2024 Faith & Form Awards Program Announce Best in Architecture, Liturgical Design, and Art for Religious Spaces

Co-sponsored by Partners for Sacred Places and Interfaith Design, the awards honor sacred spaces designed, restored, or renovated to serve and inspire.

PHILADELPHIA, PA, UNITED STATES, March 17, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Partners for Sacred Places is pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 Faith & Form Awards for Religious Architecture & Art, recognizing excellence in designing, restoring, and repurposing sacred spaces and creating religious art. This year marks one of the largest and most diverse cohorts of awardees in years, highlighting the growing importance of preserving and reimagining religious sites in contemporary society.

"Sacred spaces hold deep significance in our communities, fostering connection, reflection, and spirituality," said Bob Jaeger, President of Partners for Sacred Places. "We received nominations for many outstanding projects this year, reflecting the dedication and creativity of architects, artists, and faith communities across the globe. At a time when thousands of houses of worship face closure, these efforts demonstrate the urgent need to keep these spaces alive and active for future generations."

Over the next few years, it is projected that tens of thousands of houses of worship in the United States may be lost, including churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples. In contrast, these awardees represent a bright future for sacred places in the United States and around the world, where they can serve as spiritual centers, community hubs, or spaces for cultural engagement. A sampling of the winners:

Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church & National Shrine (New York City, NY)
Destroyed during the 9/11 attacks, the original St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church was reimagined as a national shrine at Ground Zero. Designed by Santiago Calatrava, the new structure integrates Byzantine and contemporary design, creating a place for remembrance and interfaith dialogue while maintaining its role as a house of worship.

The Telyas Chabad Jewish Center (Clinton, NJ)
Built to replace years of temporary spaces, this 23,000-square-foot Jewish community center was designed to accommodate a growing congregation. The building seamlessly blends worship, education, and social gathering areas, ensuring that it remains a vital community hub for generations.

The Virginia Mae Center at Washington National Cathedral (Washington, DC)
Once home to the College of Preachers, this 1929 Neo-Gothic building sat vacant for over a decade. Through an extensive restoration and reconfiguration, it has been transformed into a modern education and conference center, while preserving its historic architectural character.

These projects, and the other awardees, demonstrate how faith communities, architects, preservationists, and artists are working together to safeguard religious spaces. Congratulations to all the winners for their exceptional contributions to religious architecture and art.
2024 Faith & Form Award Winners

Religious Architecture: New Facilities
Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church & National Shrine (Honor Award)
Location: New York City, NY
Architect: Santiago Calatrava-Festina Lente and Koutsomitis Architects PC

St. Andrew Methodist Church, Hasley Chapel
Location: Plano, TX
Architect: GFFdesign

Mountain Church in Julong
Location: Quanzhou City, Fujian Province, China
Designer: INUCE - Dirk U. Moench

Telyas Chabad Jewish Center
Location: Clinton, NJ
Architect: Landau | Zinder Architecture

TSG Foundation Center for Spiritual Development
Location: Scottsdale, AZ
Architect: GHC Orcutt | Winslow

Religious Architecture: Restoration
San Joselito Adoration Chapel (Honor Award)
Location: Norwalk, CT
Architect: Canning Liturgical Arts

San Gabriel Mission
Location: San Gabriel, CA
Architect: Spectra Company

Tabernacle at Oak Bluffs
Location: Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard, MA
Architect: DBVW Architects / Martha Werenfels, FAIA

First Christian Church Tower Restoration
Location: Columbus, IN
Architect: Louis Joyner Architect

Virginia Mae Center, Washington National Cathedral
Location: Washington, DC
Architect: SmithGroup

Religious Architecture: Renovation
Chapel for the Diocesan Seminary of Plasencia (Honor Award)
Location: Cáceres, Spain
Architect: Pablo Guillén Llanos

Regina Coeli Hall (Honor Award)
Location: Savannah, GA
Architect: Christian Sottile, FAIA / Sottile & Sottile

Young Israel Ohab Zedek
Location: Bronx, NY
Architect: Building Studio Architects

Religious Arts
Haywood Street Fresco
Location: Asheville, NC
Artist: Haywood Street Congregation

Austin Chapel Series
Location: Austin, TX
Artist: John Patrick Cobb

Sanctuary
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Designer: Squaremoon Studio

Friends Seminary Skyspace
Location: New York, NY
Architect: Perkins Eastman Architects DPC

Sacred Landscape
Odeon in the Green Mountains
Location: Killington, VT
Designer: Dan Snow

Student Work
A Chapel for Concordia (Honor Award)
Location: Seward, NE
Architect: Nathan Walz

Multi-Site Education / Advocacy
modTEXAS
Location: Texas
Organizer: Amy Walton

The Faith & Form International Awards Program for Religious Architecture & Art, founded in 1978, continues to honor outstanding achievements in architecture, liturgical design, and religious art. Nominations for the 2025 awards will be accepted from August 1 through October 10, 2025.
For more information, visit faithandformawards.com.


# # #

About Partners for Sacred Places
Partners for Sacred Places is the only nonsectarian, nonprofit organization dedicated to the sound stewardship and active community use of older sacred places across America. Partners provides a variety of fundraising, building stewardship, space-sharing, and community engagement services through grant-funded programs and consulting so that sacred places can live into the vital roles they play as community assets in their neighborhoods and our wider society. To learn more, visit www.sacredplaces.org.

Simon Kaufman
Partners for Sacred Places
+1 215-567-3234
email us here