Religion and Architectural Siting

Architecture is always an important aspect and representation of religious ideology, such as the Nodre Dame de Paris in France and Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. These religious structures were first built to declare the regime and demonstrate the power of the belief. Religious pilgrims from the past used these structures as the milestones of pilgrimage, which these massive architectural masterpieces all transformed into the most significant landmark that symbolize the spirit of the nation. Nowadays, religious pilgrims are not the only crowd that inhabits the sacred religious space; crowd of tourists even outnumbered the religious pilgrims.

Two very interesting examples are the Great Mosque in Xian, China, and the Honganji Buddhist Temple (本願寺) in Kyoto, Japan. Honganji is properly sited few blocks away from the Kyoto main station. Wide main roads developed around the whole complex on all four side of the gated wall. Clear entrance way can be found located on the main road of Kyoto, where everyone passes by every day. The surrounding structures are not very dense with a lot of greenery space to prevent noise, messiness and disorder. Totally different from Honganji, the example of the Great Mosque in Xian is located in the busiest market district in the whole city. In order to get to the entrance of the Mosque, one must navigate through series of narrow streets with shops, restaurants and bars on both sides. The atmosphere is extremely lively, with the noise from the shops, the smells of the local foods, and the trashes and the messiness from the markets.

These two extreme examples both demonstrate the present day religious structures with different site and typological settings. They each took a different approach, either to adapt to their religious ideology, where Islamic is all about seeking the tranquility in the mess; and Buddhist is about solemn and tranquil, or simply just a tourist attraction strategy. Both religious structures gain their glorious success to survive through ages. With their unique setting and siting typology, the structures are successfully objectified and monumentalized. But to the devoted believer, these spaces are always their best escape, where they can find their meaning of life.