Customer Reviews

Spiritual Path, Sacred Place

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I would not recommend this book for readers looking for a book of general interest. Unfortunately for this book, that general audience seems to be the target audience.

As I read it, generally to aid me in falling to sleep each night (very successful!), I am usually caught musing on the disparity between the nobility of the book's topic and scope and the comparatively superficial manner in which the author follows his topic. To be more specific, the task is to illustrate the role of "path" and "place" in sacred (religious) architecture, and try to deduce lessons about world religions from the way those roles are treated in different instances. The failure in execution of this book stems from a mild dearth of examples, a hard-to-swallow selectivity in choosing examples, as well as the timidity of the authors conclusions. It is as if he too understands the shortcomings of his methodology in arriving at the difficult conclusions he searches for and holds back. While I appreciated the multitudinous and illustrative citations to Joseph Campbell and Mircea Eliade, the author's academic ego (mostly pettiness over points of diction)overcasts and dims the edge of his message.

With more research, more examples, more diagrams, a deeper understanding of the world's religions, a feeling for the philosophical context of the work, some passion for the topic, and a better editor, this book could still be revised into a worthy study.

Architecture as a dynamic subject, and sacred architecture as part of a profound professional responsibility, deserves better, more serious and studious treatment than what is found in this poorly authored dreg. Written from the ivory tower perspective of a tragically shortsighted academic's perspective, this lofty subject falls terribly short of its potential. One would hope that a true academic scholar would research his subject in a comprehensive manner. It became painfully obvious that although the author may have a general understanding of "architecture", he misses his mark when dealing with the complexity of sacred architecture. In picking up this book, I had hoped to draw real meaning from the work, instead, not only was I bored out of my mind, but I lost almost all interest in the subject due to the mishandling of the theme. It became sadly obvious that the author should have teamed with a religious scholar or theologian in the creation of this "work". Ultimately, it left me empty when I sought enrichment, it left me still searching when I sought an experienced guide, and it left me hollow as I sought substance. This is a classic case of the architect needing to "go back to the drawing board" or more appropriately, back to the word processor and ultimately back to school!

I would certainly recommend this work highly to architectural scholars, and, if for no other reason but to create an open dialogue about more meaningful built environments, to the broader general audience.
While a superficial(--or perhaps "shortsighted") reading of Barrie's thesis could potentially drain one's interest from the discussion of a sacred architecture, "Spiritual Path, Sacred Place" addresses the topic in a manner that provoked further discussion with colleagues and greater self-reflection upon the existence and significance of sacred architecuture throughout the world.
What I loved about this book was its supposition that human faith and conviction have the profound ability to recompose the meaning of an otherwise mundane edifice into the divine(further evidencing that the meaning of architecture isn't static and is uniquely individual in its univserality). I found this book immensely insightful with its Campbellian discussion of the interplay of spiritual and metaphorical meaning and the articulation of architectural form. The number of case studies(while perhaps not as comprehensive in scope or diversity as one might hope) was sufficient to address the premise of Barrie's work. For the diligent reader who does take the book's mental challenge to further pursue not only the discussion of sacred architecture but also further researches the case studies, Barrie's work is quite evidently brilliant.

This book is incredible if you have any interest in architecture or art. The author's style of writing is clear, concise, and captivating!

I ordered this book for my college age daughter for her architecture class. It is an out of print book. When my package came a cookbook was in it. I called the company and they tracked my book and found that my book and the cook book had been sent to the wrong people. They had me package up the cookbook and send it to the correct recepient and the lady that received my book sent it to me. This did take an extra week, but the company rembursed me for the postage and the entire cost of the book. So technically the book was free, minus the time it took to mail the cookbook. Luckily I didn't need the book until November so all is well.