HIGHLIGHTS | Sacred design

sacred 1. dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity 2. worthy of religious veneration 3. of or relating to religion : not secular or profane – says Merriam-Webster’s dictionary. We could list countless items in the history of mankind which we pay a different kind of attention to or look at differently for one reason or another. These are objects that even though exist in our physical environment, we still don’t think of them the same way we do with similar objects: the chalice used in churches is not a simple cup they pour wine into, but a sacred vessel, symbolizing the blood of Christ, and at the same time, the forgiveness of sins.

Connecting to the transcendent is one of the fondest desires of ordinary people, no matter the denomination. May it be consciously or subconsciously, we strive to create this connection, even those who opted for atheism. We try to express this desire in the form of various rituals and objects: may it be through meditation, prayer or Eucharist, we submit ourselves to the act of transubstantiation. Today, when we are flooded with audiovisual stimuli on a constant basis, perhaps we have an even harder job: in the continuous online presence, with our continuously beeping smartphones many times it is not easy to (also) pay attention to the transcendent. And even though we have our archaic objects that are inseparable from practicing our religion (or the manifestation of the same), there are also some modern examples designed by contemporary designers for the contemplating, in line with the requirements of the present day. And now let’s see some examples for these, from Seoul to Kiev.

Kitti Mayer
design theorist