Archinect - Features

Hear Ye! The New 10 Commandments for Architecture

2017-01-26T12:22:00-05:00

Since at least Vitruvius, architects have searched for rules to live by. After all, when your job is to shape the world we all have to live in, it’s a good idea to make sure you know what you’re doing. But dictates, like the profession itself, need to change with time. So we asked around to find out what today’s architectural “ten commandments” should be. Turns out that, in the 21st century, defining how we practice seems to be more of a concern than establishing rules for what it is we make.

Maryam Eskandari on Weaving Together Her Islamic Faith with Architecture Practice

2017-01-18T12:11:00-05:00

Recently, Archinect has been taking a look at the relationship between faith and architecture. In this interview, we speak to Maryam Eskandari, Principal of MIIM Designs and Adviser in History of Art and Architecture at Harvard University. A practicing Muslim, Eskandari views her practice as an extension of her faith—which means, basically, to make "good architecture" for the 99%.

The Ulm Synagogue Mixes Modern Design with Memory

2017-01-06T12:00:00-05:00

On the night of November 9, 1938, members of the Sturmabteilung, the Nazi paramilitary force, and German citizens took to the streets, smashing the windows of Jewish-owned businesses and destroying over 1,000 synagogues. At least 91 people were murdered and some 30,000 Jewish men were sent to concentration camps. One of the synagogues destroyed that night, now known as Kristallnacht, was in the city of Ulm, along the River Danube. Just over 70 years later, the architecture studio kister scheithauer gross architects and urban planners (ksg) was tasked with building a new synagogue on the site, which would both enshrine its history and look towards the future. We got in touch with ksg to hear more about the project.

Michael Rotondi Opens Up About the Faith Propelling His Life and Work

2017-01-05T11:05:00-05:00

"It’s a practice rather than a religion, but the practice is essentially living by principles and then meditation," states Michael Rotondi. "It’s Buddhism without beliefs, I guess would be a way to look at it."

Designing the House of One, a Worship Space for Three Religions by Kuehn Malvezzi

2016-12-21T13:03:00-05:00

From the Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba to the Hagia Sophia, there are many spaces that have, at one time or another, served different religions. But, by and large, each religion has a monopoly on the space at a given time. Few religious spaces are truly shared between different faiths, even if they have competing claims to the site. But with the House of One, a worship space designed for the historic Petriplatz in Berlin, a single site will be shared by the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities. We got in touch with the architects, Kuehn Malvezzi, to hear more about the project.

Menis Arquitectos use local building techniques to create a sharp-edged sacred space

2016-12-16T12:54:00-05:00

Some 100 kilometers off the coast of Morocco, the Canary Islands are an archipelago of islands and autonomous community of Spain. Tenerife, the largest island, has a population of just under 900,000 people—the vast majority of whom are Catholic. It’s no surprise, therefore, that the island has a fair share of churches and cathedrals, including the historic La Laguna Cathedral, built at the beginning of the 20th century in a syncretic mix of styles including Neoclassical and Neo-Gothic. Not too far away (about 4km) sits the Holy Redeemer Church, built in 2012 by Menis Arquitectos—a wildly different approach to ecclesiastical architecture, but just as impressive.

Strapping on the Sacred: When Religion Enters Virtual Reality

2016-12-15T12:14:00-05:00

A few months ago, I found myself a lone skeptic in a sea of believers at the VR L.A. Expo. I watched heads tilt toward the sky (then the ground, then side to side). I navigated long lines that snaked through a grid of cardboard booths, filled with eager believers awaiting communion not with God but with pixels. I heard the feverish whispers of the prophets of our 2D wilderness (they who consume Soylent instead of locusts and honey). A New World is coming, they said.

Screen/Print #48: "Lobby" Investigates Faith in Architecture

2016-12-13T01:07:00-05:00

The fifth issue of LOBBY, the Bartlett School of Architecture at University College London's publication of thematically related essays and interviews, explores the meaning, fragility, and ultimate worth of a unifying architectural "faith."

Drinking the Kool-Aid: The Architecture of Fringe Religions

2016-12-09T12:22:00-05:00

Religions have inspired some of the great architecture of human history. Reims Cathedral. The Blue Mosque. Angkor Wat. But what about those faiths that aren’t exactly major? Or are controversial? Or aren't religions at all?

The Architect Behind Noah's Ark Shares How Faith Influences His Practice

2016-12-08T12:07:00-05:00

This month, in line with Archinect’s December theme, Faith, we’re talking to architects of various faiths about how their spiritual practice figures into their architectural practice. In this iteration, we speak with LeRoy Troyer, the president and chair of Troyer Group. Troyer Group is probably best-known for their project “Ark Encounter”, a full-scale replica of Noah’s Ark, built according to plans interpreted from Genesis.

Renovating My Religion: Johnson Fain Updates Philip Johnson's Crystal Cathedral

2016-12-05T12:06:00-05:00

How does one design tangible structures for that most intangible of qualities, faith? More to the point: how does one renovate an existing place of worship to suit a new dogma? Johnson Fain’s renovation of Philip Johnson and John Burgee’s Crystal Cathedral is the culmination of metaphor, media, and the historical Christian tradition of repurposing.