Designing a universal sacred space for all religions presents quite a challenge. While all places of worship are "designed to reveal something of the spiritual realm and to provide an experience beyond the normal and mundane" (Lazzari & Schlesier), they all achieve this goal in different ways. One main difficulty we encountered in unifying all the religions in a single sacred space was the challenge of reconciling religious elements, particularly gods.
Some religions, particularly Asian religions, are tolerant of other beliefs and deities. But many religions are intolerant, especially of other deities. Rather than ignoring the intolerance of some religions and incorporating figures of all the different gods, our sacred space would be as neutral as possible. The absence of images of deities will be offset by using alters (which were common among many sacred spaces) as well as having areas designated for a portable deity's image; the choice of which deity would be up to the worshipper(s) present in the sacred space at any given time.
Once this problem was resolved, we moved on to the actual structure of the space itself. We decided that the sacred space would need to be enormous, in fact colossal in size, and tall, with high ceilings to reflect the belief of many religions that being higher puts you closer to heaven. The building would also be elaborate, tiered, inviting of sunlight through open spaces, positioned on an elevated area such as a mountain, and accommodating of natural elements.
Incorporating these design features resulted in an enormous pyramid structure made with a natural resource (steel) and glass. The top of the pyramid is accessible to worshippers so that they may be closer to their gods. The glass is positioned in sections of squares, allowing light and wind to flow through. The interior of the pyramid contains common sacred places with designated areas for portable images (brought by the worshippers) and an open-air theatre. The sacred space (pyramid) is in a natural setting surrounded by trees, picturesque mountains, and a nearby river.
The pyramid would have entrances on all four of its sides. Within, gardens would be found (harmony with nature) along with four different structures. Worshippers would choose which structure they would worship in based on their preferences. The first of these (if approached from the south entrance of the pyramid) would be a stone fountain. As its name suggests, the structure would be made of stones (arranged much like those of Stonehenge), with the addition of a fountain in the center and the word “love” spelled out by 4 of the stones (this was done to reflect the common concept of love in most religions). The second structure, directly north of the stone fountain, would be an open-air theatre made of marble and limestone (Greek influence). Surrounded by trees, this space would provide plenty of seating to facilitate collective worship. The third structure, in the north-west corner of the pyramid, is the “Hope Building”, which is designed to accommodate many modern worshippers who would likely feel more comfortable in this kind of traditional Christian church setting. Next, to the east of the “Hope Building” would be the “Multi-functional Hall”. The architecture for this structure borrows heavily from the Altar and Temple of Heaven, and is intended to be a multi-purpose hall that might fulfill worship functions the other buildings could not. Lastly, in the southwest corner of the pyramid we would have a park with a pavilion (resembling the Shinto Shrine) and a small playground so that even children would be welcome in the sacred space. Altogether, these structures (as well as the larger one they are contained within) communicate peace and harmony with each other – which is another concept common to many sacred sites.
