A Journey in Light Through Marian Gardens
Located in the largest Vietnamese American community in the US, the Marian Gardens at Our Lady of La Vang Shrine honors a Marian apparition significant to Vietnamese Catholic history. Designed as a physical representation of the Rosary, Marian Gardens offer a winding path that guides worshippers through four shrines, each shrine offering a distinct space for meditative prayer of each decade (set of prayers in the Catholic faith that represent a segment of Jesus’ life).
Initially, a path of ingrade lights represented each rosary bead, creating a physical place for worshippers to pause and say their prayers. However, budget constraints led to a more abstract representation – creating a linear path for worshippers to follow – weaving through the architecture and gardens, as if its string holding the rosary together.
Original Design, using a more literal rosary representation as guiding light
Final Design, rosary representation amended to linear lines weaving through shrines
It was our goal to use lighting to enhance the meditative experience within each shrine. The Joyous Mysteries Shrine, representing the period leading to Jesus’ birth and his early childhood, uses light to evoke the sense of celebration with backlit colored glass windows, illuminated art, and vibrant landscape highlighted in soft uplight.
Joyous Mysteries Shrine
The Luminous Mysteries Shrine highlights Jesus’s journey to transfiguration, spanning from his early ministry to the Last Supper. The idea of journeying is accentuated by linear lines of light along the shrine and under benches pulling worshippers through the shrine. Once in the space, glowing points of light dot a weaving trellis, culminating with a bright halo-like niche in the center of the space.
Luminous Mysteries Shrine
The Sorrowful Mysteries Shrine is next, commemorating the suffering and the death of Jesus Christ. Jagged thorn-like shadows coat the floor of the shrine, with linear uplights highlighting the beams woven together overhead, emphasizing the experience of heaviness in the space.
Sorrowful Mysteries Shrine
The garden path ends with the Glorious Mysteries Shrine, providing a space to reflect on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. A bending linear line guides worshippers to highlighted column-like walls, drawing eyes upwards to a brightly illuminated statue of the Virgin Mary, celebrating the ascension into Heaven and the end of one’s journey through the gardens.
Glorious Mysteries Shrine
Overall, the journey through Marian Gardens at Our Lady of La Vang Shrine offers a serene, meditative retreat away from everyday life – using light to enhance the experience after the sun sets.
