THE SPIRITUAL IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF LIFE IN A VILLAGE TOWN, TOO

Spiritual Development and Fulfilment

The VillageTown does not promote or hold affiliation with any religion (or lack thereof). However, under the principle of a good life, it provides space designed for the human expression of religion. Sacred architecture plays in both rites of passage (birth, coming of age, marriage, death) and the human need for the holy or the sacred, be it a building, cemetery or even a grove.

The VillageTown makes a clear distinction between religion and sacred architecture. When one walks though the door, one goes from the bustle and activity of the plaza to a place of quiet, peace and calm. It may be decorated with art; it may be uplifting or may feel like a grotto or cave. The architect will pay careful attention to light, shape and color. Sacred architecture by its very presence, completes a sense of community. When one walks into the plaza, it is there. When one walks in, it is a different experience of life.

Sacred Architecture

The VillageTown has no religious affiliation, which not only means it does not sponsor a particular religion, but that it also does not sponsor agnosticism or atheism. It takes advice from Thomas Jefferson who once wrote Religion is a subject on which I have ever been most scrupulously reserved. I have considered it as a matter between every man and his Maker in which no other, and far less the public, had a right to intermeddle. In practice, this means that if a village cluster is formed by families and individuals who share a religion, they have every right to do so, but not to be in conflict with their neighbors over what is deemed the truth.

From an architectural standpoint however, the VillageTown makes a distinction between religion and sacred architecture / holy places. Being human involves rites of passage: birth, coming of age, marriage, death, to name but a few. It involves celebrations, and for many it involves spiritual experience; indeed much of the religious experience celebrates these forms of experience and practice. In these human rites, the role of sacred architecture... cathedrals, chapels, churches, mosques, shrines and temples contributes to the quality and character of a village and of a town. For a town to deprive itself of such architecture based on secular separation of the profane from the sacred is a shame and a loss.

For this reason, the VillageTown development sets aside funds for sacred buildings, where the founding citizens determine the details. In the town center, a cathedral-sized sacred hall provides for large events of passage and for services conducted by religious groups. If such a group requires consecrated space in accordance with their beliefs, they would secure a wing for those purposes, but share the common hall with other religions and lay celebrants.

For religious leaders and groups, this has an additional benefit, because too often what begins as a spiritual pursuit gets sidetracked by the issues that come with building and maintaining facilities. Fund raisers to pay for a new roof can become a burden, and when the young fail to take the place of their elders, the buildings fall into ruin, as is happening in places like England where churches are closing at a rate in excess of one per week.

Sacred architecture, holy places, have their own timeless patterns of design and part of the job during the Dynamic Engagement process is to set out how those patterns will be applied in each village.

There is a wonderful saying we came across: "you are here to create the good, the beautiful and the holy. Do not forget this". No matter what your religious beliefs are, if any, this is a worthy purpose when designing a VillageTown.

Rites of Passage - Maori funeral of an honored elder

Cemetery

Within the greenbelt, the VillageTown sets aside sacred land for a cemetery, enough to support hundreds of years of burials, either casket or ashes. Unlike suburbs where people have lost their connection to land, a VillageTown is designed to provide roots; a place of permanence where generations are born, live and die. Accordingly it needs a place to bury the dead and to allow the living to visit. Where appropriate, allocate adjacent land as fields of flowers for the living to walk, run and enjoy.

How many developments do you know that take the spiritual into account?  We are not looking for a particular religion or belief, but we acknowledge the spiritual aspect of life in a community, and we build it into the original structure so it is there for everyone's use.  What a great idea.  Share your ideas with us.