1. Sensitivity

There are several dimensions of sensitivity that work in concert in contemplative architecture:

• Ecology: sensitivity to nature, to the land, to the earth and its many forms of life

• Aesthetics: sensitivity to the forms, proportions and patterns of nature

• Feeling: sensitivity to the energies and flows of nature, and the craft of harmonizing them

• Compassion: sensitivity to the potential helpful or harmful impacts of our choices and actions

• Responsibility: compassion in action, minimizing harm and contributing to solutions

2. Reverence

With the sensitivity described above, we naturally develop an ever-deepening sense of reverence for the astounding genius of nature and its incomparably perfect beauty. The more we see and feel the sacredness in nature, the more we are filled with respect, humility and awe. Contemplative architecture is allowing this reverence to shape and guide the design and building processes.

3. Holism

In our context, the term ‘holistic’ means being a whole person sensing a whole multi-dimensional context in which to create a whole solution that is harmonious on all levels. In terms of contemplative architecture, this means, among other things, understanding spaces and structures as systems existing interdependently within larger systems — and that includes not only the architecture but also the architect herself.

4. Embodiment

This course is as interested in inner architecture as it is in the outer; as devoted to the practitioner as it is to the product. In the practice of contemplative architecture, the creator and the creation are inseparable. It is by bringing out the greatest potentials within the builder that the greatest potentials of the building manifest. Embodiment also means upholding our values with integrity and taking responsibility for the impacts of our creations on all levels— personal, social, ecological, and so on. In this course, we support the cultivation of embodiment through the integration of meditation, yoga, personal development processes, and mindful work — and, of course, sustainability.

5. Harmonious design

Building on the foundations of sensitivity, reverence, holism, and embodiment, the architect is in a better position to approach the art and craft of harmonious design. This refers to both product and process, meaning not only is the design itself an embodiment of harmony, reflecting the sacred, but also the entire process by which the design is formulated and executed is infused with those qualities. Also essential to this harmony is that a design’s use of space and form are sensitively tuned to the functions that will be happening in the space, using the power of space and form to support and catalyze those functions. Thus, harmonious design is both a cause and the effect, and its ripples flow into the experience of those who enjoy the space that has been created, helping to bring harmony to them. 

AREAS OF LEARNING & PRACTICE

• Nature’s design: Examining the recurring patterns of shape and form in nature and refining our understanding of what it is that creates harmony in shape and form, and how it impacts us as humans (and vice versa).

• Contemplative geometry: Beginning with a fresh look at the basic building blocks —  points, lines, basic polygons and Platonic solids — and how we can understand geometric harmonies better through being able to measure them, create them with our hands, and build a design vocabulary around them.

• Traditions of sacred architecture: Introductory overview of sacred architecture traditions from around the world, including vastu and other similar and complementary systems.

• Case studies of sacred spaces in both the built environment and the natural environment.

• Examinations of relevant architects and their philosophies and work, e.g. Buckminster Fuller, Didi Contractor, Sashikala Ananth, Glenn Murcutt, et al.

• Permaculture philosophy and other ways of looking at harmony between the built environment, the cultivated environment, and the natural environment.

• The energetics of space: the physical impacts of sacred geometry on living beings, and other contributing factors such as electromagnetic pollution, ley lines, geopathic stress, etc.

• Other specialized topics presented by faculty and special guests.

• All of the above may be explored in a variety of ways, including:

  • Hands-on activities around Dharmalaya’s campus

  • Drawing exercises

  • Observation exercises

  • A collection of richly fascinating readings, some of which will be followed by group discussions to help us unpack, understand, and digest the material

  • Documentary films and short videos

  • Writing and journaling assignments

  • Individual/group research assignments 

  • Group and one-on-one discussions

  • And more

SKILLS & CAPACITIES TO BE DEVELOPED

• Sensitivity: Cultivating an attentive presence that notices more than we ever have before, with greater openness, sensitivity and empathy. We develop our capacities for observation, deep listening, reflection and contemplative practice.

• An eye for harmony: Through our cultivation of sensitivity, we discover a more refined attunement to harmony and the various elements that can contribute to it or detract from it

• Using our hands: Drawing (including proficiency with drawing tools such as compass and protractor), sketching, model-making, using basic tools, working with earth as a material, etc.

• Site study: Seeing and feeling a space (natural or built) in the context of its surroundings, as a living system, and refining the skill of noticing, and especially cultivating the capacity to notice the various elements that work together to make a space feel life-affirming.

