Essay

In the Likeness of Man

Anthropomorphic architecture in traditional building

Joachim Tantau
August 2012

Introduction ........................................................................................................... 3 The human proportion: Anthropomorphisms in Architectural Theory ................. 4 Anthropomorphisms in Christianity .................................................................... 12 The origin of anthropomorphisms in the ancient cosmologies ........................... 14 Islam and the modern world: Two examples for the Lack of anthropomorphisms ............................................................................................. 22 Conclusion consequences for a traditional way of building ............................ 25 Bibliography ........................................................................................................ 26

The architect Built his great heart into these sculptured stones, And with him toiled his children, and their lives Were builded, with his own, into the walls, As offerings unto God.
(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

Introduction
When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God.1 From time immemorial, we have lived with this certitude, setting freedom and limit to all our acts and evolving our consciousness of being a divine creature, distinct from the animal kingdom. Not only this consciousness originated all we call culture today, but it also handed down the flame of creativity giving us the ability to form our environment with the same love God had, when he created us. And indeed, our divine provenance allows us to create beauty, to mould our environment with our hands and thoughts in the honour of God, and in doing so, creating it to our likeness like God once created mankind. The term anthropomorphic 2 architecture describes this idea of man creating his homes and temples to his own image. Thinking of this, the first images that come to our mind might be the many examples where human faces or bodies form part of a building and make it looking alive, like for example the anthropomorphic mannerist portals in Italy apparently a weird idea that appears here or there without any evident reason. (see fig.1).
Fig.1: Drawing for an anthropomorphic door by Borromini. (From: Pieper 2009, p.67)

But its not that easy. Anthropomorphism in architecture is a rather enigmatic phenomenon that runs like a thread through human history from the very beginning and is closely related to the particular world-view. Appearing in a great variety it can be expressed quite obviously or rather restrained, it can appear clearly enunciated or as an unconscious instinct its meanings can be down-to-earth or highly sophisticated. Getting deeper into its various manifestations it shows that anthropomorphism is actually one of the most fascinating aspects of
1

Genesis 5.1 From ancient Greek: : man and : form, shape

architectural thinking. For every anthropomorphism bares the image, its creators had of themselves and of their place in cosmos. Hence, this essay is not supposed to be a systematic history, nor is it a complete survey of the phenomenon in all its facets and subtle meanings. The following chapters will rather explore the phenomenon in its different aspects and elucidate its universality and its importance for any approach to a traditional way of building.

The Human Proportion - Anthropomorphisms in Architectural Theory

Having said, that almost every civilization knows anthropomorphisms in any form, it is worth investigating to what extent this phenomenon formed part of a conscious reflection about the world and the role of human within. In some civilizations, as far as we can say it, it seemed just to happen as a deeply felt necessity (see the chapter on the ancient cosmologies) without being expressed verbally or manifested in literature. Others, like the Renaissance, where almost obsessed by the idea and anthropomorphisms formed a major part of architectural theory and were purposely applied in many building projects. This makes it a challenge to give each form of appearance an equal weight in such a survey. Although some library collections might suggest it, architectural anthropomorphism is not a Renaissance phenomenon, and as it will be shown further down, it can be much deeper and more universal in its meaning than it was in Renaissance. However, the theories of that time had such an impact on our todays understanding of the phenomenon that they will be mentioned in first place here. The major part of Renaissance architectural theory is based on the Ten books on architecture by the ancient Roman author Vitruv (ca.70-10 BC). His work was treated as the theoretical base for the admired ancient Greek and Roman architecture, although it was written centuries after the Greek temples had been built. In his treatise, Vitruv gives quite a few anthropomorphic interpretations especially of the Greek temple. 4

Very influential was his interpretation of the column as derived from the human figure. He assigned different characters to the three main orders of columns, the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian and gives each a fixed proportion: As they wished to erect this temple with columns, and had not a knowledge of the proper proportions of them, nor knew the way in which they ought to be constructed, so as at the same time to be both fit to carry the superincumbent weight, and to produce a beautiful effect, they measured a man's foot, and finding its length the sixth part of his height, they gave the column a similar proportion, that is, they made its height, including the capital, six times the thickness of the shaft, measured at the base. Thus the Doric order obtained its proportion, its strength, and its beauty, from the human [male] figure.3 In a similar way he describes the Ionic order as derived from the female figure in a proportion of 1:8, being more lofty and slender and having an ornamented capital. The Corinthian order finally, represents the virgin with a proportion of 1:9.4 These explanations come across rather anecdotal and one might not give them any relevance, but the Vitruvian derivations and proportions became a paradigm for the Renaissance architects and were discussed and depicted in many treatises on architecture (See fig. 2 and 3).

