when light hits them. 
When studying the Hagia Sophia you see there are two holy trinities. These are the Holy Trinity of Christ, and the twelve windows representing the number of apostles that were present at the last supper of Christ, according to the Bible. Hagia Sophia and the Taj Mahal are two very important sacred spaces throughout the Muslim and Christian cultures. 

Angelica Huynh's 4.10 Long Essay

It can be seen across cultures that art and architecture when used in the name of religion are designed to make the worshipper feel closer to what they define as the “heavens;” a mystical realm above the earthly plane. For Buddhists, it’s the Great Wild Goose Pagoda and for Catholics it’s the Reims Cathedral. Both can be seen as ways of reaching that sort of limbo away earth.

         The Great Wild Goose Pagoda follows the traditional wooden architectural layout of the traditional pagoda. It was said that the design of the pagoda was made so that Buddhists or Daoists could approach the heavens and communicate with the spirits. Usually built in areas secluded and embedded in nature, these temples came to represent the naturalistic view of its spiritualistic religion. The temples were generally built from brick, stone or wood in accordance with the view that nature is embodied in spirits. Built in Xi’an in 652 CE, this pagoda is regarded as one of the oldest stone pagodas in history. The seventh story was a change made later to the temple that only stood as a testament to further the attempt to communicate with the spirits of nature by reaching for the heavens.

          The Reims Cathedral in Reims, France is a classic example of how the worshippers could ascend into a limbo not yet in heaven but a mystical place of peace. Built in honor of the catholic kings and queens of France, it was built with a cruciform plan. Jean d’Orbais, the architect, had it designed so that the parts were in perfect balance as to depict the stability and perfection of the state from the thirteenth century and onwards. The stained glass windows of the Reims Cathedral is one of the most remarkable features about this cathedral and during service when the sun would hit the glass, it would illuminate the church in a myriad of colors. The images they lit up would make the cathedral seem like a mystical realm and it often invoked worshippers to meditate and pray.

         

          

McKenzie Morgan's 4.10 Long Essay

Cultures use architecture and art to design and designate what places are considered sacred by incorporating symbols to convey a specific meaning. The Hagia Sophia as well as The Dance of Shiva are examples of using symbols to convey sacred meanings. Symbols are mainly used to convey underlying religious meanings throughout art. The symbols inspired by these religious stories is what makes certain works of art sacred in certain cultures.
The Hagia Sophia was originally a Christian church located in Instanbul. Erected during 532-537 was designed specifically for Christian ideals. The religious symbols within the architecture of the Hagia Sophia are more subtle than those of stained glass biblical scenes in other cultures. The architect included Christian ideals throughout its architecture, such as; three for the trinity, five for the wounds of Christ, and twelve to symbolize the twelve apostles of Christ. Each semi-dome includes five windows, each of which has three smaller semi-domes with five windows as well, resulting in three apses. Both the north and south ends of the Hagia Sophia have five arches along the side aisles as well as seven arches in the galleries overhead. Twelve windows also complete each lunnette. Although these symbols are only noticeable to people who know the biblical stories, the Hagia Sophia was once a church fellied with sacred symbols to the Christian faith. 
The Dance of Shiva is also a very symbolistic sculpture within the Hindu religion. The sculpture of the Hindu God, Shiva, dancing is far less subtle than the Hagia Sophia. Shiva is posed standing on top of a dwarf who symbolizes the state of "becoming", by standing on top of the dwarf this symbolizes Shiva's control of the state of becoming. Shiva is also holding a ball of fire while being encircled by fire, signifying destruction of the universe but also symbolizes how ego-centered humans are. Shiva is holding a drum in yet another hand which symbolizes the constant rhythm of creation and destruction. This particular sculpture of Shiva shines a light into the ideals of the Hindu religion and what is considered to be most sacred.
Symbolism plays a large role in presenting sacred meanings in art and architecture in various cultures. The Dance of Shiva as well as The Hagia Sophia use symbolism to express religious values and meanings. These objects hold sacred meaning simply for their religious meanings expressed through symbolism.

Hanna Malik's 4.10 Long Essay

        Different cultures used art and architecture
to design sacred spaces. Two different cultures who
exhibited the diversity were the Byzantines and
Muslims.The variations of architecture is evident in
the structures of the Hagia Sophia Church built in ca.
532-537 in Constantinople by Anthemius of Tralles and
Isidorus of Miletu. The Great Mosque at Qayrawan was
constructed 9 C under the command of Caliph Umar.
The Hagia Sophia was built with a
combination of a central and longitudinal plan. These
plans were common of christian churches after
Justinian oredered them. The forty
windows at the base of the dome were designed to
give off a halo illusion. These correlated with their
belief in angels and heaven. The interior gold wall
mosaics resemble halos in color. Aspects of the
religion were thought out to be included and represented
somewhere in the architecture.
The Great Mosque was built with key aspects of
muslim architecture such as pointed arches. The arches
were a repeated pattern throughout the mosque and was
seen in many other Islamic houses of worship. The
minaret was one aspect key to muslim architecture. The
minaret was built 3 stories high to call for prayer.
The plan was similar in that of a Roman forum temple to
have a sufficient and organized way to worship.

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