RR # 7

For my reading response this week, I focused on the Shwezigon Pagoda in Pagan. While somewhat reflective of a former Buddhist university, it stands as a prototype for future temples (or pagodas) all over Myanmar and beyond. Its stacking of terraces that tell stories of Buddha and lead to knowledge and wisdom lead you upward to a circular form surrounding a main stupa (or statue). Talk about following the rules, there's harmony between levels as well as circles and stacks, the building reflects an older one, and contributors can up their statuses by donating panels to go inside the temple. It also relies on stacks and they add not only commodity but firmness. The golden outside adds delight. The Shwezigon Pagoda not only looks to the past but also to the future of architecture...a real golden midpoint.


sources:
http://www.orientalarchitecture.com/myanmar/bagan/shwezigon.php
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/burma/bagan-shwezigon-paya-pagoda.htm
http://www.asiaexplorers.com/myanmar/shwezigon_temple.htm
A Global History of Architecture by Francis Ching: pages 315, 396, 397