• Systems thinking: Seeing everything (including a site, an object, a structure, and ourselves and others) not as isolated ‘things’ but rather as systems within larger systems, all inextricably interdependent, and learning to approach design and problem-solving with that systems view.

• A shared vocabulary: The exploration of all of these ideas and practices together, and plenty of discussion about all of it, will help us establish a shared vocabulary around nature and design and sacredness that will help us go deeper into these experiences as we move through the course.

AREAS OF LEARNING & PRACTICE

A) Design exercises: becoming intimate with nature’s ways through shape and form

A series of engaging design exercises to help acquaint participants with different dimensions of natural design through integrated study and practice, including practicing sensitive composition, experiencing shape and form with the senses, and more. These exercises will help participants question assumptions about design, about the creative process, and about ourselves and the world we live in. They will provide opportunities to unlearn some of the formal training that might actually be an obstacle to more harmonious design, and will encourage playfulness and free creative exploration within a state of deeper connectedness.

B) Design of spaces and structures on campus

After covering some of the foundational course material and completing some initial design exercises, we will begin channelling these skills and sensitivities into collaborative design projects for spaces and structures that are part of the long-term master plan for Dharmalaya’s eco-campus. These will include small and medium structures as well as outdoor spaces (‘landscape architecture’ incorporating permaculture design principles). Most of this design studio work will probably take place during the 2nd and 3rd modules.

In each case, we will begin with a site study, then follow with a design brief, and then ask the participants to make a deep and personal enquiry into the brief. There will be opportunities both for individual consideration of the designs and for collaborative design processes.

The master plan includes a variety of spaces and structures yet to be designed and built. It will take many years to complete all of them, but each one-year course will start with the projects of highest priority for the Institute. Our objective for the course is that every participant in the yearlong course will have the opportunity to be involved in a design process for at least two different spaces/structures on campus.

Some of the spaces and structures in the master plan that might be explored in this course — at least at the level of considering possible design solutions —  could include any two of the following (or possibly more if time allows):

• One or more outdoor or semi-enclosed spaces for learning, discussion or relaxation, to be integrated both visually and functionally with the surrounding gardens and landscape. These might be expressed with a minimalist structure or solely through landscaping (without any built structure).

• A new, larger compost shed in our gardens, near our gardener’s cottage.

• Free-standing meditation retreat structures, each being just big enough to accommodate one person in long-term retreat. One unique benefit of this project is that it will require participants to immerse themselves in the experience of meditation retreat, in order to gain deeper personal insight into the function we are investigating (a win-win).

• One or more organic garden beds, integrated into the flow of the master plan for the campus. Some of these will feature sitting areas for discussion or relaxation.

• An entrance gateway for the campus, marking arrival in sacred space.

• A stupa, which eventually is to be designed and constructed as per Buddhist tradition at the direction of Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, guided by a stupa builder he will appoint, with study of the history, symbolism, and function of the stupa. [Note: for safety reasons, the stupa project will begin only after the danger of the covid-19 pandemic has completely passed, so we predict it’s very unlikely to occur in 2022, but might begin in 2023 if circumstances allow.]

• Final stages of existing structures that are nearly complete except that some of the finishing details are yet to be designed.

• Other complementary features to bring cohesion to the master plan.

SKILLS & CAPACITIES TO BE DEVELOPED

• Design thinking: A holistic way of seeing, understanding, contemplating, problem-solving, and creating, which considers design challenges from many angles and seeks solutions that work well in all respects.

• Design craft: Applying one’s deepening sensitivity to the design process to cultivate the practice of contemplative design, and developing our skills at each stage of the design process, from site study to initial design, through iterative refinement, to a design that feels finely tuned and ready to manifest.

• Master planning: Starting with the big picture, envisioning a healthy and life-affirming master plan that expresses and facilitates harmony between all the elements of the site, its surroundings, and the people and activities within it.

AREAS OF LEARNING & PRACTICE

Construction & landscaping

As the design process evolves, participants will have precious opportunities to apply and refine these design skills and sensitivities through hands-on work in at least two different spaces and structures on Dharmalaya’s eco-campus, such as those mentioned under ‘Dimension B’ above.* In this way, you will help shape the future of the Dharmalaya campus — literally.

At Dharmalaya, we conduct these building and landscaping experiences not for speed but for quality of work and quality of learning. And in this course, naturally, the contemplative emphasis is even stronger: we will encourage participants to work mindfully, at a pace that supports attention to detail, refinement of craft, and enjoyment of the whole experience.

