Temple architecture in the context of theoaesthetics: An interdisciplinary approach
Authors:   Moscow State University of Civil Engineering (MGSU) National Research University, Barashkov Viktor V. , Begchin Denis A. ,   Lomonosov Moscow State University, Kruglova Inna N. ,   Krasnoyarsk State Agrarian University
Published: November 2024

The article provides a critical analysis and systematization of approaches to the study of temple architecture within the framework of interdisciplinary research that comprehends classical philosophical and religious approaches, as well as research at the intersection of sociology, cultural studies, aesthetics, psychology and architectural theory. Theoaesthetics is used as a philosophical basis, i.e. the temple as an aesthetic object is interpreted as the source and the habitation of all created perfection, which allows the “thing of beauty” to coincide with the truth of art and the truth of creation, manifesting itself in various phenomena – everyday life, culture, psychology, politics. The authors conclude that the beauty of the temple resists narrowing down to a symbolic series. On the one hand, the correlative nature of art history and religious studies approaches based on hermeneutics are shown (Understanding Architectural Studies by Stepan Vaneyan, The Hermeneutics of Sacred Architecture by Lindsay Jones, Hierophany by Mircea Eliade, the approaches of Henri Cobin, Ivan Davydov, Sharif Shukurov), and, on the other hand, the limitations of these approaches are shown in terms of criticism of the scientific method. Interdisciplinary research is represented by the architectural ontology of Mark Savchenko, the concept of Andrei Zabiyako, the research done by modern anthropologists such as Oscar Verkaaik, Mattijs van de Port, Markha Valenta, evolutionary psychologists Yannik Joye, Jan Verpooten. In these studies, the function of religious architecture is designated as overcoming and restructuring the symbolic structures that subordinate religious behavior and thinking of people. Scientists distinguish three modes of Christian temple architecture: (1) the material mode, where the temple is presented as a monument (Maurice Halbwachs, Pierre Nora, Jan Assmann, Aleida Assmann, Alois Riegl developed tools for comparing memory and history); (2) the semiological mode, presenting architecture as communication (Umberto Eco, Yuri Lotman); (3) the functional mode (Henri Lefebvre, Bert Daelemans). Communication theories are presented by Oleg Davydov and John Zizioulas, who apply the image of the “communion of the Holy Trinity” to the interpretation of the image of the temple. Representatives of ecotheology believe that temple architecture is inseparable from the environment (Evgenii Arinin, Sigurd Bergmann, Roald E. Kristiansen). After combining the results of various social and human sciences, entering the field of interdisciplinary research transformed the “meanings of temple architecture” into the process of “human creation of sacred spaces”. Theoaesthetics made it possible to not detach the understanding of meanings from the theological content in which they were created, as well as to expand disciplinary boundaries, without losing the perception of the temple as a manifestation of “God’s glory”, as a complementarity of narratives and explanations telling about the infinite splendor of God.