Archinect - News

An Architectural Photographer on Saving Russia’s Wooden Churches

2013-02-21T03:06:00-05:00

Just over a decade ago, Richard Davies, a British architectural photographer, struck out on a mission to record the fragile and poetic structures. Austerely beautiful and haunting, “Wooden Churches: Traveling in the Russian North” is the result.

Cathedral of the Northern Lights inaugurated

2013-02-11T15:18:00-05:00

The new Cathedral of the Northern Lights, situated in the Norwegian town of Alta over 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle, has just been inaugurated by the Crown Princess of Norway, Mette-Marit. The 154-foot-high cathedral, designed by Link Arkitektur in collaboration with schmidt hammer lassen architects and Haldde Arkitekter Inc., is perceived as a symbol and an architectural landmark for the entire area.

University of Miami School of Architecture hosts competition to rebuild Haitian cathedral

2012-12-20T13:08:00-05:00

[...] the University of Miami School of Architecture, in partnership with the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince and Faith and Form Magazine, has organized a competition to choose the design for the new Cathedral. In the past year, 250 architects around the world have collaborated to submit 134 plans for the reconstruction.

A tale of two Toronto church conversions

2012-04-26T18:18:00-04:00

During the age of foolishness, when congregations moved on, the last visitor to these sacred spaces was usually a wrecker’s ball. Now, it seems as though a spring of hope is upon us, as more and more churches become homes.

Shigeru Ban in Christchurch, NZ

2012-04-20T13:25:00-04:00

This week it was confirmed that Christchurch will be the site for the latest work by one of the world's leading ecological architects. Ban's design for the city's temporary Anglican Cathedral could become reality by the end of the year when a soaring tent-like structure constructed from a series of paper tubes weighing just under 500kg and placed on a foundation of shipping containers will rise on the site of the demolished St John's Church in Latimer Square.

Skyscape - Church Competition Entry by WE Architecture

2012-03-19T13:54:00-04:00

Copenhagen-based firm WE Architecture has shared with us their entry "Skyscape" to the open competition for a new church building in Våler, Norway.

Competition launched to decorate Moscow churches

2011-12-15T11:55:25-05:00

“These churches must become not only a decoration of our city, but truly a phenomenon of civic and church art of our 21st century,” said Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov, the executive secretary of the Patriarchal Council for Culture, at a news conference. “They must become a kind of pearl of ancient tradition, uniting historic Moscow with its new districts and buildings.” He said the terms of the competition would be announced by the end of the year.

Gaudí's unfinished Sagrada Família does not need a completion date

2011-09-23T14:30:24-04:00

"My client is not in a hurry", Antoni Gaudí is said to have remarked when asked if he was concerned about the time it was taking to build the Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family in Barcelona. According to the Old Testament, Gaudí's client was in much more of a hurry than his architect: he rushed to create the world in just six days, although even He needed a rest on the seventh.

Populous Designs World’s Largest Arena in Manila

2011-08-29T14:27:00-04:00

Construction has commenced on the world’s largest indoor arena, designed by Populous, in Manila, Philippines. In a ground breaking ceremony held last week, the arena design was described as a ‘phenomenal structure’.

Hour of Power to Power of Cash: Crystal Cathedral bankruptcy sale sparks bidding war

2011-08-11T13:19:20-04:00

I believe with every fiber of my being that God turned the eyes of the world on Crystal Cathedral because God wants to make a big bold statement, he wants the world to know that he is a God who still does miracles

Philip Johnson's masterpiece, the Crystal Cathedral is the subject of bidding wars between Chapman University, Roman Catholic Archdiocese and the retailer Hobby Lobby. Sheila Schuller Coleman, director of ministry at the church and the daughter of Schuller also thinks they can raise the money and keep the church if they can raise $50 million. The Garden Grove campus also includes buildings by Richard Neutra and Richard Meier.

The Crystal Cathedral was parodied in the Simpsons episode "Natural Born Kissers" (towards the end)

Church invests in modern architecture

2011-08-11T11:37:31-04:00

The Chapel of St. Lawrence in Vantaa and the famous Temppeliaukio Church in Helsinki are both results of architectural competitions. The competition system has brought around a hundred church buildings to Finland.

Ukraine’s Wooden Churches and Folk architecture(s)

2011-07-17T21:12:41-04:00

The language was impossible to understand, but the building itself communicated in a clear vernacular: thick columns, coarsely hewn and partly painted white, were topped with gold-haloed icons and lovely scarves that must have been embroidered by hand. The ceiling in the back was only an arm’s breadth above my head...

Evan Rail travels to the Carpathian foothills near Zakarpattia, the western region of Ukraine. The vernacular folk architecture includes a number of unusual wooden churches dating from the 15th to 18th centuries. After years of neglect, the buildings are in danger of disappearing and being forgotten.