Our initial reaction to this question may be to see architecture as not at all sacred. Upon further consideration, it becomes evident that architecture is intimitely bound with the cosmos, and consequently intimitely bound with theos.
How is architeture bound with the cosmos?
Architecture is fundamentally bound with the world through material, creation, and proportion.
Material does not exist within sacred architecture as it does within popular or contemporary architecture; as innate and meaningless until the human mind imposes order upon it. Material is the basic building block for sacred architecture, and is fundamentally the mother from which sacred architecture is born. The potential inherent in material can only be actualised in the moment of creation.
Creation is the mythic beginning of all things, and the creation of sacred architecture participtes in this creation. Building sacred architecture consecrates the material at hand, and ultimately the entire cosmos. Man participates in the creation of the cosmos through creation of sacred architecture.
Proportion arises from creation in that creation allows for a relation to the entire cosmos. This relation is a proportional realtionship. From the act of building, the world is consecrated and rendered in a new proportional relationship.
How is the cosmos bound with theos?
Theos presents itself when considering the cosmos. Encountering the world and cosmos is the principle source for religious awareness. The inexplicable presence of theos immediately makes itself known through the cosmos.