The perpetual quest for architectural meaning

The ?Hymn of the Soul,? written by the Apostle Thomas during his journey to the East, symbolically depicts the transition from unbelief to faith, a journey that mirrors the Apostle?s own spiritual progression. Hymn?s main character, the knight, weighed down by the food served by the Egyptians, falls into a deep sleep and forgets about the Pearl. In this context, the knight is portrayed as an architect, whose quest for meaning is hindered by societal norms. In his search, he faces various trials and is burdened by a sense of insecurity in achieving his goal. This entire process of searching represents a form of pilgrimage, which is often compared to a dream. This suggests that the processes of transition in the search are equally tied to an internal quest, reflected in architectural objects. For us, this is significant because the creative process of dreaming one?s personal projection represents a search, and this quest is the central theme of the work. As a religious motif, pilgrimage builds a clear connection to the world of oneirism. Dreaming, as a cognitive activity that always reveals something deeper, is understood as a concrete potential for the method of architectural projection. The ?language? of the dream is interpreted as the concretization of design direction, while transcendence to a higher level, through the feeling of awakening, involves the full integration of consciousness with the hidden object of perception, which represents the author?s innermost thoughts. This work presents an overview of the genesis of methods significant for design, and in this sense, its form follows the theme by simulating the cyclic nature of the design process. The ?Hymn of the Soul,? ?Ode to the Pearl,? ?Hymn of the Robe of Glory,? or ?Hymn of Judas Thomas the Apostle?-an excerpt from the apocryphal Acts of Thomas is used to illustrate the relationship between the architect, the object, and society. Social norms present obstacles that, by their nature, make it difficult for us to connect with beauty itself, which is the bearer of architectural meaning.