Archinect - Features

Trump's Travel Ban: Architects and Educators Respond

2017-02-03T13:40:00-05:00

Last Friday, President Trump issued a highly controversial executive order that temporarily bans citizens and refugees from seven majority-Muslim countries—Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen. According to an attorney for the government, 100,000 visas have been revoked already. Almost immediately after it was announced, architects and architecture schools decried the order. Some made reference to the fact that notable architects, like the late Dame Zaha Hadid, would not be allowed to enter the United States according to the restrictions. Universities felt an immediate effect, as faculty members and students were stranded abroad, unable to return to their classes.

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%.

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.