Fig.2: Gynaecomorphic Column, Codex Saluzzianus. (From: Frings 1998, p.430)

Fig.3: Anthropomorphic Column,

Codex Ashburnhamianus.
(From: Frings 1998, p.430)

3 4

Vitruv, IV.1.6. Vitruv, IV.1.8ff.

Though, the meaning of the column as a human image goes far beyond that. The idea itself is very ancient and probably relates back to the times of an animistic religiosity when trees and stones were worshipped as goddesses and the column itself could be a sacred object. 5 As a true symbol, the column carried various meanings, whereof the anthropomorphism is just one. But it is quite self-evident to see a supporting, upright element of architecture as a methaphor of man 6, how Brunelleschi called it and several building traditions know the idea of replacing a column by a human sculpture (See fig.4).7 We have no record of how far the Vitruvian ideas about the different characters of the orders and their proportions cope with the original intentions of the ancient Greek, but it seems likely that there was such a meaning, not only the common division into foot, shaft and capital suggests that. Beside the analogies of a single column, also their arrangement around the temple and their function in the building, can be seen as a human analogy. To the Greek it might have been an expression of their form of government: Like the many columns carry the roof of the temple, the polis is carried be every individual with equal weight. Quite similar ideas can be found in Christian architecture (See the chapter on Christianity).8 Whereas the columns are a rather well-defined aspect, Vitruv offered yet another anthropomorphic interpretation of the ancient architecture that was much wider and caused a scholastic discussion that went on for centuries the design principles derived from the human body.
Fig.4: Caryatids on the Erichtheion in Athens. (From: www.tu-cottbus.de)

5 6

Cf. Naredi, 2001, p.95. See also the chapter on the ancient cosmoligies. Ibid. p.87. 7 Cf. Pieper, 2009, p.71. 8 Cf. Burckhardt, 2001, p.53ff.

Picking up an old Aristotelian idea,9 he considers the human body as a perfect model for designing a building: Uniformity is the parity of the parts to one another; each corresponding with its opposite, as in the human figure. The arms, feet, hands, fingers, are similar to, and symmetrical with, one another; so should the respective parts of a building correspond.10 Interestingly, this rule is both an aesthetic as well as a functional necessity.11 Following this concept not only makes the building beautiful and well balanced, but also makes it work in its various functions as an object of everyday use. Going on, he specifies this general idea: If Nature, therefore, has made the human body so that the different members of it are measures of the whole, so the ancients have, with great propriety, determined that in all perfect works, each part should be some aliquot part of the whole; and since they direct, that this be observed in all works, it must be most strictly attended to in temples of the gods, wherein the faults as well as the beauties remain to the end of time.12 If it therefore appears, that numbers had their origin from the human body, and proportion is the result of a due adjustment of the different parts to each other, and to the whole, they are especially to be commended, who, in designing temples to the gods, so arrange the parts that the whole may harmonize in their proportions and symmetry.13 Proportion here means more than a mere numeric relation, its a rather vague term describing the harmonic composition where every part has its place in the whole. Understanding these principles is only possible by looking at the human figure. It is the ultimate model for eternal beauty. 14 Going on, Vitruv elaborates on these principles whereof the most important one Luca Pacioli, a friend of Da Vinci, describes as follows: Because all measurements and proportions, by which god revealed the deepest secrets of nature, are derived from human body, the Ancient designed all their

