Architects attending two AIA Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture (IFRAA) sessions today at WFX 2011 at the Dallas Convention Center had the chance to earn AIA continuing education credits. Here's a brief review of the second of these IFRAA sessions -- Architecture in Service of Ministry. The class was taught by architect Ron Geyer, ministry and cultural studio leader at Craig Gaulden Davis, Greenville, S.C., and Craig Rafferty, IFRAA’s 2011 chair, FAIA and principal of Rafferty Rafferty Tollefson Lindeke Architects in St. Paul, Minn.
Geyer posed this question to attendees when dealing with the issue of population growth and decline: How do you make a space feel intimate? "One of the deadly things that churches do is move from a full room to a room that seems like there’s no one in it," Geyer reported. Having a room that's appropriate in size and scale to the number of people who will use it, Geyer suggested, is what's important when considering how to make a space feel intimate.
Geyer also spoke to attendees about experience within the physical environment. "What is your building communicating?" he asked. Does its design make potential attendees from the surrounding community want to come inside?
Another factor brought up for consideration is culture, specifically external demographics and psychographics. "When we change cultures, or we wish to, then we have to be sensitive to the kinds of changes that implies or requires," Geyer said. In other words, consider your attendee pool and the culture in which they live when deigning a house of worship.
Geyer also posited that architects serve best when they understand the "why" of the buildings they are creating for worship. "What is your burden? What is the thing that makes you weep or pound the table? This thing gives you filter and purpose," he said. Geyer also shared what he calls Geyer's Theory with session attendees, which is "The time we spend talking about things is inversely proportional to how important they are." His idea: Reduce conversation and focus on the things that are really important when designing a church.
Rafferty too shared his ideas with architects, showing visuals of various churches around the world. He reported that there are four ways architects can build:
1.) Monolithic
2.) Village (Rafferty believes this approach holds special potential for church communities.)
3.) Campus
4.) Addition, infill, or renovation
Rafferty also touched on sustainability in houses of worship, stating the following as among his sustainable basics: site, water, energy and atmosphere, indoor environmental quality, materials and resources.
Another set of simple ideas under the umbrella of sustainability are items that Rafferty says our mothers taught us, like “Don’t be wasteful." and "Clean up after yourself.” All these simple things can be applied to the principle of sustainability, he suggested.
Watch next week for another WFX recap blog from Editor-in-Chief Brian Blackmore touching on the highlights of a keynote address from speaker Greg Surratt, founding pastor of Seacoast Church in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
