left: Jacob’s Ladder below: window candle right: column detail
T he vestigial content of architecture plays weak, in light of recent events, moving nearer to extinction every year. This statement may appear severe, but architecture and civic form cannot expect the world to accept its cultural significance if it begins its corporeal existence as a secondary thought within a fractured building process. To counterpoise this situation, we must look to buildings where the level of craft is matched by the their phenomenal content. These build- ings, as rich in meaning as imagery, are a rare breed. One such example exists north of Toronto in a small farming village formerly named the Village of Hope — a building as idiosyncratic as the community that constructed it. Located in the township of East Gwillumbury, Ontario, (formerly theVil- lage of Hope) the Sharon Temple was erected by a short-lived religious sect but stands as an enduring symbol of tectonic culture. Originally called the Temple of Peace, it was built between 1825 and 1832 by the Children of Peace, a breakaway sect of the Quakers led by an enigmatic preacher named David Willson. The building team, which was lead by Ebenezer Doan, a master builder, and his brother John, a master carpen-
ter, carried on the traditions of Quaker construction, with an expanded formal language based on the literal and metaphorical translation of the sect’s beliefs (for expample, the column as apostle). Often referred to as the Davidites, the Children of Peace owed most of their core beliefs and ritual differences to Willson, including musical accompaniment for religious gatherings and ornamentation inspired by the Bible’s Old Tes- tament, in particular Solomon’s Temple. This extreme shift in commu- nity focus from the reserved simplicity of the Quaker tradition to an active utopian pioneer vision typified the unique character of it mem - bership and its civic form. The Sharon Temple is a singular structure within the tumultuous politi- cal and religious history of nineteenth century North America, and study reveals a cursory insight into its community. Willson made the seldom-used meeting hall a focal point within the community through a careful manifestation of human ideals, religious ceremonial significance and formal reference to biblical history. Experiments in form and space, carried through earlier Quaker and Davidite buildings on site, culmi- nated in this building, which was auspiciously designed to collect alms
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ON SITE review 6: BEAUTY
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