Body and Spirit: Crafting an Architectural Language of Redemption

Abstract

Dwelling upon the earth is a matter of body and spirit. Failing to comprehend the implications of the body upon the spirit or the spirit upon the body will either desanctify the common life or ignore the weight of glory embedded in every individual. To dwell requires both, and architecture as an act of crafting spaces in which humans dwell must address both components of being. This thesis creates a fundamental architectural language cognizant of its effects upon body and spirit through shifting physical, emotional, and psychological states. It recognizes that `body' may mean one body or many bodies acting as one in community. It explores these questions through a program of restorative housing for women leaving the sex trade--a population denied its humanity and ability to dwell.