Towers, Domes and Psychospiritual Force

Ever walk through a city and pay attention to the way its geometry affects you? Architecture is one of the oldest tools for shaping the human mind, for the mind takes its cues from the environment, forming the backdrop of its perception of the world. Often we don't notice it, so subtle is its effect; but in that subtlety is its greatest power, for being below conscious awareness it is able to inform the subconscious perceptions of everyone within.

Still, every once in a while we're present in or near buildings shaped in such a way as to evoke a reaction. Kings and high priests have known this since ancient times: with the soaring domes and towers of their palaces and temples, the mind's of all who behold them are powerfully affected. Towers of any kind - be they simple monuments, such as an obelisk, or the steeple of a church, or a pagoda, or the Birj Dubai - invoke a feeling of awe and respect, a psychological sensation that might be described as having a portion of one's energy diverted to support something else (the subject of awe.) Thus, towers have the effect of drawing in psychospiritual force from anyone within ear shot, the strength of the draw inversely proportional, perhaps to distance (and maybe also, proportional to ignorance of the tower's true purpose.)

Domes, meanwhile, serve the purpose of concentrating power, the concentration increasing as one's position approaches the center. Amphitheatres achieve this effect as well, as indeed does any circular geometry: the closer one comes to the center, the greater the power they feel being concentrated upon them, and at the same time the more likely others will be to perceive them as having power.

A cathedral gives a fine example of a two-part use of this dynamic. The steeple draws power from all who can see it, thus concentrating it and focusing it into the domed area near the altar. The arches accentuate this effect, maximizing the upward flow of attention and awe, this increasing the power concentrated still further. So long as one is in the pews, the awe can be pretty much overwhelming, a sensation that increases as the front of the church is approached. Once under the dome, however, one feels as though the power is flowing in rather than out, a feeling which itself intensifies as the center is approached ... approached, but never reached, because that center is for one man only, the priest, in whom all that awe resides by proxy of god.

A neat backdrop to the church service, don't you think?

The usage of these principles in modern cities is also instructive. Virtually all of the buildings in the down-town core are towers of varying height, generally the tallest being the banking towers or other corporate headquarters. Those who work and live at the tops of those towers are regarded in modern society practically as distant gods, who may do as they please with impunity because all wealth and power resides within their grasp. There are domes, of course, as well, generally appearing (in addition to, of course, any cathedrals that happen to be present) in two building types: seats of government, and arenas.

Thus, although the power is focused on the presidents and CEOs of the corporatocracy, it appears to be focusing on athletes and politicians. Of course, everyone knows that organized sports is just a game, just as everyone knows that organized politics is a sham but ... everyone continues in the charade that politics and sports somehow matter (or so you would think, given the attention paid to them.)

Can these geometries be used in other ways? To gather energy from above, rather than below? To liberate, rather than concentrate; flow, and not hoard? In short can architecture be used to enhance the very attributes we seek to create (or discover) within the new civilization - if that's the right word - that we are giving birth to now?

The answer of course is yes, and I've some ideas of my own that I've been working on but, what are your ideas? What sort of architecture would be most suited to achieving these aims? I've seen some interesting stuff getting linked to on this subject, but would love to hear your own thoughts.

In Lak'ech