• Earthen building: Learning and practicing some of the basic skills of natural building, particularly in the neo-traditional Kangra style as developed and propagated by Didi Contractor, as well as other styles, to facilitate exposure to different materials and methods (as much as we can in one year, depending on weather and other circumstances).

• Permaculture landscaping: Integrating the built environment, the cultivated environment, and the surrounding natural environment.

• Organic gardens: Creating beautiful and thriving gardens utilising various traditional and innovative techniques to create healthy soils for high-yield food-growing.

*Note that smaller projects can be completed easily within a one-year programme, but due to various circumstances beyond our control, construction of complete structures is likely to take more than one year to complete, so for participants wishing to engage in the construction of a building project from start to finish, it may be advisable to keep open the possibility of remaining for longer than one year (or for those who are unable to stay longer, there may be a possibility of taking a break and then returning, depending on availability of space in the next year’s programme).

SKILLS & CAPACITIES TO BE DEVELOPED

• Physical skills: Proficiency using the, hands, body and tools in the process of construction and landscaping.

• Attention to detail: Focusing on quality of work with mindful presence, noticing the small things, and working joyfully to do work with a level of quality that pleases both oneself and those who will have the opportunity to enjoy the final product.

• Building craft: An introduction to both theory and practice in one or more natural building techniques while working alongside Dharmalaya Institute’s artisans to develop your hands-on skills to a level of basic proficiency will aso give you a sense of natural building materials, how they behave in various contexts, and what can (and can’t) be done with them. This, in turn, informs the design craft since you’ll gain a gradually improving understanding of the materials and methods for which one is designing. Over the course of one year, diligent participants will have achieved at least a foundational familiarity with multiple materials and methods of natural building through these hands-on projects.

• Project management skills: Each participant will have opportunities to manage one or more projects, and to receive support, guidance, and feedback to foster the development of greater skill, sensitivity, and effectiveness in this role.

AREAS OF LEARNING & PRACTICE

• Movement: Exploring the impacts of natural design principles in our own natural form — the body itself — through yoga and other conscious movement practices, supported by a healthy plant-based diet. (Yoga instruction will be provided by Daphne Charles during the first few weeks of the course, and thereafter Daphne will continue to provide support as needed for each participant to practice their personalized yoga sequence. Instruction in the Taoist practices of chi kung may also be available for those with interest.)

• Stillness: Discovering our natural capacities for well-being and nuanced sensitivity through meditation and mindfulness practices, gaining direct experience of the positive impacts of meditation on both mind and body, and thereby gaining insight into one of the greatest benefits of natural design and sacred architecture.

• Balance: Cultivating a deeper, more personal, and more authentic experience of harmony and balance in our design approach through living a healthy and balanced lifestyle (including physical activity and proper rest, as well as healthy food).

• Connection: Enhancing our innate awareness of the connectedness of all living things and applying it in our harmonious collaboration with our fellow participants and the Dharmalaya community, and thereby deepening our embodied understanding of the connectedness of all the elements of our sites and projects.

• Insight: Contemplating the whys — the Big Questions of natural design, contemplative architecture and being human — designing the designer and building the builder. These philosophical and meditative explorations will draw on traditional wisdom, including time-honoured texts and practices.

SKILLS & CAPACITIES TO BE DEVELOPED

• Sustainable thriving: Growing and evolving as a compassionate and responsible local and global citizen; decreasing our harm footprint while optimizing our help footprint; living a deeply satisfying life while supporting others do the same.

• Contemplative practice: Cultivating a daily meditation and movement practice, which helps to reduce stress, enhance functioning, inspire creativity, and improve the quality of our work and our connections with others.

• Balanced sensitivity: Developing healthy and balanced empathy, compassion, and the essential skills of deep listening and patient and nuanced observation — in relation so self, others, our work, and the world.

• Creative process: Moving from vision to manifestation through effective, harmonious action.

• Conscious communication skills: Learning to communicate with greater sensitivity and effectiveness — understanding others better and learning to make ourselves better understood through mindful, clear, caring communication.

• Collaboration and leadership skills: Engaging with others more effectively in harmonious cooperation toward common goals.

• Musicality: Using the vehicle of sound to enhance our feel for harmony, rhythm, and flow.

• Spaciousness: Tapping into our natural ability to feel peace, joy, and breathing room in any situation, and helping others enjoy the same experience.