Sustainable Sacred Spaces: An Interdisciplinary FrameworkLinking ‎Theology, Environmental Science, and Architectural Design

  • Authors

    https://doi.org/10.14419/85dasv52

    Received date: November 12, 2025

    Accepted date: December 7, 2025

    Published date: December 16, 2025

  • Sacred Architecture; Sustainable Design; Environmental Science; Theological Aesthetics; Lived Theology; Vernacular ‎Architecture; Human-Environment Interaction; World Christianity

  • Abstract

    This interdisciplinary conceptual paper examines sacred architecture as both a theological expression and an ‎environmental system that shapes human experience through light, acoustics, materiality, and spatial proportion. It ‎argues that churches are not only symbolic artifacts, but applied frameworks in which theology, aesthetics, and ‎sustainable design converge. Drawing on lived theology and Hans Urs von Balthasar’s theological aesthetics, the ‎study interprets sacred spaces as perceptual environments that translate intangible experiences of faith into embodied ‎sensory form. Situated within the global diversity of world Christianity, the paper highlights vernacular innovations, ‎such as bamboo, adobe, and stone construction, that integrate local ecology, cultural identity, and theological meaning. ‎Addressing a gap in existing sustainability models, which treat worship spaces as generic public buildings, the paper ‎proposes a framework that explicitly links theological intent with environmental performance variables. Four ‎principles, namely: form follows faith, beauty as invitation, culture matters, and ecological concern; are articulated as ‎design heuristics that can inform daylighting strategies, acoustic clarity, thermal comfort, life-cycle assessment, and the ‎specification of low-carbon or bio-based materials. Using a conceptual, interdisciplinary synthesis, the study positions ‎sacred architecture as a domain where theological reflection and applied environmental research mutually inform one ‎another, offering new pathways for spiritually resonant, culturally rooted, and ecologically responsible design‎.

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  • How to Cite

    Canete, J. J. O., Valdez, R. L. A., & Ching, G. S. (2025). Sustainable Sacred Spaces: An Interdisciplinary FrameworkLinking ‎Theology, Environmental Science, and Architectural Design. International Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 14(8), 276-283. https://doi.org/10.14419/85dasv52