It’s Christmas, and just past Hanukkah, and in recognition of that, Episode 183 of the A is for Architecture Podcast, is a conversation with architect, photographer and writer Gili Merin, about her extraordinary and exquisite book, Analogous Jerusalem, which came out with Humboldt Books earlier this year.
In Analogous Jerusalem, Gili explores how the sacred topography of the Jerusalem of the pilgrim—particularly the Via Crucis or Stations of the Cross —has been analogically recreated across Europe. Combining essays and a photographic travelogue Gili argues that these "analogous" Jerusalems often surpass the original in their materialisation because, freed from the geopolitical conflicts and material constraints of the "real" city, they permit of a spiritual purity that connects the pilgrims more deeply to the Jerusalem of their imaginations, the Jerusalem that should be. We discuss a little of this, and how Christianity displaced Jerusalem's holiness to distant landscapes, creating sites that foster devotion, introspection, and community. Indeed perhaps, through the words and the abundant, beautiful images of shrines, routes and holy places of the way Jerusalem’s holiness has been reconfigured elsewhere - everywhere - the book itself is an invitation to readers to embark on their own "virtual pilgrimage" without leaving home.
Gili currently holds a post-doc position at TU Wien and is a senior researcher at the Geneva University of Art and Design or HEAD. She can be found on her website, on Instagram and LinkedIn. She’s been and done quite a lot in her short years, so with a quick google will find you a lot of stuff.
+
Music credits: Bruno Gillick
Image credits: Main – Gili Merin, Book cover - Francesco Spallacci