Language: English
In the framework of the international conference “A Church, A Mosque: Interdisciplinary conversations between architecture and art history” organised by Fatma Keshk and Sabine Frommel, Waleed Arafa is presenting a keynote lecture titled “The Sacred in Architecture”.
The Sacred in Architecture recognizes Divine Revelation as a source of knowledge, in addition to the sensory and the rational sources. As human beings generally and architects particularly, we should be aware of this and should explore and practice architecture accordingly.
No act of design or construction. should be regarded as Architecture if it upsets the sacred balance.
Consequently, Modern terms like Green or Environmental architecture become void of their meaning in the Sacred worldview, where such concepts are essential rather than face-saving qualifications. It must be clear that achieving the bare minimum of what Architecture should be, is no reason for overstated jubilation and celebration.
Through this understanding, stubborn dichotomies will cease to exist; form is function and function is form. Better aesthetics become synonymous with more efficient functionality, structural sensibility, environmental performance, smarter building economics and exhilarating semiotics. There is almost no fight but a dance of harmony. Thus, the Sacred in Architecture is the maintenance and the respect of the harmony between all three types of Revelation; The Sacred Scriptures, the Sacred Cosmos and the Sacred Human being as the active agent connecting and upholding the balance.
Waleed Arafa is an Egyptian architect, founder of Dar Arafa Architecture. He earned degrees from Ain Shams University, Egypt and the AA, London. The working title for his MA thesis in the History of Islamic Art & Architecture, American University in Cairo, is : “Re-interpreting Tradition: In Search of a Future of Architecture” He realized projects in Egypt, France, Bahrain, UAE and elsewhere and was twice nominated for the Aga Khan award and won more than 10 other international architectural awards.
