Ioan, Augustin

Symbols and Language in Sacred Christian Architecture

1996 0-7734-8870-7
This volume addresses questions regarding contemporary interpretation of the language of sacred and religious buildings. While inspired by Heidegger's hermeneutic approach as well as by Chomsky's view on language and Eliade's archetypes and symbols, its interpretive hypothesis appropriates the Orthodox Christian perspective on church architecture. The second half of the book is a close reading of the Bible pertaining to questions on architecture being presented both historically and symbolically. The purpose of the interpretation is to trace back the possible grounds for a 'primitive hut' of the sacred space, the never-existing 'first Christian church'. In an environment striving for a renewed ecumenical unity, such a hermeneutical approach on sensitive issues such as the sacred, religious architecture, pursued by two architectural scholars from Eastern Europe's Romania, is meant to propose a fresh overview of a timeless question.