the temple of the infinity within
The City of Today Tomorrow / Fall 2019
The man with neutral eyes handed me a slip, as he probably noticed the questions behind my own. It was titled “To the Temple of the Infinity Within,” and provided the directions to a place of which I have not been aware before. The sketched map brought me through the city, to an alleyway.
Walking down the alleyway, I came to a halt when I was met with an immense, concrete wall. Intrigued, I approached. This wall led me to a dark tunnel, illuminated at the end. I questioned what it might be hiding. The Temple wrapped its concrete walls around me, rough yet comforting. It whispered hints through questions, discoveries and possibilities as to how to answer my own questions of self. It gave me the chance to decide my own way, and the ability to be sincerely me. Slits between planes of concrete suggested what may be on the other side of them, as tranquil light dripped and cascaded through the openings. The lines of light helped me move through the temple, and helped me make decisions.
I made my way into the Temple’s central core, a space that seemed to hold a piece of the sky right above it. Looking down into the space below almost sent shivers down my spine. A pair of eyes looked right into mine, and I did not realize that they were my own. A closer look into the glittering well of water let me look into myself. The reflection was so clear, yet so confusing. I understood that I cannot find answers to my questions of self. Introspection is a concept of forever, unsolvable and vast. The Temple however was able to show me the infinity within myself.
Infinity is explored in the architecture of the building through the use of circle-in-the-square sacred geometry. The geometry’s infinitely-expansive quality carries itself into the Temple as it its proportions are reflected in its plans.
The Temple is composed of planes, once again relating to the concept of infinity. A plane has the ability to expand infinitely along an axis., carrying this idea into the building’s design.
The density of the planes reflects the idea of the Temple as a body, encouraging certain aspects of introspection to occur on specific floors and in specific parts of the building.
In order to better relate the visitors of the Temple to its form, it has been designed with a human-inspired anatomy in mind: The Thought, Brain, Body and Heart. The relation between visitor and architecture could encourage their introspective journey as travelling through the Temple could be felt as though they travel through themselves.