Cf. Steadman, 2008, p.8. Vitruv, I.2.4. 11 Cf. Steadman, 2008, p.9. 12 Vitruv, I.1.4. 13 Vitruv, I.1.9. 14 Cf. Naredi, 2001, p.92. But this is only valid for the Renaissance, not as Naredi says for the whole of human history.
10

works, and their temples in particular, in harmony with these proportions. For in human they found both figures no work of art can succeed without: the perfect circle and the square. 15 This is the famous Homo Vitruvianus which laid the base for a whole series of detailed proportional systems derived from the human body (See fig 5.). In a time where the human slowly conquered the centre of cosmology these ideas inflamed the scholars. To achieve beauty, you have to imitate the human figure. This is a rather new thought and essential to Renaissance art. At that times, the human figure incorporating the circle and the square means much more than a geometric coincidence; it is the union of heaven and earth - Its a celebration of the human! Its no coincidence if these ideas come along with all the statues showing a perfect human anatomy. No other period in history knew this joy of working out muscles, poses, movements and individual faces and expressions with such an incredible accuracy. In their enthusiasm, the architects and scholars successively altered the Vitruvian idea of proportion. Vitruvs concepts were a reflection of the ancient philosophies although, as a late descendant of the ancient world, he didnt grasp these universal meanings anymore. But still, if he talks about proportion its the divine proportion that forms the universe and that manifests amongst others in the human figure as the most precious creature on earth. During the Renaissance these proportional systems emerged more and more stiff, they got stuck to rigid measurements and numbers, giving a mathematical anthropometric rather than a universal
15

Fig.5: The Homo Vitruvianus as drawn by Leonardo da Vinci. (From: www.visualthinkmap.grou.ps)

Luca Pacioli (ca.1445-1514) quoted from: Naredi, 2001, p.87. Translation JT.

anthropomorphic description. Thus, the original concept of human being a perfect model for eternal design principles was taken more and more literally and the human figure itself was translated one-to-one into design. 16 An endless battle was raised about the right proportion for the columns derived from the human body or about the one formula that could be used to proportion every building. The universal meanings receded; the divine human had become a toolbox to achieve beauty. Hundreds of plans and building descriptions illustrate the way this idea took. The human figure is overlaid with a ground-plan or a faade-drawing showing the close relation between the building and the human body. But the models remain nameless they are just a human figure which suggests that there is no deeper meaning beyond the direct proportional derivation (See fig. 6 and 7). Nevertheless these creations, born from the true desire to achieve beauty, can be really imaginative and highly influenced the architecture from the Renaissance onwards.

Fig. 6: Ground plan of a church after the human measure, by Francesco di Giorgio Martini. (From: Naredi, 2001, p.88)
16

Fig. 7: Anthropomorphic Faade, from the Codex Ashburnhamianus. (From: Frings, 1998, p.428)

Cf. Frings, 1998, p.339.

This shows, that mathematical proportions are - to speak in anthropomorphic terms - the skeleton that remains when the flesh fades away. Interestingly recent surveys have put an extensive effort on unveiling this skeleton in the architecture for example of the Egyptian, Greek or Gothic era, causing fierce discussions amongst the academics. Eventually some hobnailed interpretations discredited the whole research subject as esoteric or unscientific. In terms of anthropomorphisms there exist several approaches to proof that some ancient architecture is derived from the human figure. Key points in the buildings like doorways, altars, or subdivisions are shown to meet important points on the human body (See fig. 8 and 9). Often it is impossible to say whether these relations are true or just a mere coincidence. However, we have to bear in mind that they are always born from the Renaissance-thinking. Before the Renaissance every anthropomorphism was mainly a metaphorical image and not a literal depiction of the physical human body. The idea of seeking a link between the human figure and the temple is definitely right as the next chapters will show, but the relation is likely to be more subtle and complex in meaning.

Fig.8: Derivation of the proportions of the Gothic church of Batalha (finished

1416)
body.

from the
by De

human
Sousa

Drawing

Coutinho (1795). (From: Pieper 2009, p.69)

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Fig.9: Parallel between the proportions of the human body and of the temple of Luxor according to Schwaller de Lubricz. (From: Schwaller de Lubricz, 1957, fig.138)

