Sacred Space as Public Place (Part 1)

Augustin Ioan
Humans never interact with their environment without metaphysical consequence. That is, the world becomes, or is discovered to be, a repository of meaning. Sometimes the meaning points beyond what at first seems to be there, as when we encounter the sacred. But what is the sacred, and how does the numinous dwell in the physical world? Moreover, how does man dwell with it? In this first of two essays exploring such questions, Romanian architect Augustin Ioan draws on Heidegger, Deleuze, and others to help us find our place in space.