Open Sky Temple
Type: Pavilion
Medium: Rhino + Grasshopper
Material: Wood
Year: 2025
Medium: Rhino + Grasshopper
Material: Wood
Year: 2025
In the shelter of the forest, where light falls softly through cedar and fir, a temple unfolds - not outward into spectacle, but inward toward stillness. Born from the Korean symbol of Sam Tae Guk, the threefold harmony of Sky, Humanity, and Earth, this pavilion translates cosmic balance into an intimate refuge. Three wings spiral from a shared center, each a chamber of elemental presence: one reaching skyward into air and imagination, another gathering the warmth of human connection, the third settling into grounded rest. Together they form a vessel that both shields and reveals, protecting those who enter while the central light installation casts its quiet glow through screened wood walls, painting each wing in turn with the radiance of sky, humanity, and earth.
The structure asks visitors to slow, to step through thresholds of shadow and filtered light, to sit within one wing and feel the weight of the ground, then rise and move into another to sense the lift of breath. The wood cladding, perforated and luminous, filters forest light inward while projecting soft radiance outward, a reciprocal exchange between sanctuary and landscape. At the center, where the three wings dissolve into open sky, visitors meet one another across their chosen elements, turning from solitary contemplation toward shared presence.
This is a temple for small gatherings, not crowds. Its geometry naturally enfolds attention inward, away from the event's pulse, creating acoustic and visual softness that invites whispered conversation or reverent silence. This atmosphere, supported by opening guidance provided by the artist, invites the community to shape ceremonies that honour both ancient cosmology and present connection.
What remains is transformation measured not in flames but in breath: the moment someone looks up through wooden latticework to see stars, then turns to meet another's gaze across the glowing center.
At the centre of the temple will sit a shallow pond, underlit by LEDs and activated with a low-frequency speaker. The pond provides a focal point for temple visitors to reflect and introspect. During the night, this pond will cast light ripples up the surrounding walls, activated by ambient sounds and passerbys.
The structure asks visitors to slow, to step through thresholds of shadow and filtered light, to sit within one wing and feel the weight of the ground, then rise and move into another to sense the lift of breath. The wood cladding, perforated and luminous, filters forest light inward while projecting soft radiance outward, a reciprocal exchange between sanctuary and landscape. At the center, where the three wings dissolve into open sky, visitors meet one another across their chosen elements, turning from solitary contemplation toward shared presence.
This is a temple for small gatherings, not crowds. Its geometry naturally enfolds attention inward, away from the event's pulse, creating acoustic and visual softness that invites whispered conversation or reverent silence. This atmosphere, supported by opening guidance provided by the artist, invites the community to shape ceremonies that honour both ancient cosmology and present connection.
What remains is transformation measured not in flames but in breath: the moment someone looks up through wooden latticework to see stars, then turns to meet another's gaze across the glowing center.
At the centre of the temple will sit a shallow pond, underlit by LEDs and activated with a low-frequency speaker. The pond provides a focal point for temple visitors to reflect and introspect. During the night, this pond will cast light ripples up the surrounding walls, activated by ambient sounds and passerbys.