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Anthropomorphisms in Christianity
The seemingly bold idea of basing the ground plan of a building on the physical appearance of the human body experiences an essential twist in Christian architecture. The philosophical or religious foundation for any anthropomorphism is very particular here and quite different from the antique tradition. To the Christian, the actual building, the ecclesia materialis, is an allegory of the Christian community, the ecclesia spiritualis. 17 But in its ground shape, the church building it also symbolizes the crucified Christ. This twofold connotation is united in the double meaning of the Corpus Christi as it is celebrated in the Eucharist and as Paulus describes it: For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.18 In this symbology, Christ is the archetypal temple that is repeated in every church building. They replied, It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days? But the temple he had spoken of was his body.19 This double allegory gave an inexhaustible source for anthropomorphisms. On the one hand the whole building could be seen quite naturally as a gathering of the Christian community. The stones, windows, columns and all the accessories were often interpreted as the believers, the angels, the apostles or the saints. 20 And with the crucified Christ a very strong image was given that could easily be found in the ground shape of the church building 21 as Wilhelm Durandus von Mende (ca.1230-1296) describes it: The disposition of the material church keeps the measures of the body. The jube or the place of the altar marks the head, the transepts represent the arms and hands and the remaining part in the west may represent whatever is left from the human body,22

17 18

Cf. Frings, 1998, p.57f. 1 Corinthians 12:12. 19 Joh. II.21. 20 Cf. Frings, 1998, p.57. 21 Cf. Naredi, 2001, p.84. 22 Quoted from: Frings, 1998, p.61. Translation JT.

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Another aspect of this image offers Augustinus in his City of God. The ark as the archetypal church building is built according to the human proportions: For even its very dimensions, in length, breadth, and height, represent the human body in which He came, as it had been foretold. For the length of the human body, from the crown of the head to the sole of his foot, is six times its breadth from side to side, and ten times its depth or thickness, measuring from back to front.[] and therefore the ark was made 300 cubits in length, 50 in breadth, and 30 in height. And its having a door made in the side of it certainly signified the wound which was made when the side of the Crucified was pierced with the spear ; for by this, those who come to Him enter; for thence flowed the sacraments by which those who believe are initiated.23 It is important to see that these anthropomorphisms are not a mere theoretical doctrine, but have an intimate meaning for every Christian who visits his church. Celebrating the rituals and being re-membered of the symbols, means experiencing the anthropomorphism of the surrounding architecture in a very direct way. It is there, no matter whether the buildings proportions are actually based on the human or not. Experiencing the sacred space as anthropomorphic means contrariwise, a sanctification of the human. The maltreated earthly body of Christ, through the wonder of the resurrection, became the all-encompassing glory. With this certitude the Christian believer is able to see his own body as a temple as well.24 Here it shows how much these anthropomorphisms can be a statement about human itself rather than just an architectural topic.

23 24

Augustine of Hippo, The City of God XV,26, Translated by Marcus Dods Cf. Naredi, 2001, p.84.

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The Origin of Anthropomorphisms in the Ancient Cosmologies

Some publications suggest, anthropomorphisms in architecture were something like a secret, a hidden meaning, waiting to be revealed to the world. This might be true in some cases, especially for our detached world today, however, to grasp the phenomenon in its entirety one has to see, that the anthropomorphic aspect of a building was anything but a secret in former times. In fact, until recently it was quite self-evident to people to see even the mingiest shelter as a living being with human characteristics.25 Relicts of this perception can be found in our todays usage and show quite clearly in our language use. Many words that are used to describe the parts of a house, some of which even became technical terms today, are derived from the human body. The most well-known word is probably the window MHG, vindauga the wind eye. But the relations are not always that obvious. The word gable for example relates back to MHG. gebel, OHG. gebal which means skull or head and can be found with the same meaning as ghebala in the IndoGermanic languages or as in ancient Greek. Another strong image carries the word ridge MHG. rist which is the root for the German word Rcken, meaning the human back. And the vault is derived from OHG. hwelp, Indo-Germanic guelp or Greek kolpos which means breast. Also we talk of coating the walls, an image that can be found also in the German word Tnche meaning the white colour used for houses and which clearly has the same root as the ancient Roman Tunica. These are just some examples from our language area that we are normally not even aware of. In other cultures, the linguistic relation is much more alive. The Kuikuros for example, a South American tribe, know a body-related word for almost every part of their Uns, their traditional houses26 (See fig. 10).

25 26

Cf. Pieper, 2009, p.59ff. Some examples are taken from there. Cf. Colwell; Ferguson, 2008.

