C O N T E X T 1 3 6 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 4 55 vernacular translations. The desire to increase active participation of the laity in the liturgy, and to break down psychological and actual barriers between priest and people, necessitated an entirely different kind of church. No longer needed was the traditional basilican form which, with stylistic variations, had held sway since the counter-reformation. Instead of saying mass in a railed sanctuary facing the high altar, and therefore with his back to the congregation, the priest now faced the people, as close to them as possible.What might at first appear a somewhat arcane consideration – the position of the tabernacle – became a battleground, and the Vatican’s decision that the reserved sacrament could be located in a position other than on the high altar provided priests and architects with the ‘liberation’ many sought. The consequences for many historic buildings were dramatic and often destructive, but this aspect is outside the scope of Proctor’s study, which is concerned with new build. Proctor, a lecturer at the Mackintosh School of Architecture at the muchlamented Glasgow School of Art, includes Scotland as well as England andWales in his review. His is therefore broader in scope than Bryan Little’s Catholic Churches Since 1623 (1966), the only other major overview of the subject, which included only England andWales, and left off soon after Proctor’s story begins. Inclusion of Scotland allows for coverage of the work of Gillespie, Kidd and Coia, whose buildings for the Roman Catholic church are among the most remarkable fruits of the period. The legacy of the Second Vatican Council is disputed territory. Pope Benedict XVI spoke of ‘a hermeneutic of rupture’ rather than a ‘hermeneutic of reform’, and encouraged the revival of Latin (never formally abandoned as the language of the church). Proctor treads carefully through these dangerous waters. This is, he says, a work of architectural history, and ‘I take no particular stance on theological or philosophical questions’. He states a ‘sympathy for the conservative and traditional as much as the modern and experimental’ and has no wish to ‘validate a narrative of progress by over-emphasising the avant garde’. Neither does he only consider major buildings by well-known architects, although they receive their due; a number of ordinary (and some downright ugly) buildings are included. The book is clearly written, avoiding professional jargon (whether ecclesiastical or architectural), and is well illustrated with black and white and (fewer) colour plates. There is also a useful series of plans. This is an indispensable guide for all those interested in a hitherto little-regarded but extraordinarily rich subject. Andrew Derrick, director of the Architectural History Practice and member of the RC Patrimony Committee Buildings and ideas The Secret Language of Sacred Spaces: decoding churches, temples, mosques and other places of worship around the world Jon Cannon, Duncan Baird Publishers, 2013, hardback, 223 pages, ISBN 978 1 848991 11 8, £25 The ‘secret language’ of the title, and the subtitle offering the ‘decoding’ of churches, temples and mosques may be redolent of Dan Brown; the large format and travelogue-perfect colour photography suggest a coffeetable book; and the gallop through the world’s great faiths is sometimes a little indigestible. Nevertheless, this is an extremely serious and rewarding read. It combines the histories of architecture and of religion, in order to show how the physical form of sacred buildings reflects the beliefs of those who created them. Coverage is global, encompassing religions of the Middle East, Europe, Asia and the Americas. Chronologically, the book is equally wide-ranging, starting with prehistory and running up to the 18th century, when secular buildings began to rival places of worship as the most ambitious architecture of their time; it also includes a few later examples.With such a vast area to cover, the book limits itself to buildings of scale and ambition: great cathedrals, mosques and temple complexes rather than parish churches or village shrines. So we have Wells Cathedral, Angkor Wat, the Hagia Sophia and the Golden Temple at Amritsar.Yet room is also found for telling details of mosaics or sculptures, or illustrations of small objects with a story to tell, such as a Chinese mandala model, a tile with a diagrammatic depiction of Mecca or a Russian mandylion icon. The book is divided into two parts. The first analyses general themes, starting with the physical elements common to sacred buildings, such as open-air enclosures, assembly halls, centralised and axial plans, hierarchical series of spaces, vertical elements that reach towards the divine, such as sacred mountains, spires or stupas, and structural features such as arches, domes, openings and columns. The text then moves on to symbolism, citing buildings that reflect the cosmic order of heaven and earth, the supernatural, or the sacred nature of landscapes such as caves and mountains. Finally, the way the buildings are used is covered, with topics such as ritual, liturgy, priesthood, divine kingship, patronage and change over time. These might appear to be ideas so general as to make any useful discussion impossible, but the author succeeds in bringing the subject to life. It is not the obvious stylistic differences that make this section so interesting, but the resemblances that emerge between widely different sacred buildings. The second part of the book is
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