On the second to last page of the 2016 Annual Awards Issue of Faith & Form magazine, Architectural designer, Justin Wadge, writes

“I strive to make the connection between architecture and the spirit by using physical space to stem the stream of thought.”

Stop right there. Consider the times when by the act of entering a Sacred space your thought parade slowed to a halt and ceased its endless performance. Certainly, we can all recall moments of stunning silence brought on by visual grandeur. Unfortunately for me, and perhaps for you, the conductor leading my thought parade quickly pulls out another piece: the one called, “wow, isn’t that amazing?”  followed by “Let me just take a few dozen pictures” and finally, “Time to go!”

The goal of this young, award-winning architect is “To move beyond the experience of a building as an unconscious continuity caught predictably between the past and the future, and provoke awareness of the infinite present.”

Wadge’s skill as a designer extends to his poetic use of language, or to be exact, to his sensitivity to the sacred spaces between words. He continues, “Look deeper. Notice the pronunciation of words in your head. There are no echoes in the thought space; there are no walls. The thoughts linger silently. Notice that the quiet expanse in your mind filled with thoughts is like the white space between words on this page.”

God dwells in these spaces, offering companionable refreshment to our wor(l)d-weary souls. Like Wadge, I seek these secret sanctuaries where words and thoughts fall away and space becomes an “extension of (my) senses.” I look forward to seeing more from this fine young architect/poet.

Read the full article here. And please subscribe to Faith & Form: The Interfaith Journal on Religion, Art and Architecture.

Visit Justin Wadge’s website.