From Steven Holl's "Anchoring":
"Ideas cultivated from the first perception of the site, meditations upon initial thoughts, or a reconsideration of existing topography can become the framework for invention. This mode of invention is focused through a relative space, as distinct from universal space." (pg 9)

I was having massive difficulties starting this project, trying to find some ordering principle/grid system/ constraint to limit the solution space to something more manageable than infinite. I was trying to force arbitrary systems.

"Within the phenomena of experience in a built construction the organizing idea is a hidden thread connecting disparate parts with exact intention." (10)


"Space exists as an oblivion without light." (11)

"Architectural thought is the working through of phenomena initiated by idea. By "making", we realize idea is only a seed for extension into phenomena... Whether reflecting on the unity of concept and sensation or the intertwining of idea and phenomena, the hope is to unite the intellect and feeling, precision with soul."(11)

This last portion has been echoing in my brain (albeit much less verbosely) since the begining of the project, but I have been unable to start searching through an idea by doing, so I was searching through ideas.
The question I have been trying to answer is: "What is the most beneficial (in terms of spiritual growth) experience?" Or: "In what context is the finding of [g]God facilitated?" Or: "What organizing idea gives the riches soil in which to plant understanding?"
While I adamantly claim not to know the answer to any of these questions, I have decided to explore the space of the sacred through compression and expansion. This will be the "hidden line" running throughout the building, the rubric by which I judge design decisions.