Reimagining the convent typology to blend spirituality and social engagement

2023-06-12T15:27:00-04:00

Italian architecture and landscape firm Mixtura has designed a wood-structured conventual complex in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, that provides both a space for worship and philanthropic services.

Image: Cesare Querci

The approximately 57,000-square-foot building, called the convent of the Franciscan Fraternity of Bethany, was completed as part of a social project that the Bethany Foundation Onlus has been carrying out in Brazil since 2010.

Image: Cesare Querci

The initiative has so far seen the construction of a kindergarten for 120 children from the neighboring favelas. It also includes the construction of a school complex for more than 500 children living in conditions of serious hardship.

Image: Cesare Querci

The complex’s design was formed via a participatory method that involved architects and clients with the shared goal of creating a space that would establish a positive relationship between the users, the built environment, and nature.

Image: Cesare Querci

"As architects, we s...

Katy Perry, rebellious nuns, and that LA convent

2015-06-29T16:34:00-04:00

Here's a line I never thought I'd have the pleasure of writing: Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez is sparring with elderly Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary over the pending sale of the nuns' former convent in Los Feliz to international superstar singer Katy Perry.

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Reimagining the convent typology to blend spirituality and social engagement

Katy Perry, rebellious nuns, and that LA convent