Conceptual Film - P i l g r i m a g e

Following is the conceptual film created as an exploration of the notions of pilgrimage in relation to architecture and urbanism.

This text was read during the screening of the film during the presentation:

Religious pilgrimage has defined the identity of cities throughout history and shaped the architecture and life of the city. Drawing upon these precedents the project serves to tie the City of Newcastle to the religious fabric intertwined throughout the world.

Newcastle is a city plagued by generic architectural developments, which fail to address the fundamental issue of the city’s identity. Leaving Newcastle imprisoned between its industrial past and its post-industrial future. The project explores the city’s religious foundations, an identity that has long been forgotten. A new urban fabric is weaved into the city, forming a spiritual infrastructure, a pilgrimage path and framework for the spiritual transformation of the urban pilgrim.

Pilgrimage is a process of revealing and discovery – “there are destinations, but only as points along a line of movement made necessary by” ones desire to see spiritual metamorphosis. It is the accumulation of experiences, moments and encounters which bring about the spiritual change. The journey is not linear but it does follow a path to a final destination.

Each pilgrim will have unique experiences leading to a unique transformation, but each is a united by the truth that they are a living temple for the spirit of God. No longer does God dwell in temples made by human hands, but in the hearts of His people. The architecture framing the pilgrimage does not contain God, but rather becomes the dwelling place for the vessels carrying His presence. The architecture is empowered and made sacred because it is dwelled in.

The project becomes the framework for the final destination of the pilgrimage; it becomes the womb or cocoon in which the final metamorphosis takes place.