In the United States, people of different faiths live in a secular society that focusses on the prosperity and pleasure of the individual. Existing spiritual architecture serves the needs of religious groups, but does not serve individuals in everyday life after the group has dissolved. The creation of architecture that serves the need of the spiritual individual would better serve contemporary people because it would better work spirituality into the architectural fabric of contemporary society.
Because the ultimate goal of prayer and meditation is to put an individual in relationship with the divine, the architecture must encourage that relationship. That relationship can be established through the manipulation of the elements of nature (i.e. fire, air, water, and earth)because they are not religious-specific and have symbolic meaning to people of all or no religion.
The project consists of four meditation sanctuaries, each on a different site along Broadway in Manhattan and each designed to focus on one specific element of nature. Each is designed have program that allows for a range of involvement, from inspiration to the passerby to spaces for individuals to meditate in solitude. Each is designed to support and serve individuals with faith.
