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. — nytimes.com

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. — bustler.net

[...] 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. — miamiherald.com

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. — theglobeandmail.com

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. — press.co.nz

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

“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. — theartnewspaper.com

"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. — guardian.co.uk

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’. — bustler.net

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 — Reuters

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. — yle.fi

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... — The New York Times