“Great cities, the places that feel significant and important when you walk their streets, always rely on stagecraft–a deftly curving road, finely wrought facades, or a high concentration of light-up signage can all impart a sense of place, of significance. This architectural trickery can even instill a feeling of the sacred. The colonnades around St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, the rock garden at Ryoanji temple in Kyoto, and the pillars at the Jamarat Bridge near Mecca all shoot laser beams of transcendence into the brain of the properly primed visitor.”
–Chris Nashawaty. “The God Complex.” Wired March 2012: 112-119. Quote on page 117.