Interfaith Design Community Blog

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Letter from the 2025 IDKC Chair, Elisabeth Bakker Johnson, AIA

By Alison Karfeld posted 09-08-2025
Dear colleagues and friends, I’m still carrying the energy from our recent Interfaith Design Knowledge Community Forum at AIA25 in Boston. It was more than a gathering—it felt like a shared moment of reflection, curiosity, and connection. To sit ...
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IDKC AIA25 Event Recap

By Alison Karfeld posted 07-10-2025
By Elisabeth Bakker Johnson, AIA The Interfaith Design Knowledge Community (IDKC) Forum at the AIA Conference in Boston brought together architects, designers, and academics from diverse faith backgrounds to discuss the intersection of art & ...
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Interfaith Design: Chair Welcome

By Michael Janaskie, AIA posted 04-24-2023
Welcome members and allied professionals. This year, I am serving as Chair of the AIA Interfaith Design Knowledge Community. I would like to recognize our past Chair Douglas Hanson, FAIA (2022) and his great leadership. Over the last several years we ...
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Combining the New with the Old

By Douglas Hanson, FAIA posted 07-21-2022
I recently read an article about a church in Los Angeles that was going to tear down their religious buildings and build a new mixed-use project in its place. The new project would include a new worship hall, school, and affordable housing. Rick Reinhard, ...
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Issues Related to Local Regulation of Religious Land Use

By Patrick Perry posted 10-27-2020
Interfaith Design’s Knowledge Resources Committee is pleased to present the first in an occasional series of articles on the practice of interfaith architecture. Patrick Perry is a real estate and environmental attorney practicing in Los Angeles. This ...
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Detroit Landmarks Video

By Jason Haskins, AIA posted 09-23-2020
I was sent this video – it’s a short watch at just shy of six minutes, but it’s a beautiful expression of some of the religious architecture in Detroit , Michigan by a local dentist and his family. As written in The Oakland Press, “Huszti’s five-minute ...
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Case Study: Huaxiang Christian Community Center

By Cameron Bird, AIA posted 05-28-2020
Interfaith Design's Knowledge Resources Committee is pleased to present a series of monthly case studies based on selected award winners from the annual Faith and Form/Interfaith Design International Religious Art and Architecture Design Awards. Please ...
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Case Study: St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church, Ankeny, IA

By Michael Janaskie, AIA posted 03-24-2020
This is certainly the year where we as a nation think about the important state of Iowa. We are now about a month past the Iowa caucuses and there are likely a variety of opinions on the results and the process of determining delegates. However, when ...
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Case Study: St. Mary's High School Chapel, Berkeley

By Kennedy Colombo, AIA posted 12-28-2019
Interfaith Design’s Knowledge Resources Committee is pleased to present a series of monthly case studies based on selected award winners from the annual Faith and Form/Interfaith Design International Religious Art and Architecture Design Awards. Please ...
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Case Study: Omaha’s Tri-Faith Commons Celebrates Diversity and Unity

By Katherine Ball, AIA posted 10-16-2019
Interfaith Design’s Knowledge Resources Committee is pleased to present a series of monthly case studies based on selected award winners from the annual Faith and Form/Interfaith Design International Religious Art and Architecture Design Awards. Please ...
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The Spirit of Place- Spirit of Design

By Katherine Ball, AIA posted 06-14-2019
Interfaith Design’s Knowledge Resources Committee is pleased to present a series of monthly case studies based on selected award winners from the annual Faith and Form/Interfaith Design International Religious Art and Architecture Design Awards. Please ...
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Reversing the Trend

By John Tagle, AIA posted 05-28-2019
Christian congregations are losing numbers. This is an undeniable trend. According to Simon G. Brauer in his 2017 peer-reviewed paper written for the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, congregations hit their peak of 414,000 in 2006 and ...
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Case Study: St. Mary’s Chapel, Lafferty, Ohio, Midland Architecture

By Kennedy Colombo, AIA posted 04-13-2019
photo credit: Jay Gullion Interfaith Design’s Knowledge Resources Committee is pleased to present a series of monthly case studies based on selected award winners from the annual Faith and Form/Interfaith Design International Religious ...
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Revitalizing Tower Bells in Chicago and Beyond

By Katherine Ball, AIA posted 04-09-2019
Guest Post By Kim Schafer, founder and partner of Community Bell Advocates, LLC photo credit Christopher Chung Introduction Bells are not only hidden signalers inside distinctive architectural features—towers—but also the usual reason for ...
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Case Study: Liberty United Methodist Church, Dake Wells Architecture

By Jason Haskins, AIA posted 02-18-2019
Dake Wells Architecture: Liberty United Methodist Church Rush Creek Campus Liberty, Missouri, US Photo credit: Gayle Babcock, Architectural Imageworks, LLC Interfaith Design’s Knowledge Resources Committee is pleased to present a series ...
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Case Study: Vajrasana Buddhist Retreat Center, Walters & Cohen Architects

By Katherine Ball, AIA posted 01-21-2019
Walters & Cohen Architects: Vajrasana Buddhist Retreat Centre Walsham le Willows, Suffolk, UK photo credit Walters & Cohen Architects Interfaith Design’s Knowledge Resources Committee is pleased to present a series of monthly ...
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Richard Vosko, Hon. AIA receives honorary degree from St. Bonaventure University

By Richard S. Vosko, Hon. AIA, Hon. AIA posted 02-23-2018
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — Richard S. Vosko, Ph.D., Hon. AIA, past chair of IFRAA (now Interfaith Design) received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from St. Bonaventure University for his contributions to the fields of religious art and architecture. ...
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The only constant is change: Interfaith Design's story

By Emma Tucker posted 02-13-2018
New name, same great community After many years as the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art, and Architecture (IFRAA), we've embraced a new name: Interfaith Design. Why change the name? We had many reasons: It was long and hard to remember. ...
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Edward S. Frey Award

By Brian McLaren posted 12-31-2017
In addition to the Religious Art and Architecture Awards, the Interfaith Design knowledge community sponsors the Elbert M. Conover Memorial Award and the Edward S. Frey Award. The Conover and Frey awards are bestowed upon individuals rather than projects. ...
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Religious Art & Architecture Design Awards Program

By Brian McLaren posted 12-31-2017
The Religious Art and Architecture Design Awards program is co-sponsored by Faith & Form Magazine and Interfaith Design (ID), a knowledge community of the American Institute of Architects. The awards program was founded in 1978 with the goal of honoring ...
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