The Interfaith Journal on Religion, Art & Architecture
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The Annual Religious Art and Architecture Design Awards program is co-sponsored by Faith & Form Magazine and the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture (IFRAA), 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. The program offers four primary categories for awards: Religious Architecture, Liturgical/Interior Design, Sacred Landscape and Religious Arts.
Awards and Recognition
Award recipients receive significant recognition including printed award citations, recognition at an IFRAA awards presentation, full-page coverage in Faith & Form’s Annual Awards Issue and project board exhibition at the AIA National Convention.
Award Categories
Entries are welcomed and encouraged from architects, landscape architects, designers, artists, and consultants. This year’s program includes the following categories:
Religious Architecture Awards
Open to architects licensed in the United States and abroad.
  • New Facilities Awards
    Any new building or complex of buildings that supports a religious purpose.
  • Renovation Awards
    Any renovated building or complex of buildings that supports a religious purpose.
  • Restoration Awards
    Any restored building or complex of buildings that supports a religious purpose. This award recognizes a creative use of craft, technology, research, and new-meets-old concepts without sacrificing the original intent of the architecture.
Sacred Landscape Awards
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 transcendence. This category is open to architects, landscape architects, designers, design consultants, and artists.
Liturgical/Interior Design Awards
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 and its ritual symbolism; and how it brings spirituality to the space.
Religious Arts Awards
These awards recognize excellence in artistic expressions that contribute to religious experience.
  • Visual Arts Awards
    Including painting, mosaics, stained glass, sculpture, iconography, textiles, etc.
  • Liturgical Furnishings Awards
    Furnishing design that enhances the ritual ceremony.
  • Ceremonial Object Awards
    Objects that play supportive roles in ritual ceremony.
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