Proceedings of the International Conference on Religious Architecture (ICRA 2024)

This is an open access book.
Religion produced noteworthy architectures from the beginning of humanity. Religion gives meaning and direction to human life, and in the process unites and empowers human beings to direct their aspirations and resources to build spectacular works of houses of worship and gathering. Religious architecture fills a significant part of history of architecture.
Since ages, for the religions of mankind, human beings have evolved a plethora of forms in simple stone buildings to the ones in sophisticated modern materials and technologies. From an architectural point of view, every building built for religion is sacred, meaning it is dedicated to the powers beyond. However, the manifestations are so much varied, as they depend on the regulations sanctioned by different religious teachings combined with the society’s culture and tradition, and the builder’s intentions and aspirations. Added to that are the local environmental factors, the availability of building materials, existing building technology, and the time span of its development.
From what we know today, the oldest religious architecture could be found in Göbekli Tepe, built around 10.000 years ago, when humanity still lived as hunter gatherers. Architecture developed further into megalithic period, became increasingly monumental in the medieval age with colossal royal worship complexes. Up to modern times, we keep on building religious architectures with increasing elaboration.
The International Conference on Religious Architecture is organized with a hope to broaden our understanding and perspective in this often neglected field. The study in religious architecture is more acutely felt in the regions outside of Europe and America, while the demand is clearly pressing today. The Conference should serve as a forum for scholars in the field, hopefully being the first one in a series