My aesthetic philosophy and complete relationship to life is whatever Anthony Chapel is…

Guys, why didn’t you tell me this existed sooner!? You holdin’ out on me? I thought we were friends, man…

This is it. The whole thing. It’s got everything. 

• Japanese minimalism and Taoist wabi-sabi naturalness.
• Greco-Roman Spartan simplicity.
• Christian high-ceilings, holy ground, transcendent feel.
• Humanity’s brilliant ‘ordering principle’ displayed in architectural magnificence.
• Profound immersion within—and a deep complement of—the natural world.

This is a Real Holy Place™.

Not separate from the natural world, but a natural extension of it.

It masterfully strikes the delicate balance between “this grew out of the ground like a tree” and “this is the most deliberate and intentional design a human has ever made, not a single millimetre was left to chance.”

“Here are my rules: what can be done with one substance must never be done with another. No two materials are alike. No two sites on earth are alike. No two buildings have the same purpose. The purpose, the site, the material determine the shape. Nothing can be reasonable or beautiful unless it's made by one central idea, and the idea sets every detail. A building is alive, like a man. Its integrity is to follow its own truth, its one single theme, and to serve its own single purpose. A man doesn't borrow pieces of his body. A building doesn't borrow hunks of its soul. Its maker gives it the soul and every wall, window and stairway to express it." – Howard Roark, Architect & Protagonist in The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.

This is one of the purest expressions of the spirit of minimalism I have ever seen: the structure, the substance, the material exists only where necessary.

If it’s not essential, it’s not there. Every piece furthers the story.

From this intentional space arises a symphony between man and nature. Outside folding into inside. Sacred union of the subjective and objective. 

This is the deification of Nature. Elevating nature to the status of the Gods.

“Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible God and destroys a visible Nature. Unaware that this Nature he’s destroying is this God he’s worshiping.” — Hubert Reeves

Stunning. 

For what better place to perform the holy acts of worship and marriage than wrapped in the loving embrace of Nature herself? Everything else is superfluous. 

In a random city in Arkansas, USA…

Brilliant. Fabulous. 12/10.
EB.