In places like Romania, despite massive post-communist building activity, the current practice of Orthodox Church architecture does not match the quality of its predecessors. This paper locates the source of these difficulties within the intricate historical legacy of the interaction between its Byzantine origins and its modern interpretations. As part of the liturgical arts of the Orthodox Church, the understanding of Orthodox Church architecture is linked with that of the icon, central to Orthodoxy. This study will not only offer an insight into the importance of iconic language but will attempt to reveal the particular nature of language as implied in the Orthodox Church tradition.
The array of present interpretations of the icon and of the Orthodox Church architecture is dependent to a large extent on a modern, instrumental understanding of language, basic to western metaphysics, and prevalent in the education system at all levels. Conceived of in an instrumental way, as a mere tool, the icon loses its original meaning and makes the understanding and practice of all liturgical arts of lesser value. In order to address this challenging situation we need to part from any modern interpretation of this building tradition and to focus instead on the nature of interpretation and above all on language itself.
We can gain a better understanding of the iconic language of the Orthodox Church by drawing on the hermeneutics of Hans Georg Gadamer. Hermeneutics questions the philosophy of language, the nature of historical understanding and the roots of interpretation. Hermeneutics provides the opportunity to grasp the icon on its own terms, while using a method true to its nature, bypassing the instrumental framework of western metaphysics, and restoring the basis on which liturgical arts can attain their full potential once again. A hermeneutical insight into the iconic language of the Orthodox Church will enrich our horizon of Orthodox liturgical arts, serving those who want to research, critique, restore, maintain, design, and build this type of architecture.