NODEM 2014 Proceedings

Spiritual Wonder Project: Crossing Boundaries to Create Engaging Spaces for Experiential Spiritual Journey...
initial sketches with the collaborators. The dance and music movements inspired the design team in developing
ideas for the thresholds. The designers installed an exterior exhibit utilizing various sensorial portals on the
ramp leading to the museum garden as a tribute to the new exhibition inside and to connect the visitors to the
art within the museum and the garden. The design team then researched ancient cultures to understand the
importance of sound and its influences on human beings. After careful considerations, designers designed the
sensorial portals which incorporated musical instruments to invoke “anahat naad” (the sound of the celestial
realm according to Indian Vedanta Philosophy). These sensorial portals invited the participants to touch and
play the musical instruments made by hand from the found objects, and hear the sound it generated. Utilizing
“dhwani” (sound vibration) as call to attention, these sensorial portals (seen as threshold changes) connected
the patrons with the universal reality of time and space as they move through the portals playing the instruments.
Large gongs were also utilized to develop the sound vibrations and were placed around the “Eternal
Light” sculpture. The sensorial portals also symbolized threshold changes in everyday life and initiated the
need for evaluation of one self, and invited one to take the spiritual journey within. In this guided experience,
the designers provided participative places on the ramp and in the garden where the participants became the
performers. A 12’ x 4 foot sculpture tilted “Eternal Flame” was designed and installed in the center of the garden
and lighted from within, symbolizing the intellectual and spiritual awakening through art. A lighting design
instructor was consulted and decision was made to use site specific lighting for the eternal flame sculpture
while the sensorial portals were lit by energy saver solar lights. Fiber Optic lighting was also utilized to create
the effect of water, the solar lights were utilized to symbolize the sun and to highlight threshold changes.
Figure 6. Eternal Frame Sculpture being installed on site
Photo Credit: Vibhavari Jani, Interior Architecture and Product Design Students, APDesign, Kansas State University.
The designers envisioned various portals to serve as guide posts, a “spiritual guide” on the path of self exploration
and developed engaging places that stimulated one’s senses and connected one with nature and the
Universe. The idea behind this project was to create an engaging experience that could start one on the path
NODEM 2014 Conference & Expo
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