Includes bibliographical references (p. [258]-263) and index.

Introduction -- The middle ground of interpretation. Phenomenology, hermeneutics, and the sensory experience of architecture -- Practices of connection. Applications of transcendentalist and Buddhist philosophies -- Mediating elements. Symbolism, religions, and the in-between -- Symbolic engagements. The media of architecture: Carl Jung's house in Bollingen: architecture as a medium of transformation -- Earth and sky. Place and primordial architecture: Native American earthworks, burial mounds, and effigy figures: cosmological orientations and mediations -- The sacred path and place. Spatial sequences and symbolic narratives: Tongdo Zen Buddhist Monastery, Korea: the path as a mediator -- Ordering the world. Means and meanings of proportion and geometry: Saint Benedict's Abbey, Vaals, Holland, by Dom Hans von der Laan: designing a middle ground -- Perfected worlds. Cosmograms and connections: the late works of the Ottoman architect Sinan: multitudinous contexts, packed agendas, and diverse interpretations -- Conclusions -- Closing thoughts. Personal experiences of place.