SUPERNATURAL INTELLIGENS
Intelligence, as explored by this year's Biennale, is understood as natural, artificial, or collective—dimensions that define our capacity to interact with the world. Yet, beyond these, there lies another dimension: the supernatural. This exhibition proposes that architecture is uniquely poised to articulate and amplify the resonances between our natural and supernatural worlds.
This exhibition proposes that architecture is uniquely poised to articulate and amplify the resonances between our natural and supernatural worlds. At California Baptist University (CBU), architectural design, in part, is dedicated to exploring how design can express, embody, and evoke these profound connections.
Biological
Resonance
Biological Resonance examines how sacred spaces affect the human body. This exhibition uses cutting-edge scientific techniques to present data on physiological responses within environments designed for worship and reflection. Drawing from these observations, principles of transcendent design are identified and utilized within student design of transcendent space. Building upon this foundation, the exhibit delves into research sponsored by the Templeton Religious Trust, which investigates how sacred architecture encodes and communicates spiritual realities. Through the use of advanced biometric instruments—including mobile eye-tracking, AI–based scene analysis, and biosensors—the study captures human responses to sacred spaces. This pioneering research bridges the gap between theological aesthetics and empirical evidence, offering unprecedented insights into how design elements elicit emotional and cognitive resonance. By showcasing these findings, the exhibit highlights the transformative potential of architecture to enrich both spiritual encounters and evidence-based design methodologies.
Climatological Resonance
Climatological Resonance addresses architecture’s dialogue with creation’s natural forces. From buildings designed to withstand hurricanes and wildfires, to structures surviving earthquakes, this exhibition explores case studies of how various buildings adapt to “acts of God” and how such responses reflect faith, resilience, reverence, and humility.
Cosmological Resonance
Cosmological Resonance investigates design decisions based on conceptions of the supernatural and sacred order. Architectural cosmology signifies a divine order that embodies a fusion of visible and hidden structures in material expression. All belief systems embody an implicit and explicit cosmological aesthetic. This historical, photographic, and drawing study investigates cosmological principles embodied in a 4 selection of the carpentry ceiling surfaces of the Palacios Nazaríes at the Alhambra in Granada, Spain.