14

Fig. 10: Traditional names for the parts of a Kuikuro-house. (From: Colwell; Ferguson, 2008)

Beyond the language itself, some ancient metaphors show the same vivid relation between the human body and any kind of building. In Babylon a series of clay tablets were excavated, showing labyrinths with the inscription ekal tirani which means palace of viscera (See fig.11). 27 These clay tablets are just one example for a whole world of anthropomorphisms growing from this association. The labyrinth is a very ancient metaphor for a fascinating aspect of architecture reflecting its properties as a dark anfractuous inner part opposed to the clear and bright outer world. Its the look from outside, sensing an inner tabooed world one doesnt dare to enter, a sequence of rooms leading to a hidden, maybe forbidden centre that can be accessed only by the prepared one.28 It is the human body in its physical as well as in its spiritual reality! (See fig.12) To this metaphor there is definitely a carnal, sometimes clearly sexual connotation. The Labyrinth is seen as the inscrutability of the womb, its entrance, the alluring gate to another world,

27 28

Cf. Pieper, 2009, p.59. Ibid. p.40.

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has often been associated with the vulva.29 An Etruscan Relief for example shows the Labyrinth in combination with erotic practices and in India some places of pilgrimage know rituals in entering the big inner temple whose gesture has a clearly sexual origin.30

Fig. 11: Clay tablet from Mesopotamia showing a labyrinth.

Fig. 12: The inner of human as a labyrinth. (From: Pieper, 2009, p.60)

(From: www.kinderzeitmaschine.de)

But even the demure Christian Europe occasionally shows relicts of this image. The Church of Notre-Dame de Puy for example is built on a steep rock and a long dark stair under the main nave leads all the way up to the main entrance in the church floor. This arrangement is commented in the pilgrims guide as ce que faisait dire, quon entrait a notre dame de puy par le nombril et quon en sortait par les oreilles, 31 (you enter Notre-Dame de Puy by the navel and leave it through the ears) a vivid interpretation of the church building as the body of the mother of god. But there is also a more spiritual association to these images. The crossing of the door sill, the entering of a house, the passing through a sequence of rooms to an unknown centre is part of many initiation-rituals, meaning a spiritual journey towards another level of consciousness 32 . In this aspect, that can only be mentioned here, architecture becomes an image of the human as a spiritual being an idea that can manifest for example in the symbolism of the stair, in the order of different rooms or in the several levels of a building.

29 30

Cf. Bhl, 1935, p.18. Cf. Pieper, 2009, p.61. 31 Ibid. p.63. 32 Cf. for example Burckhardt, 2001, p.105ff and Pieper, 2009, p.62f.

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These ancient images that are certainly not just an idea, but a deeply felt archetypal analogy, were taken over by the alchemy and developed in a beautiful way there. Very important in Alchemy is the contrast of the artful clearly visible tower and the dark undefined natural cave. The tower contains and protects the athanor, the alchemical oven used to transform the metals.33 With its many levels its a skilful human creation, consciously built to keep any bad influences away from the transformation process (See fig.13). It is the beautiful human body that is housing the soul and protecting it during its transformation - the essential process of alchemy. The cave in the contrary is the mysterious indefinite subterranean world where the metals are growing and transforming over a long period of time. Its the womb, where all life comes from, where all life goes back to, eternally creating and digesting, hidden from our eyes. 34 The descent into the cave can be a journey to the origin, the prenatal existence in the security of the womb, away from the inconveniences of this world (See fig.13). Also, in many ancient Greek myths comes a moment when the invincible hero becomes fragile and sensible and descends into the darkness of the underworld to reflect about his deeds and to seek advice from his ancestors. Although, the cave is not an actual human creation, its anthropomorphism has had a big influence on the perception of the souterrain for example35 and is definitely present in the many artificial grots that mystify the gardens and parks of the Renaissance.

Fig. 13: Alchemical Tower. Woodcut from Hieronymus Brunschweig: Das Buch zu distillieren (1517). (From: www.thealchemywebsite.com)
33 34

Fig. 14: Alchemical Cave. Engraving from Musaeum hermeticum (1625). (From: www.thealchemywebsite.com)

Cf. Pieper, 2009, p.317. Ibid. p.52. 35 Ibid. p.52.

