What happens when we enter a sacred space? When we are moved, unsettled, or amazed, where do these feelings come from?

All over the world, people are fascinated by something that wood, light, and stone can express: the incandescence of shadow. This is the fascination Vincent Borie illuminates, calling upon such spaces as Egyptian temples, Le Corbusier's Notre-Dame-du-Haut in Ronchamp, Piero della Francesca's ideal proportions, and the churches of Mario Botta and Tadao Andō. What ensues is an adventure that takes readers from the profane to the sacred.