Abstract

The paper explores the design of the small evangelical halls that exist across the nine counties of Ulster. Conceived of as conduits to salvation, as representing the current non-material iteration of God’s holy temple, and even as prefiguring the coming eschaton, these are simple and unassuming buildings, decorated largely with text. The paper argues that the “plain style” provides a fruitful approach to consideration of the materiality of these spaces. Plain style is defined as a complex denial of ostentation and elaboration in design and communication that is linked to reformed Protestantism. Contending that such a plain style must engage with the quotidian and the contingent, the importance and the problems of photo-documentation as a method of inquiry are discussed. The paper argues that a careful and reflexive approach to photography and analysis, drawing on keywording and metadata provides a method suitable for exploration of such “new” spaces where access must be negotiated with care. The paper concludes by presenting some findings drawn from a keywording approach to the visual data and relating the use of text, materials and building forms to discussion of an everyday plain style.

摘要

本文探讨了存在于阿尔斯特九个县的小型福音派大厅的设计。被设想为救赎的管道，代表上帝圣殿当前的非物质迭代，甚至预示着即将到来的末世，这些都是简单而朴实的建筑，主要装饰有文字。该论文认为，“朴素风格”为考虑这些空间的物质性提供了一种富有成效的方法。朴素风格被定义为对与改革新教相关的设计和交流中的炫耀和精心设计的复杂否定。认为这种朴素的风格必须与日常生活和偶然事件发生联系，讨论了照片记录作为一种调查方法的重要性和问题。该论文认为，对摄影和分析采取谨慎和反思的方法，利用关键字和元数据，提供了一种适合探索此类“新”空间的方法，在这些空间中必须谨慎协商访问权限。本文最后展示了从视觉数据的关键字方法中得出的一些发现，并将文本、材料和建筑形式的使用与日常朴素风格的讨论联系起来。