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As we have seen above by means of the Renaissance and Christianity, every anthropomorphism is a statement about the related world view and an image of human within. So what do these archetypal metaphors36 tell us about the world, the philosophy they are originating from? Often they are considered as a mere analogy, used to name and describe the unknown. Many scholars degrade them as a characteristic of primitive thinking.37 The primitive human, becoming conscious of his environment, averts his unease and expresses his astonishment by relating everything he sees and builds to the only thing he is familiar with: his own body. 38 Hence, the top of a house or a column to him is a head, the curved vault he calls breast, and the inner of the earth to him is as invisible and mysterious as the innards of his own body. - Of course it is an archetypal act to see something unknown in the image of oneself, we do it all the time, but solely this instinct is by far not adequate to explain the nature of these metaphoric anthropomorphisms. Why all the rituals then, celebrating these anthropomorphisms? Why all these ambiguous hints, this vague associations? Why not an architecture parlante, showing a human body when it is meant to be the image of it like Lequeu did it with his cowshed that was built in the shape of a cow? (See fig. 15)

Fig. 15: Southern view of a Cows stable on a cool meadow. Jean-Jaques Lequeu (1790). (From: www.architect4u.ru)

36

These metaphors are by no means limited to architecture. Similar images can be found in the ancient myths about the origin of mountains, rivers, countries or cities. Many stories tell about the foundation of towns or settlements by taming a god or natural force. Under the holy cities of India for example lives a Vastu Purusha, a spirit of space who covers face down the area of the city. 37 Cf. Pieper, 2009, p.65. 38 Cf. Frings, 1998, p.11. Also: Naredi, 2001, p.91.

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The key to the real understanding lies in the ancient cosmologies. Comprehending them offers a whole new perception of the anthropomorphic nature of architecture. Interestingly these cosmologies, although having different particularities, in their basic ideas are very similar all over the world. In this world view that one could call religious,39 the world is not a flat physical space a meaningless agglomeration of coincidences and necessities, but its a rather heterogeneous pattern of sacred spaces that are linked to the Divine, and that are distinct from the surrounding chaos, the non-existence. This sacred space is where the Divine breaks into the material world. Its the centre, that forms the cosmos. Within this cosmos, everything is a symbol of the Divine, even the humblest activity is sacred in a way. This archetypal experience leads to the image of the ontological axis, the connection between the earthly and the Divine that can be found in so many cultures. This axis, this hierophany is the only orientation one can have on earth. It lancinates the fog of the material world and opens it to the Divine. This opening doesnt happen once, it can be manifold, because its not a geometric centre but a spiritual experience. Everything that is of divine origin carries this centre in a way. And this suffusion by the divine light makes every little thing an image of the whole. The inhabited landscape, the temple, the house, are therefore, like the human, a microcosmic image of the universe40 And they all carry the image of the Divine creator because they are all linked to the Divine realm. 41 The human consciousness is born essentially from this verticality. 42 He is an ontological axis, a fact that is emphasized by the long robes people wear in many traditional societies. And the houses he creates after the cosmic plan, of course, show the same connectedness to the Divine. 43 A traditional house could never exist out of itself or just for itself. To be real, it needs this link; it needs to be an axis mundi, a centre. This cosmic symbolism often shows in the way of building or in the rituals related to it.44 Many traditions know in one way or the other a pole or a central column holding

39 40

Eliade suggests this term as opposed to the modern world view. Cf. Eliade, 1957, p.27. 41 Ibid. P.103. 42 Cf. Pieper, 2009, p.52. 43 Cf. Eliade, 1957, p.102. 44 Ibid. p.32.

