Zen Journey: First Steps — Sopher Sparn Architects

Jianyan Shi (Chief Engineer Chung Tai Chan Monastery), Jianyun Shi (CEO & Vice-Abbot Chung Tai Chan Monastery), Jianhu Shi (Abbot, Zen Center of Sunnyvale CA), at the site of the future Meditation Hall. December 2017.

I have always found it difficult to determine where a particular path in my life began. In writing about our firm’s journey with the Chung Tai Zen Center of Boulder and how it has come to be, I feel no different. It’s curious to think about how causes and conditions come together – to try to put a finger on this or that aspect of how things happen. But in the end, that is just so much speculation and entertainment.

While that may be interesting to consider, it is far less interesting than engaging in the path as it unfolds. In that regard, we have been very fortunate to be involved in the making of the Chung Tai Zen Center of Boulder.

Stephen Sparn and I first met the Shifus when they interviewed us in November of 2017. They had been coming to the area for some time, looking for a spot for a permanent home for their local community members to practice and study Zen. They told us that when they came to Boulder, everyone was so friendly to them. I expect they also felt the backdrop of the mountains seemed extremely fitting as well, reminiscent of their monastery in Taiwan. They certainly found an excellent spot here in Boulder for a practice center.

Planning the Site

We visited the property for the first time in late December of 2017. The characteristics of the various parts of the site quickly became apparent, and the general organization and usage of major elements found their place. The northern sector of the site is a conservation easement, contiguous with large swaths of dedicated open space, including Baseline Reservoir to the east. The south side of the property borders South Boulder Road, a major highway access into Boulder.

The property has just one entry at the southwest corner. Cars entering here must quickly slow down from the speed of South Boulder Road as they pass alongside a young stand of aspens. Once thru the aspen grove, the land opens to the east, immediately exposing an expansive view of the main buildable area of the site and the place we selected for the Sanctuary Building.

Moving away from the site entry, South Boulder Road rises substantially. By placing the main building in the lower portion of the site, we were able to protect the practice place from the intensity and speed of the highway. It became apparent to us that doing so, we were setting a tone of the center as a refuge and a place for meditation.

To the north of the main open area across the watercourse is a more remote portion of the property. Nestled amongst a grove of cottonwoods and adjacent to a seasonal pond filled with cattails and water plants, we found the perfect spot to place the Residence Hall.

Organization of the Sanctuary Building

***Hong Yang (local liason) and friend, Taipei (Left) Shoes, street market, Taipei (right)***

The life of a facility such as this is organized around practice--meditation practice. The meaning of that can be very broad, and probably not for me to say in this context. However, from my perspective, no aspect of being on this land is removed from this view of meditation practice.

The heart of meditation activity on this site is the Main Shrine Room. Its location and orientation were the key first-stone to be placed on the land – and one which we established that first day we walked it together. Beyond that, the view of the center altogether is that practice permeates life in the development of awareness. So, all the spaces are intended to work together to embody that.

As a practice place, the Chung Tai Zen community has a very specific intention of how such centers should be organized, and they wanted me to see firsthand how they set up their practice environments. To do that, they flew me to Taiwan, where I visited their main monastic facility, as well as three Zen Centers in cities on the island. Doing so gave me a far clearer sense of the manner in which this community presents the Buddhist Teachings and the nature of daily life in their practice environments.

My visit to Taiwan was also a lot of fun. I got to spend a day and a half in Taipei, hosted by two ladies from the Boulder Zen community who happened to be in the area. They treated me like an honored guest. It was all quite a treat.

***Adrian Sopher - Chinese New Year, 2018, Taichung***

Upon returning, it became much clearer to me how best to organize the practice environment and the daily life of retreatant activity into a spatial pattern suited to the way this community can be established on this beautiful site. In the building’s organization, the pattern of the practitioner’s daily life is centered around formal practice, study, and the activities of daily living, all circumscribed by the spatial relationships to the landscape of the two main structures.

We will have more on the design process of the structures in the next installment of our Zen Center journey.

This is the first of a three-part series that will explore the design process of the Chung Tai Zen Center. The next post will discuss more specifically, the detailed design of the Sanctuary Building and other components of the Zen Center.

Adrian Sopher is a partner in Sopher Sparn Architects, in Boulder, CO.