Follow this tag to curate your own personalized Activity Stream and email alerts.
Who would have thought cathedral accounts on social media would be so entertaining? Some social media users were certainly amused earlier this week when St Paul's Cathedral in London, boasted about how, on World Architecture Day, England's cathedrals "have got this well covered". — BBC
St Paul's Cathedral in London initiated a church face-off on social media for architecture day. Churches and Cathedrals responded bragging about their buildings and mocking fellow churches. Religious architecture has never been so funny. ... View full entry
The restoration aims not only to clean and maintain the structure, but also to offer an insight into what the cathedral would have looked like in the 13th century. Its interior was designed to be a radiant vision, as close to heaven on earth as a pilgrim might come, although many modern visitors have responded more with shock than with awe. The architecture critic Martin Filler has described the project as a “scandalous desecration of a cultural holy place.” — The New York Times
The decade-long restoration of Chartres' grand cathedral (rebuilt in its current Gothic style between 1194 and 1220) isn't going over without controversy: is the dirt that's currently being scrubbed off its walls, ceilings, and even Madonna statues, part of the building's history or merely... View full entry
In the heart of Sazovice in the Czech Republic, the Church of St. Wenceslas rotunda was designed by Moravian architectural practice Atelier Štěpán. Completed this year, the new church's circular form is based on the rotundas built during St. Wenceslas' time in the 10th century. Atelier... View full entry
A 113-year old church in Denver, Colorado recently reopened after a renovation [as the] new home and place of worship for the Elevation Ministries of the International Church of Cannabis (ICOC), better known as the Church of Cannabis [...] you must become a member in order to gain access at other times and enjoy the complete experience. Nevertheless, member or not, visiting the church in sober condition is quite the adventure. — Pop-Up City
Painted with mythological creatures in a hallucinating rainbow of colors, the International Church of Cannabis is a non-profit religious group whose beliefs are founded on “Elevationism”, which welcomes “adults everywhere who are looking to create the best version of themselves by way of... View full entry
Completed in 1905 in one of Kansas City, Missouri's oldest neighborhoods, the Westport Presbyterian Church was in dire need of repair after suffering from a catastrophic fire in 2011. Undertaking all the technical challenges that come with a project of this nature, architecture practice BNIM... View full entry
Frrank Lloyd Wright was never one to fret about meeting deadlines, sticking to budgets or roofs that leaked. So there is something fitting about the delayed, but altogether triumphant, restoration of Wright's Unity Temple, [...] the finest public building of Wright's Chicago years and home to one of the most beautiful rooms in America.
Instead of finishing on schedule last fall, the $25 million project is wrapping up just in time for the 150th anniversary of Wright's birthday, June 8.
— chicagotribune.com
"Success, it's often said, has many fathers, and so it is with here," Kamin writes. "A team of consultants led by Chicago's Harboe Architects has lavished exacting care on every aspect of this project, from the restoration of jewel-like art glass to the recreation of textured plaster walls." View full entry
Dallas police were at Cathedral of Hope [...] investigating graffiti painted onto the church’s Interfaith Peace Chapel. The building was vandalized at about 11 p.m. on Wednesday night, according to the Rev. Neil Cazares-Thomas, CoH’s lead pastor. [...]
The spray-painted message included a Louisiana phone number and referred to a car as a “Brown Chivy Suburbin.” The name “Johntion Kimbrou” — possibly “Kimbrow” — was also painted on the church, along with a reference to “kitty porn.”
— dallasvoice.com
Image via Dallas Voice View full entry
there is a moat, of sorts, between the parking lot and the school. It’s planted with indigenous flowers and advertised as a learning opportunity for kids. The whole place has a playful, tree-house aspect, but indications of its impenetrability are everywhere: This sanctuary is a fortress, too. — NY Magazine
Lisa Miller attended a recent "media access day" for the new Sandy Hook Elementary School, designed by New Haven architects Svigals + Partners. View full entry
Lisa Anne Auerbach created a ‘megazine’ of structures reminiscent of shopping malls or warehouses, hidden away from city centers, where thousands of people worship every week [...]
The conception of the cathedral is not only where one goes to be spiritual or commune with God, but to feel awe through the grandeur of the architecture [...] the US megachurch buildings are stripped wholesale of that sense of wonder and connection to the past; they are also far from the focal point of a city.
— theguardian.com
Related news stories on Archinect:Ancient Italian church comes back to life – built in wire meshOmaha is building a Tri-Faith campus with a church, a mosque and a synagogue (no joke)Why Modern Architecture Struggles to Inspire Catholics View full entry
The basilica of Siponto [...] in Italy’s Puglia region, has long been easy to miss—just another church among the thousands around the country. But these days, the 12th century structure attracts a crowd, sometimes even queues. [...]
Adjoining the newly renovated basilica, standing on the ruins, towers a full blown cathedral—with its imposing arches, columns, and volumes—completely built in iron-wire mesh. It gives the appearance of a hologram, or a 3D charcoal drawing of a time that was.
— qz.com
Find more images of Edoardo Tresoldi's wire mesh sculpture of the Basilica di Siponto on Quartz. Related stories in the Archinect news: "Kinetic" steel museum in New Zealand pays tribute to illustrious sculptural artist Len LyeArtist Carsten Höller to wrap world's longest tunnel slide around the... View full entry
A mosque, a church and a synagogue go up on the site of an old Jewish country club ...
It sounds like the setup to a joke — but it's not. It's actually happening in Omaha, Neb. The Tri-Faith Initiative may be the first place in history where these three monotheistic faiths have built together, on purpose, with the intention of working together. [...]
Similar initiatives are underway elsewhere. One in Berlin would house all three religions in a single building.
— npr.org
Similar tri-faith building initiatives are also germinating in other parts of the world: A church-mosque-synagogue, in Berlin View full entry
The ruins of a 16th century church have emerged from the waters of a reservoir in Mexico.
The water level in the Nezahualcóyotl reservoir in Chiapas state has dropped by 25m (82ft) because of a drought in the area. The church, known as the Temple of Santiago or the Temple of Quechula, has been under nearly 100ft of water since 1966.
The church, which is believed to have been built by Spanish colonists, is 183ft long and 42ft wide, with a bell tower that rises 48ft above the ground.
— the Guardian
You don’t have to be religious to appreciate the Tree Church in Ohaupo, New Zealand. A heavenly 100-seat chapel set among a 3-acre landscaped garden, the church boasts walls made of living trees planted around an iron frame. In 2011, Barry Cox, who runs a tree relocating business, decided that his backyard was missing an old stone church like the ones he had studied and admired on travels to Europe. — Slate
Get a glimpse inside the Tree Church in the video below.And here's more tree love and cool churches on Archinect:Tree-hugging in the modern ageIt's official: trees are good for your healthNew photos of E. Fay Jones' Thorncrown Chapel unveiled to mark 35th anniversaryGreat Synagogue of Edirne in... View full entry
The remains of a nearly 1,600-year-old basilica that was discovered at the beginning of last year under Lake İznik in the northwestern province of Bursa is now set to become an underwater museum.
The underwater museum project, approved by the Culture and Tourism Ministry, will be carried out by the Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, the sponsor of the project. [...]
The discovery of the basilica was named as one of top 10 discoveries of 2014 by the Ar-chaeological Institute of America.
— hurriyetdailynews.com
“What makes [the project] exceptional is the reduction of authorship to a team,” says the architect Mark Burry in Sagrada: The Mystery of Creation, a new film by Stefan Haupt documenting the history, present, and future of perhaps the world’s most famous construction site: the Sagrada... View full entry