Architectural Philosophy and Morality of Sacred Spaces in Christian Worship Centre in Akure, Ondo State

M. A. Ola; E. K. Okafor; A. A. Taiwo

M. A. Ola
E. K. Okafor
A. A. Taiwo

Keywords: architectural morality, architectural philosophy, church architecture, sacred spaces, worship centres

Abstract

Architectural philosophy is the moral justification of Western architecture, the foundation of contemporary architecture, and the characteristics of modern architecture, which is concerned with the organization of human functional needs in spaces and the structural need of the work, constituting moral terms. Eventually, the morality of spaces concerning functionality and beauty expresses and communicates to the user, especially in sacred spaces of worship, which, due to the development of theological and liturgical teachings, has altered the anthropometrics of functionality and beauty of sacred spaces. This transition holds from the Traditional Gothic to the Contemporary style, having a lot of dimensional effects on the spiritual meaning, belief, and experience of the worshippers. Therefore, the study focused on investigating the effect of the philosophy and morality of the transition in Gothic and Contemporary styles of sacred spaces in Christian worship centers. The study identified the significance of sacred spaces of worship to the worshippers and further examines the impact of religious buildings and morality of church architecture and interiors in Akure to give directions on the effect of the two styles of sacred spaces in churches. Research methods were in two phases: unstructured interviews and non-participant case studies on five selected churches within the Gothic and Contemporary styles in Akure Ondo state. The close-ended questionnaire gave a constructive perspective of the worshipper's experience of the sacred spaces regarding the study objectives in the case study area. Content analysis and descriptions for the case studies and descriptive statistical tools concerning frequency for the questionnaires were used to arrive at the result, which revealed that dynamic belief, experience, and lifestyle to the ritual and teaching, among other events performed in these sacred spaces of churches being the integral effect of the transition.

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