2023 Award Info and Categories

The Faith & Form International Awards Program for Religious Architecture & Art program is co-sponsored by Faith & Form, Partners for Sacred Places and Interfaith Design (ID, formerly IFRAA, the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art, & Architecture), a knowledge community of the American Institute of Architects. The awards program was founded in 1978 with the goal of honoring the best in architecture, liturgical design and art for religious spaces.

Entrants may submit multiple nominations, one at a time, for different projects in one or more award categories. A copy of each submission will be sent to the account email. Nominations may not be edited after they have been submitted.

Religious Architecture: New Facilities

Religious Architecture: New Facilities

Any new building or complex of buildings that supports the mission of a religion (including interior and exterior spaces and non-worship facilities). Entry Fee: $275

Religious Architecture: Renovation

Religious Architecture: Renovation

Any renovated building or complex of buildings that supports the mission of a religion (including interior and exterior spaces and non-worship facilities). Entry Fee: $275

Religious Architecture Awards: Restoration

Religious Architecture Awards: Restoration

Any restored building or complex of buildings that supports the mission of a religion (including interior and exterior spaces and non-worship facilities). This award recognizes a creative use of craft, technology, research and new-meets-old .. See More

Adaptive Re-Use/Re-Purpose

Adaptive Re-Use/Re-Purpose

Any building or complex of buildings that supports the mission of a religion (including non-worship facilities) that that has been adapted for new community uses or purposes such as a non-profit organization, arts group, soup kitchen, .. See More

Liturgical/Interior Design

Liturgical/Interior Design

This award recognizes the design of interior space in the context of how ambiance and character have been established through the interaction of form and ritual ceremony; how the design reflects the understanding of a particular theology .. See More

Religious Arts

Religious Arts

Art that is part of the building fabric, including painting, mosaics, stained glass, sculpture, iconography, textiles, woodwork, etc. This category is open to all artists, designers, design consultants, and architects in the U.S. .. See More

Student Work

Student Work

Any design for a building, complex of buildings, interior design, landscape environment, or artwork to be incorporated into the building fabric, produced by a student of art, architecture, interior design, environmental design, or .. See More

Unbuilt Work

Unbuilt Work

Any new building, complex of buildings, interior design, or landscape environment designed for an actual client, that supports the mission of a religion (including non-worship facilities), but has yet to be constructed (has not attained .. See More

Sacred Landscape

Sacred Landscape

Any landscape design that supports a religious or spiritual purpose. This award recognizes the use of landscape and man-made materials to create outdoor environments—new or restored—conducive to prayer, meditation, or use by the .. See More

Multiple Site Education/Advocacy

Multiple Site Education/Advocacy

Efforts to recognize and preserve purpose-built religious buildings that make a unique and defining contribution to the character of a community or region. This includes state, regional, or local efforts to promote tourism to or support .. See More

Faith Community Civic Engagement

Faith Community Civic Engagement

Shared or adapted use of purpose-built religious buildings or grounds, occupied by a faith community, for new projects that are both civic-minded and further the life and mission of a faith community. This award recognizes innovative .. See More

Faith Community Civic Engagement: Visual Arts, Performing Art, and other Creative Collaborations

Faith Community Civic Engagement: Visual Arts, Performing Art, and other Creative Collaborations

New or reimagined visual or performing art, or other creative collaborations, that takes place within or on the grounds of a purpose-built religious building occupied by a faith community and serves as a vehicle for broader community .. See More

Award Timeline

July 3, 2023 - Awards Program Opens

October 6, 2023 11:59pm ET - Submissions Due

November 2023 - Jury Deliberation

December 2023 - Winners Notified

March 2024 - Winners Publicized

May/June 2024 - Winners Recognized at AIA Coference

Eligibility and Criteria



Entries are welcome from architects, landscape architects, designers, artists, students, consultants, and religious or community organizations from around the world.

All projects must be completed since January 2018. For architecture projects, “completion” is synonymous with “substantial completion” as defined in AIA documents governing project construction.

Entries in the Religious Architecture, Adaptive Re-Use/Re-Purpose, and Sacred Landscape categories must have been designed by an architect registered per local regulation at the time of project completion. For multi-building projects, the architect submitting the project (or portion thereof) shall offer detailed evidence of authorship of each project portion submitted to this program.

Project authorship will remain concealed throughout jury deliberations. If authorship is revealed on any portion of the submission including photos, plans, or narrative, the entry will be disqualified.

All submissions must have owner’s consent for entry.

Each entry in this Awards program is judged for the success with which the project has met its individual requirements or program. Entries are weighed individually, not competitively.

Recognition

Printed citations

Coverage in a special issue of Sacred Places magazine

Project website on sacredplaces.org

Recognition by Interfaith Design at the AIA National Convention (as conditions permit)

The 2023 Jury Panel

Robin Edward Whitehurst, Jury Chair
Robin Edward Whitehurst, Jury Chair
Bailey Edward, Chicago, IL
Jacquelyn Block
Jacquelyn Block
GFF, Dallas, TX
Steven Rajninger
Steven Rajninger
herman coliver locus architecture, San Francisco, CA
Daniela Holt Voith
Daniela Holt Voith
Voith & Mactavish Architects, Philadelphia, PA
Jennifer Correia
Jennifer Correia
ARG Conservation Services, San Francisco, CA
The Rev. Mark Kelly Tyler
The Rev. Mark Kelly Tyler
Mother Bethel AME Church, Philadelphia, PA
Michael J. Crosbie, Jury Leader
Michael J. Crosbie, Jury Leader
University of Hartford, Hartford, CT

View Past Winners

RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE/NEW FACILITIES Honor Award
RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE/NEW FACILITIES Honor Award
Church and Parish Center Santa Maria Assumpta Tarragona, Spain Gimeno Guitart
RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE/NEW FACILITIES
RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE/NEW FACILITIES
Countryside Community Church Omaha, NE, USA HGA & Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture
RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE/NEW FACILITIES
RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE/NEW FACILITIES
Episcopal Church of the Resurrection Alexandria, VA, USA Cunningham Quill Architects PLLC
RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE/NEW FACILITIES
RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE/NEW FACILITIES
Clemson University Samuel J. Cadden Chapel Clemson, SC, USA BOUDREAUX
RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE/RESTORATION
RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE/RESTORATION
Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul Providence, RI, USA DBVW Architects, Inc.
RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE/RESTORATION Honor Award
RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE/RESTORATION Honor Award
St. Joan of Arc Chapel Milwaukee, WI USA The Kubala Washatko Architects
ADAPTIVE RE-USE / RE-PURPOSE
ADAPTIVE RE-USE / RE-PURPOSE
Chapel in Mental Hospital Complex Pruszków, Mazowieckie, Poland Zofia Jemioło
UNBUILT WORK
UNBUILT WORK
Don Mills Jamatkhana and Ismaili Community Centre Toronto, ON, Canada architects—Alliance
RELIGIOUS ARTS
RELIGIOUS ARTS
Baptistry Pool - Christ Our Hope Catholic Church Seattle, WA, USA Stephen Lee, Stephen Lee Architects
RELIGIOUS ARTS
RELIGIOUS ARTS
Stations of the Cross Sioux Falls, SD, USA Scott Parsons
RELIGIOUS ARTS
RELIGIOUS ARTS
The Inclusive Icons of The Church of St. Francis Xavier New York, NY, USA Patricia Brintle
FAITH COMMUNITY CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
FAITH COMMUNITY CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
Sukkah Village 2021 Princeton, NJ, USA Joshua Zinder Architecture + Design, LLC

Ready to apply?