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THE SACRED WITHIN

IRN701-Long Ho

CONTENTS

PANTHEON

TEMPPELIAUKIO

COMPARISON

CARRYFORWARD/WORKCITED

PANTHEON ROME, ITALY

Figure 1

History & Cultural Context: The Pantheon reflects Roman ideas of order, balance and sacred geometry. Its circular interior brings the space together beneath one large dome. Repeated columns and patterns create a sense of rhythm. Light enters through the oculus and moves across the walls and floor throughout the day. The opening draws attention upward and connects the interior to the sky. Together, geometry and changing light create a sense of calm and wonder that gives the space its sacred atmosphere.

Date: Around 118–125 CE Original use: Roman temple dedicated to the gods Current use: Catholic church called Santa Maria ad Martyres

From City to Sacred Space

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

The Pantheon stands within Rome’s busy streets, connecting everyday life with sacred space.

The tall columns and The large bronze doors shaded portico create a mark the crossing into pause between the city the sacred interior. and the space.

City:

Portico:

Entrance:

Figure 5

Interior:

The dome pull visitors attention while light from the oculus connects the interior to the sky.

Figure 6

The Pantheon’s arrival sequence gradually prepares visitors to leave everyday life behind and enter a sacred space. In its original approach, visitors climbed steps toward the raised portico, making them more aware of their movement away from the city and toward the building. The shaded portico creates a moment to slow down and adjust before entering, while the doorway marks the boundary between the outside world and the sacred interior. After passing through this entrance, visitors experience the space opening beneath the vast dome, where light from the oculus draws their attention upward and connects the interior to the sky. These changes in level, light and scale make the approach both a physical journey and a moment of mental preparation for reflection.

GEOMETRY & SYMBOLISM

Figure 7

The Pantheon’s geometry creates a sense of balance and unity. The interior’s diameter is equal to the height from the floor to the top of the dome, allowing an imaginary sphere to fit inside. Repeated coffers give the dome a clear rhythm while the circular plan gathers the space around a shared centre. This geometry can also carry symbolic meaning. The circle suggests wholeness and continuity because it has no beginning or end. The dome can be read as a representation of the heavens, with the oculus connecting the interior to the sky. Together, these forms suggest a larger cosmic order and give visitors a sense of their place within it.

LIGHT Daylight enters the Pantheon through the oculus, a circular opening at the centre of the dome. Direct sunlight creates a bright patch that moves across the dome, walls and floor as the sun changes position. This movement reveals different colours and textures while the contrast between light and shadow adds depth to the interior.

Figure 8

ATMOSPHERE Light contributes to the sacred atmosphere by drawing visitors’ attention upward toward the sky. The oculus creates a connection between the enclosed interior and the world above, suggesting a link between earth and the divine. Within the darker surroundings, the changing light becomes a focus for contemplation and encourages visitors to pause and reflect.

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

Figure 12

TEMPPELIAUKIO CHURCH HELSINKI, FINLAND

Figure 12

History & Cultural Context: Temppeliaukio Church in Helsinki was designed by brothers Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen and opened in 1969. Their design placed the church within the existing rock to preserve much of the natural site. It reflects a modern approach to sacred architecture where the landscape becomes part of the building itself. The exposed rock brings nature directly into the worship space, creating an atmosphere of shelter and quiet reflection.

Design competition won: 1961 Construction: 1968-1969

From City to Sacred Space

Figure 13

Figure 14

Figure 15

Figure 16

The surrounding streets represent everyday life before the approach to sacred space.

The surrounding rock creates a natural boundary that shelters the sacred interior.

The low entrance creates a pause before crossing into the worship space.

The space opens beneath the dome, where daylight above the rock walls draws attention upward.

City:

Rock:

Entrance:

Interior:

Figure 17

Figure 18

GEOMETRY & SYMBOLISM Temppeliaukio Church combines a roughly circular worship space with a copper dome above. The roof’s radial supports create a repeating rhythm around the ceiling. These ordered forms contrast with the uneven rock walls, bringing human design and the natural landscape together. The surrounding rock can suggest shelter and permanence, giving the interior a sense of protection from everyday life. The dome gathers visitors beneath one shared roof while daylight around its edge connects the enclosed space to the sky. Together, these elements can be read as a meeting between earth and heaven.

Figure 19

Figure 20

Figure 21

Figure 22

LIGHT

ATMOSPHERE

Daylight enters Temppeliaukio Church through the band of glazing between the copper dome and the rock walls. The roof supports divide the light into a repeating rhythm around the space. As daylight changes, it reveals the rough textures of the stone and creates shifting areas of light and shadow.

Light above the rock walls makes the heavy dome appear to float, giving the enclosed interior a sense of openness. The contrast between solid rock and daylight creates a space that feels sheltered yet connected to the sky. This balance contributes to a quiet sacred atmosphere that encourages visitors to slow down and reflect.

Figure 23

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Figure 28

Figure 29

SIDE BY SIDE COMPARISON NAME/ELEMENT

Pantheon, Rome

SURROUNDING

The city streets and piazza form the ordinary world outside the sacred interior.

PREPARATION

The original steps and shaded portico create a gradual approach before entry.

THRESHOLD

The bronze doorway marks a boundary between the everyday city and a space set apart for worship.

SACRED ORDER

The circular plan and balanced dome can suggest an ordered world gathered around a centre.

EARTH/HEAVEN

The central oculus opens directly to the sky and can suggest a connection between the human and divine worlds.

LIGHT

Concentrated sunlight gives certain parts of the interior a distinct presence that can be interpreted as sacred.

SACRED

Monumental scale and ordered geometry can make visitors feel they have entered a world beyond ordinary life.

