THE SANCTUARY : A CHURCH IN THE CITY

Abstract

The Sanctuary is a term used to describe the development of a Christian centre in the Fort Canning area, an area within the Civic and Cultural District earmarked for conservation and revitalisation. The project examines the problem of architectural identity of the church as it pertains to its role and meaning, and how these have or transformed over time. It addresses the issue of transformation and the meaning of the transformation, and the communication of that meaning through an appropriate architectural language that will speak to modern man the essential Christian experience and the richness of the heritage. It is about the creation of a node, a centre within the cultural and commercial district. It is an expression of the often disparate relationship between the particular and the general, the spiritual and the material, sacred and profane, private and public, sanctuary and city. It is a reconciliation between the notion of the sacred centre as a 'House of God' (Domus Dei) with 'House of the Church' (Domus Ecclesae) of Transcendence and Immanance, past traditions with present realities, symbols with meaning and forms with experince.