Constructing Space: Six Communal Religious Groups and Their Spatial Worlds

By Martha Bradley Evans

Worldviews and experiences of place among noted religious communities

Religion transforms and inspires specific ways of living in the world. Through architecture and the built environment, members of religious communities communicate intangible beliefs about God, gender and family, the sacred and profane, and more. This captivating volume explores the spatial worlds of six different religious communities-- the Latter-day Saints, the Oneida Colony, the Shakers, the Branch Davidians, the FLDS, and Adidam--through the architecture and cultural landscapes they built.

What does the strict order and regularity of a Shaker village tell us about the community's hierarchies and relationships? How might a temple building site affect an LDS Church member's daily life? Constructing Space reveals the hidden language of meaning, association, and identity that religious persons speak as they mold their faith into concrete forms, and how they interpret the meanings of those spaces within their practices.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1647692393
• ISBN13: 9781647692391
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: University of Utah Press
• Length: 344 Pages