So after all the ranting over my disenfranchisement from the average interior, here's the kicker: I am in a position to have significant input into the interior design, furnishings and artistic commissions pertaining to a new worship space in the city. And I find this exciting!
The space itself is a renovated interior, and a damned complicated interior at that. It is an atrium constructed in the center of a mid-60's elementary school building. It has an off-center inverse-peak concrete ceiling, two lines of skylight windows set vertically above the roofline on the north and south sides, walls of brick tile and concrete block, and a cement floor. It was for a long time subdivided for classroom space; we recently removed the interior walls and exposed quite a lot of added ductwork, sprinkler pipe and cabling. The acoustics are chaotic. The whole room is not two-storied; the central portion is, but about one-third of the square footage is actually beneath a one-story overhang.
The overall space is almost-symmetrical from every direction, but there is no perfect orientation. Since we will likely site the altar on the East wall, the asymmetry will only be noticeable if one looks up, given the off-center inverse roofline: picture an inverted triangle, one side slightly longer than the other, its peak pointing down at you. Its the Sword of Damocles, that roof! Though fortunately well above the casual sightline. We plan to suspend much of the lighting, which will be a trial for the installers but will "even out" the upper portion of the space in some degree. We may stick with hard flooring versus carpet, but will shim out the walls to soften the sound, soften the look, make space for wiring and audio, etc. We also plan to build simple walls and track lighting under the overhangs to create space for art to be shown there.
The design team is struggling a bit with the architect. Enough said about that.
Worship space. Suitable for varying congregations from four different faith backgrounds -- Lutheran, East-African Seventh Day Adventist, Hispanic Pentacostal, Black Charismatic. It's the Lutherans building the space, paying for it. We really do want everyone to be comfortable there, even inspired.
Sounds complicated, doesn't it?
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