Water and Sacred Architecture

Anat Geva, PhD, a registered architect in Israel and Associate Member of the AIA, is Professor Emerita of Architecture in Texas A&M University, and the College of Architecture Outstanding Alumni. She taught design; history/design of sacred architecture; history of building technology; and historic preservation. She published many articles and three books: Frank Lloyd Wright Sacred Architecture: Faith, Form, and Building Technology (Routledge, 2012); Modernism and American Mid-20th Century Sacred Architecture (Routledge, 2019); and Israel Architecture as an Experimental Lab for Modern Architecture: 1948-1978: with Inbal Ben-Asher Gitler (Intellect Books, 2020). Geva's forthcoming book The Architecture of Modern American Synagogues (1950s-1960s) is currently in press (Texas A&M University Press). She also has an extensive record of editorial work: being a co-editor of Arris, and founder and co-editor of Preservation Education & Research. She is a recipient of several awards and research grants including the prestigious James Marston Fitch National Award for innovative research in historic preservation.

Introduction: Water and Sacred Architecture Part 1: Rituals 1. Beyond Baptism: Incorporating Water as a Primary Symbol in Contemporary Roman Catholic Church Architecture 2. Water and Ritual Wudu (Ablutions) in Canadian Mosques 3. Chattri and Kund: The Architecture of Kusum Sarovar, Govardhan, India 4. Sacred Water Architecture for Every Jew: Rabbi David Miller and DIY Mikvah in Charleston, South Carolina Part 2: Water as Material Culture and Place Making 5. Architecture, Water, and the Sacred in the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on Samothrace, Greece 6. Roman Waterscapes, Architecture, and Religion: Notions of Sacrality and Sensory Experience 7. Purifying the Stupa: Symbolism of the Lotus Flower in Buddhist Architecture 8. The Sacredness of Water and Place: African and Diasporic Religious Cultural Encounters Part 3: Environmental Impact 9. The ‘Sacred’ Architecture of Anupam Mishra's Water-Culture 10. Sacredness in The Presence and Absence of Water: The Case of Stepwells in Ahmedabad, India 11. Tethering Buddhism to Climate Change: Lessons from the Ladakhi Ice Stupa Part 4: Water Systems 12. Hymn to the Waters: Anāhitā in Ancient Persian Architecture 13. Tower and Temple: Re-sacralizing Water Infrastructure at Balkrishna Doshi’s GSFC Township 14. Geothermal Systems and Religious Ethics: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple, and First Unitarian Society of Madison Part 5: Modern Practice 15. Sacredness and Water in Contemporary Japanese Architecture: A reinterpretation of Ancient Traditions 16. Baptistries in Marcel Breuer and Associates’ American Catholic Sacred Spaces 17. Strength in Weakness – Daoist Waters and the Architecture of the Xinjin Zhi Museum Epilogue: The Expression of Water in Virtual Sacred Architecture: The Case of a Virtual Baptism