Through Eliade’s perspective, both churches create a break in ordinary space. Their approaches prepar

Temppeliaukio Church, Helsinki

NAME/ELEMENT

The surrounding streets and housing form the everyday setting around the church.

SURROUNDING

Moving toward the rock and through the low passage prepares visitors for the enclosed sanctuary.

PREPARATION

The entrance through the rock marks the crossing from the city into a sheltered sacred interior.

THRESHOLD

The roof’s radial structure gathers the irregular rock enclosure into a unified worship space.

SACRED ORDER

The rock enclosure and daylight around the dome can suggest a meeting between the earth below and the sky above.

EARTH/HEAVEN

Daylight transforms the rough rock into a focus for contemplation, allowing familiar natural material to take on sacred meaning.

LIGHT

Rock, enclosure and filtered daylight can make visitors feel separated from daily activity and prepared for reflection.

SACRED

re visitors for a threshold crossing into a place where form, light and material carry religious meaning.

I want to carry forward two methods: threshold and light. I am drawn to spaces that reveal themselves gradually and give people a reason to pause. The reading helped me understand that entering a sacred space can begin before the doorway. At the Pantheon, the shaded portico prepares visitors for the large space beneath the dome. At Temppeliaukio, the entrance through rock leads into a sheltered interior with daylight above. These transitions make the approach part of the experience. I want to explore how changes in enclosure and scale can encourage people to slow down. Light is the second method I want to explore. The Pantheon gathers daylight through one central opening. Temppeliaukio brings it around the dome and onto the rough rock. Both make the connection between enclosure and the sky visible. This interests me because light can give simple materials a strong presence. In Assignment 2, I will test a narrow approach leading into a more open room. Small models will help me compare a focused opening with a gap around the roof. My aim is to create a quiet pause within everyday life where people can find their own meaning.

I / THE PANTHEON Rome, Italy

WorkCited

FIG. 01 Qu, Evan. “Low Angle Brown Concrete Dome Building.” Photograph. Unsplash. September 18, 2017. https://unsplash.com/photos/low-angle-brown-concrete-dome-building-3RnR7nmXcqs FIG. 02 Williams, Leanne. “Everything You Can Learn About How Rome Was Built, in a Day.” Insightful by Insight Vacations. January 22, 2024. https://www.insightvacations.com/blog/architecture-of-rome/ FIG. 03 Marino, Gabriella Clare. “People Walking Near Brown Concrete Building during Daytime.” Photograph. Unsplash. February 26, 2021. https://unsplash.com/photos/people-walking-near-brown-concrete-building-during-daytime-TLYzsNu8md0 FIG. 04 Vanden Bussche, Renzo. “A Very Tall Building with Some Very Big Pillars.” Photograph. Unsplash. October 20, 2023. https://unsplash.com/photos/a-very-tall-building-with-some-very-big-pillars-CbPwwrTb-eY FIG. 05, 07 Tickets Rome. “The Secrets & Wonders Inside Pantheon Rome: Art, Architecture & Engineering Marvels.” Tickets Rome. Accessed September 28, 2026. https://www.tickets-rome.com/roman-pantheon-tickets/interior/ FIG. 06 Erika M. “A Large Group of People in a Building.” Photograph. Unsplash. April 23, 2024. https://unsplash.com/photos/a-large-group-of-people-in-a-building-9I-3a2kGyuY FIG. 08 Banks, Clay. “Brown and White Dome Ceiling.” Photograph. Unsplash. April 28, 2020. https://unsplash.com/photos/brown-and-white-dome-ceiling-Osa-MWeo6c4 FIG. 09 Cocconi, Alessia. “Brown Wooden Cabinet.” Photograph. Unsplash. May 1, 2018. https://unsplash.com/photos/brown-wooden-cabinet-P0bxnusdEI FIG. 10 Francesco. “The Ceiling of a Building with Columns and a Clock.” Photograph. Unsplash. October 9, 2024. https://unsplash.com/photos/the-ceiling-of-a-building-with-columns-and-a-clock-yGcmkiadEJ4 FIG. 11 Piotr. “Brown Building.” Photograph. Unsplash. January 13, 2020. https://unsplash.com/photos/brown-building-RKmMIr63kTE FIG. 12 Font, Gabriel. “Agrippa’s Pantheon in Rome: Virtual Reconstruction.” Digital 3D rendering. ArtStation. Accessed September 28, 2026. https://www.artstation.com/artwork/8bbx1x II / TEMPPELIAUKIO CHURCH Helsinki, Finland FIG. 13, 16–18 Tiqets. “Temppeliaukio Church: Entry Ticket.” Tiqets. Accessed September 28, 2026. https://www.tiqets.com/en/helsinki-attractions-c66544/tickets-for-temppeliaukio-kirkko-helsinki-p976465/ FIG. 14, 19–22 Kostadinovska, Aleksandra. Photographs of Temppeliaukio Church, Helsinki, Finland. ArchDaily. August 21, 2025. https://www.archdaily.com/996216/a-modernist-church-set-in-stone-the-story-behind-the-temppeliaukio-kirkko-in-helsinki-finland FIG. 15 Source not supplied. Add the photograph’s creator, title, site, date, and URL before submission. FIG. 23, 24 Elara Fritzenwalden. “Temppeliaukio Church (Temppeliaukion kirkko).” Photographs credited to Richard Einzig, Brecht-Einzig Limited. Tumblr. October 7, 2015. https://elarafritzenwalden.tumblr.com/post/130705344170/temppeliaukio-church-temppeliaukion-kirkko FIG. 25 Architecture of Doom. “Temppeliaukio Church, Helsinki.” Image attributed to Andrey Kravchenko. Tumblr. Accessed September 28, 2026. https://architectureofdoom.tumblr.com/post/43714919875/andreykravchenko-temppeliaukio-church