University Archives

This study explored how small-scale Chaldean catholic adoration chapels function as intentionally designed architectural environments that foster psychological healing and inner spiritual connection. This investigation questioned whether users consciously perceive architectural influence in their experiences of prayer and restoration

Sacred architecture has historically shaped human encounters with transcendence through spatial atmosphere, materiality, and sensory experience. Despite the prevalence of Eucharistic Adoration chapels within devotional life, their specific architectural contribution to healing and inner connection remains underexamined.

Research questions included how healing occurs spatially within adoration chapels, what architectural characteristics most contribute to emotional restoration and divine intimacy, and how these chapels differ experientially from larger church sanctuaries.

The study employed literature review, spatial analysis, comparative case studies of three adoration chapels, and qualitative user surveys to examine experiential responses to sacred environments.

Findings revealed that users consistently associated reduced spatial scale, subdued lighting, acoustic stillness, and visual centrality of the eucharist with feelings of calm, safety, clarity, and spiritual closeness. These spatial conditions contribute to psychological restoration and support deeper contemplative engagement with sacred architectural settings.

Work Cited

Böhme, Gernot. Atmosphere as the Fundamental Concept of a New Aesthetics. Ashgate, 2017.

Norberg-Schulz, Christian. Genius Loci: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture. Rizzoli, 1980.

Zumthor, Peter. Atmospheres: Architectural Environments – Surrounding Objects. Birkhäuser, 2006.

Catechism of the Catholic Church. Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1994.

Kaplan, Rachel and Stephen Kaplan. The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective. Cambridge University Press, 1989.

Pallasmaa, Juhani. The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses. Wiley, 2005.