Exploring Sense of Belonging through Contemplative Architectural Experience

In this presentation, I explore the role of architecture, including both the natural and built environment, to support contemplative experience. In this respect, I offer an expansive view of architectural experience, which includes not only interactions with religious spaces, but also secular settings, and encounters with our surroundings in everyday life.  As such, my exploration ranges from spaces with established religious affiliation that are designed to evoke spiritual experience, to environments with permeable boundaries where alternative spiritualities flourish, such as  well-being and care environments, retreat centers, healing gardens, as well as spaces with/for artistic work. Such spaces, with the support of the environment, allow solitude for personal reflection as well as community dialogue, creativity, and interconnectedness. Through diverse examples, I inquire into how spaces that embody all our senses and celebrate our differences- whether they are physical, social or cultural- can dissolve the boundaries of self, others and the environment; cultivating a sense of belonging.