LOCATING SHAMBHALA: A PILGRIMAGE COMPLEX FOR KALAPA VALLEY IN THE HIGHLANDS OF CAPE BRETON, NOVA SCOTIA

Abstract

This thesis explores the relationship between landscape, sacred space and dwelling in the non-theistic spiritual tradition of Shambhala. Through the design of a pilgrimage complex for Kalapa Valley in the Cape Breton Highlands in Nova Scotia, Canada - the most sacred Shambhala site - the community’s unique relationship to the physical and cultural landscape of Nova Scotia is examined. The investigation reexamines the architectural framework of critical regionalism and the concept of dwelling through Shambhala culture and proposes abstraction as a method by which landscape and cultural context can become essential elements of a non-theistic sacred architecture for a global spiritual community with fundamental place-based narratives.