ABSTRACT
Vitruvius’ Ten Books on Architecture and Robert Venturi’s Complexity and Contradiction are the two poles between which take place a contemplation of sacramental experiences of architecture versus architecture experienced as stage sets. To provide a theoretical backdrop, this chapter outlines three paradigms of the heaven-to-earth relationship. The first two (Antique and Christian) share similarities of an open exchange between above and below, providing a framework for a “sacramental zone” within which participatory experiences of symmetria take place. The chapter defines moments of symmetria-sacrament as “the object in front of me rhyming with a moral order within me, which in turn rhymes with a cosmic orderliness around me.” When these threads align, experiences of architecture and sacrament ensue. The sacramental zone, in turn, is coterminous with the cosmos of analogy of being (analogia entis) as propounded in the theology of Erich Przywara, first addressed in the Introduction and referenced throughout this book. In contrast, the third paradigm (Postmodern) assumes a hermetically sealed divide between above and below, and on this view only vestiges of sacramentality are possible, this because the best a postmodern regime can provide is architecture understood stage sets.