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the roof or even going through it. The vertical element of the house is at least as important as the horizontal earthly dimension. In India there is a special kind of tower used for religious purposes with an opening in the top. This opening is called Brahmarandhra, a word that also means the hole made in the skull to release the soul from the dead body.45 In other Traditions a part of the roof is removed to help a person in long agony to die. Others know the image of the soul, who after death or in ecstasy, leaves through a hole in the roof or through the chimney. It symbolizes the transformation from the earthly limited existence to the perfect freedom of the divine realm. In early China and in Etruria, the urns are shaped like a house with an opening in the top. They are the new house, the new body allowing the soul to leave and to enter. Even the sun after an old Chinese myth, lives in such a houseshaped urn at light, coming out every morning and going back there in the evening. 46 We live in our body like we live in a house. The likeness is therefore twofold: An Indian Hathayogic text (Goraksha Shataka,) calls the body a house with a column and nine doors47 Thus, building a house is never just a technical issue, its a cosmic act. Its a repetition and a remembrance of the first cosmogony. Building is a creation out of ourselves like the birth of a child.48 When building, we pass on the divine plan we were made of, like we pass on our genes. Even the physical material is the same in both cases. Man and house, they are both made from the same clay following the same divine plan. 49 The words to build and to beget illustrate this quite clearly: Both relate back to the same Indo-Germanic word bhu which is the origin for a whole group of words around the idea of existence (being!), earth, and creating.50 Several Traditions know similar rituals for birth and building a house. In the rituals of the Batammaliba, a tribe in western Africa, two balls of earth are incorporated into each house foundation to protect the house and provide it with sacred identity. Similar earthen balls are identified with human inception. A small

45 46

Ibid. p.102. Cf. Hentze, 1955, p.47ff. 47 Quoted from: Eliade, 1957, p.101. 48 Cf. Pieper, 2009, p.76. 49 Cf. Eliade, 1957, p.27. 50 Cf. Groddeck, 1933, p.41.

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ball of earth and clay is made by the midwife following the birth of each child. 51 It becomes evident now that all these anthropomorphisms are not ideas or theories or mere analogies to explain the unknown, they are archetypal feelings; they are an experience everyone makes who lives with the natural world. Thats why they are constants in history appearing in so many different traditions. Also they are nothing occult or magic, they are not an interesting addition to a building one could apply or omit - They are the building, even the cosmos, its their anthropomorphic nature what brings them into existence. To religious man they are as mysterious as the whole world itself. This is what we have to bear in mind when we look at the ancient temples trying to reveal their meaning. Because with this perception, some putative coincidences or revealed meanings, however one might see it, explain quite naturally. A beautiful example is the west-faade of Chartres Cathedral. It has been pointed out that the division of the wall and its geometries comply exactly with the chakras of the eastern tradition (See fig. 16 and 17) 52 . The big rose window for example with its twelvefold geometry corresponds with the twelvefold rosette of the heart chakra, followed downwards by the tenfold chakra of the solar plexus which is represented by the big window divided into ten segments. And so it goes on, down to the fourfold root chakra and the squared door. One could ask now where this clearly anthropomorphic structure comes from, whether the medieval masons knew about the chakras, but most importantly we should see that its a universal truth manifesting here. The models for the places of worship are from a divine origin just like human has been created following a divine plan. 53 Lucky the mason who manifested this truth without even knowing all its details! The same perception one should apply to the examples mentioned above where the plan of the building allegedly copes with the human figure.

51 52

Cf. Bliers, 1995, p.48. Cf. Video: Chartres Cathedral. 53 Cf. Eliade, 1957, p.36f.

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Fig. 16: The Chakras of the human body. (From: Wikipedia.org)

Fig. 17: Chartres Cathedral West-Faade (From: Cowen, 2005, p.77) Drawing for an anthropomorphic door by Borromini

Islam and the Modern World - Two Examples for the Lack of Anthropomorphisms
To complete the image of the anthropomorphic phenomenon, it is interesting to have a look at two world-views that dont know any anthropomorphism in their architecture, both for very different reasons. In Islamic art there is no space for anthropomorphisms.54 The central idea of the Islamic philosophy is the unity of God that outpours into the multiplicity of the created world and yet remains one. The purpose of Islamic art is therefore not to depict or imitate this multiplicity, but rather to remember us of the unity, the archetype behind every created thing. No mere depiction or imitation of the world could express the divine unity. Thus, Architecture with its abstract geometric proportions and patterns, is like every traditional Islamic art a symbol for the unity of god and for nothing else. An anthropomorphic architecture would be confusion of two realities, a lack of truthfulness. A building is a building and human is human. Why imputing human characteristics to a building?

54

The passage is based on: Burckhardt, 2001, p.143ff.

