This group of essays emerged from several ‘Schools of Sacred Architecture’ held under the auspices of the Lindisfarne Association in the early 1980’s. Keith Critchlow’s essays cover the intellectual, philosophical background of the architectural tradition while Robert Lawlor’s view into the mindset of ancient sacred tradition is profound and challenging.

This often cited reference is an early 20th century statement of an esoteric theory of beauty, and of what might be called the anthropic analogy in architecture. The book connects these spiritual ideas with proportional ideas in design. Many of the author’s personal line drawings are ‘classics’ that appear in later works on design.

This is perhaps ‘the’ statement for our generation of spiritual principles as a background for design, specifically of proportion in architecture. Through a workbook style presentation of geometry, Lawlor builds up an integration of mind and body skills essential to approaching Beauty and Unity in design. This is a key work in the revitalization of a spiritual architecture.

This book makes available in the most direct and disarming way the sometimes difficult ideas of the ancient Platonic Quadrivium. The author has a background in primary education and the book is presented with the clarity of a teacher’s lesson plan. Each section is integrated with analysis of architectural and art objects across the historical and cultural spectrum.