SANCTUARY is an architectural exploration of sacred space. It explores its fundamental nature by constructing sacred space from the ordinary. Enclosed in common materials, erected for a temporary moment, and standing in an ordinary location, the Sanctuary is a space in which people can converge to share their sorrows, joys, and hopes, to witness without judgment, and to yearn for a greater understanding of our existence and true nature.

SANCTUARY 2024 is the latest in a series of art installations exploring the nature of sacred space. Creating sacred interaction on a public sidewalk at the Utah Pride Festival using cardboard and repurposed waste material, the structure seeks to invoke a sense of wonder, generate meaningful interaction through sharing and witnessing of personal experience, and create a memorable form and experience that lasts mere moments and suggests what is possible. The project speaks through exploring the paradoxes of the sacred and profane, high tech and low tech, designed and spontaneous, simple and monumental, new and repurposed.

Originally inspired by Bramante’s Tempietto, the project examines the origins, form, and context of sacred space at its intersection with the Pride community.