Sacred by design: experience a church through the eyes of a priest-turned-architect

This segment first aired in Jan. 2018. The text below was updated in Dec. 2022. 

What makes a space sacred? Is it the layout of the space? The use of religious symbols and iconography? The people who approach the place with a sense of reverence?

David Pereyra has an interesting take on those questions. He trained to become a Catholic priest, then switched gears and became an architect. He sees houses of worship — churches, temples, mosques, and synagogues — through the lenses of theology and design.

Pereyra teaches at the University of Toronto and OCAD University. He's also the founder and coordinator of Our Doors are Open, a program that makes worship spaces more accessible for people with disabilities.

In St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in downtown Toronto, Pereyra's eyes are drawn to the steps leading up to the pulpit, the placement of the baptismal font, and how the spiralling solomonic columns echo the design of the ancient Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem.

"I can tell you about my visit to sacred spaces, like Jerusalem or St. Peter's or La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. The perception of the whole place makes you feel in a different dimension," said Pereyra. 

"It's the experience of meditation when everything — all the noise around — disappears and you are just there."

Pereyra said he believes we need more non-denominational places that are set apart as sacred spaces for personal reflection.

"I would like to see in our cities a space that is not a particular church or a synagogue or a temple, that allows everybody to get in for contemplation. I would love to see this in our cities because people need a space they can get in, a multi-faith space, for contemplation, to break the day."

Special thanks to Thomas Guillot, Church Manager of St. Andrew's Church.