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Nevertheless the Islamic world view has its roots in the ancient cosmologies. Its not so much an overcoming of the old ideas as it is a refinement resulting in a highly spiritual philosophy. Completely different is the case in the modern world. What happened in the last centuries is quite obvious and doesnt need a lot of explanation. The world fell apart, the axis mundi broke, or rather was cut and any true idea of the symbol and the connectedness of the created world got lost. And most importantly we lost the centre. The heavens closed and human was left alone. With the loss of the human image as a divine being, we lost the meaning of architecture thats the last great anthropomorphism of our age. The divine human became Lhomme machine, the house, the little cosmos, became a geometric box rootless and roofless, caught in its own insignificance. Like it happened to Vitruv that the cosmic image slipped from his hands, leaving nothing but a numb mathematical system, all the great theories from the Renaissance onwards couldnt keep the image of the human as a divine being, despite the best intention. Maybe its exactly this similarity, which explains the great fascination the Vitruvian ideas had on the architects and scholars since the Renaissance! No good will was able stop this process. Oscar Schlemmers statement The Human body is the measure for everything and offers so many possibilities for building and craft that our task can only be to emphasize the essential, 55 sounds like a far echo that has been reflected too often to carry any powerful message. The same dull reflexion of the ancient ideas appears in Le Corbusiers Modulor, a system of golden means derived from the human body (See fig 18). The Modulor was supposed to regulate the proportions of building, a universal formula that should be applied in every case and that would also give a standardized base for all sorts of industrial production. But in the end it was the same Le Corbusier who proclaimed the house as une machine demuerer, a machine for residing, serving just the material needs of everyday life. 56 This idea of seeing the house as a machine sounds polemic and it was intended to be, but to modern man the whole world had decayed into a

55 56

Oscar Schlemmer, Briefe und Tagebcher. Quoted from: Naredi, 2001, p.101. Le Corbusier, 2007, p.151.

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machine. The cosmos had become intransparent, motionless and dumb. A world in the traditional sense didnt exist anymore. All that was left was the physical reality of the geometric space with its machine-like mechanisms of evolution. 57

Fig. 18: The Modulor, Le Corbusier (1950). (From: Naredi, 2001, p.102)

57

Cf. Eliade, 1957, p.104.

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Conclusion Consequences for a Traditional way of Building

Seeing all these various images together as one phenomenon that weaves through human history, it shows quite clearly that an architecture that we consider as true and beautiful often shows an anthropomorphic face. Beautiful Architecture is never just a pleasant form; it carries a content that goes far beyond the material aspect. To the careful observer its whole appearance and every detail reveals a world view - a cosmology whose centre is often the image of man and his place in cosmos. An aspect that is often neglected in our endeavour to give our architecture a face again. Traditional architecture if we want to apply this term, has to carry these essential contents, it has to be a statement about our place in the world otherwise its just staffage. Of course this neednt necessarily result in an anthropomorphic concept as the Islamic Architecture shows, but the base for the abstractness there is completely different from the abstractness of the modern world. The one is an abstraction (which means literally to pull away) from the visible appearance of the things, opening the eye for the invisible, the other is an abstraction of everything from everything, of human from its origin and its home. Islamic Art is not a denial of the human as a divine creation like in modern thinking, but rather a refinement of the image to its highest dignity. Man is part of the divine unity there and not an insignificant cog in the machinery of the world. But this Islamic view is so gracile, so spiritual, that it is difficult to apply it to a building in the western world without further ado. Thus, it is worth considering anthropomorphisms as a major constituent for any approach to a traditional way of building. Although, of course its neither possible to create something like the ancient cosmologies overnight, nor is it possible to revive any of the past world-views, but it is high time to reconstitute the image of ourselves! Without a truthful image of man, we wont be able to create any truly beautiful architecture or environment in general. To achieve this, there is but one way: Remembering that we are an axis mundi which is: regaining the certitude that we are made in the likeness of God.

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www.thealchemywebsite.com (19.08.2012) www.tu-cottbus.de (19.08.2012) www.Wikipedia.org (19.08.2012) www.architect4u.ru (19.08.2012)

Picture on the cover from: Cresti, Carlo (1998): Ville e palazzi di Roma. Udine. p.20.

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