In Italy, a Church Cleaved in Two Serves as a Gathering Place
Designed by three Italian firms, the minimal Church of the Penitent Thief adjoins a renovated, preexisting church that now functions as a community center.
Religious Architecture
Let There Be Shade: A PoMo Church Looks to Gothic Architecture and Algorithms to Solve its Solar Problem
A renovation of the Phillip Johnson and John Burgee–designed Crystal Cathedral adds algorithmically-modeled shades to protect the congregation from the sun.
Artist David Hartt Takes Over a Frank Lloyd Wright–Designed Synagogue
On view through December 19, David Hartt: The Histories (Le Mancenillier) explores themes of diaspora and belonging.
5 Highlights from New York City’s Architecture & Design Film Festival
At this year's edition, a run of films shine a light on issues of housing, from the perils of gentrification to the intractable challenge of urban homelessness.
Surveying L.A. Pomo: Moore Ruble Yudell
In this series of articles, Metropolis celebrates the diverse, innovative Postmodern architecture coming out of La La Land between 1975 and the early 1990s.
OMA Unveils Dramatic New Community Center for Historic Temple in L.A.
Designed for the Wilshire Boulevard Temple, the trapezoidal Audrey Irmas Pavilion references and respects its historic neighbors.
Houses of the Holy: Foster + Partners Reveals Chapel Design for Vatican’s First-Ever Venice Biennale Pavilion
The timber pavilion will be one of ten mini chapels designed on San Giorgio Maggiore on display at the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale.
In America, A New Religious Architecture on the Rise
We are witnessing the emergence of a new kind of religious architecture within the United States today.
This Bahá’í Temple Took 14 Years To Build—It Was Worth the Wait
South America's first Bahá’í Temple required over a decade of research and development—without that time, this ambitious project would never have seen the light.
Why Now, More Than Ever, We Need A New Islamic Architecture
Too many new mosques are being built in "traditional" styles that rely on outdated tropes and ignore the challenges Muslim Americans today are facing.
At St. Peter's Seminary, Previewing a Modernist Ruin's Coming Revival
After languishing in a Scottish forest for three decades, a Modernist masterpiece enters a new stage of life.
Turning Central Asia's Ancient, Mesmerizing Patterns into Code
Two architects and a software engineer are preserving Central Asia's endangered tessellations as code.
The Curious Case of Poland's Communist-Era Church Boom
The socialist state thought allowing the building of ecclesiastical structures would prevent citizens from protesting; in reality, it became an act of protest.
South America's First Bahá’i Temple is a Triumph of Material Innovation
The poetic form of the Bahá’i Temple of South America is a triumph of engineering and material innovation.
Video: See How La Sagrada Família Will Progress in 2015
What's in store for Gaudí’s perennially unfinished church in the upcoming year
A Tokyo Wedding Chapel Marries Western Tradition to Eastern Aesthetics
The fifth-floor chapel at the Palace Hotel Tokyo broadcasts your nuptials to the entire city.
An Invitation To Open Worship By Way of a Highly Adaptable Church
Sauerbruch Hutton’s church updates the traditional house of worship in a German suburb.
Q&A: Alexander Gorlin on Finding Kabbalah in Contemporary Art and Architecture
The New York architect Alexander Gorlin discovers Kabbalah imagery in the architecture of modernists like Louis Kahn and Le Corbusier and in the art of Mark Rothko.
Q&A: Michael Rotondi on Sacred Spaces
Image courtesy of Michael Rotondi, Roto Architecture. Michael Rotondi, principal of RoTo Architecture, is well known for his architectural work and intellectual rigor. One area of his expertise is the design of sacred spaces. Curious about his thoughts on designing spaces…
In Philadelphia, an Abandoned Bottling Plant Is a Makeshift Synagogue
“Building for sale, pray within” Photography courtesy the author An abandoned 70,000-square-foot bottling plant in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties neighborhood was just the right source for Rabbi Gedaliah Lowenstein, seventh generation Californian, to tap for his new synagogue. Of course, the…
