Kristen Rowe 11/20/09 - Van der Leeuw & Architecture

When reading more in depth on architecture for my presentation, I noticed Van der Leeuw's points he made, more clearly. Van der Leeuw believes that "building" means building a House of God, no matter what context it is used in. I agree with this because no matter what you are building, some type of worship may go on in that temple, church, or house, whether it be to God, or if it's just a spiritual thing. Van der Leeuw also points out that outside the confines of that building, security is not offered any longer. He means that outside the temple of worship or the House that you were so safe in, there was a power that resides within it. When you leave that building, that power no longer offers you security. I don't necessarily understand this because people who believe in God and worship their God should feel secure no matter where they are, in a building or not. Van der Leeuw also quotes Goethe in saying that architecture is "frozen music" and that any architecture that does not have any fixed lines or structure was doomed to fail from the beginning. This meaning that any form of architecture that isn't based on something or someone that could be worshipped, it is bound to fall in time.
Van der Leeuw also suggests that God is too great to reside in a house, that he observes from up above into these "Houses of God" and watches over the people who reside within them. He also suggests that we do not create House of God to allow him to reside within, we create them so man can worship God in peace. Going back to a religion class I previously took, a path was created in order to clear the person's mind of every distraction that was disabling them from worshipping their God. This reminded me of the building a House of God in order to worship in peace. Inside the House of God there should be no distractions, only other people who are engaged in the same thing that people are there to do, worship in peace. I believe that within a House of God, there should be no distractions, only those who are there to worship.