Interfaith Design

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The AIA Interfaith Design (ID) Knowledge Community encourages and supports excellence in the design of worship spaces and their accoutrements. Interfaith Design is an association of professionals whose primary interest is religious facilities in a broad array of traditions. We value an interfaith forum for the exchange of ideas relating to religion, art, and architecture. Join us!

The only constant is change: Interfaith Design's story

By Emma Tucker posted 02-13-2018 02:29 PM

  

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.
  • When shortened to IFRAA, newcomers didn't understand what it meant.
  • We wanted an easier way to identify our community.

The feedback we've received over the years was clear: our members wanted a short, easy-to-remember but descriptive name.

How did you change the name?

We started this process in early 2015. And we weren't alone: many of the other AIA Knowledge Communities had their own discussions about re-branding too. Many of the KC leaders recognized that names were long, obscure, duplicative, or simply didn't represent the new direction of their groups. While we were still committed to our same mission, we seized this opportunity to address the issues with our name. 

Thus, for a couple years we discussed the different parts of our community, and how to represent everyone in a shorter phrase. How do you reflect a wide variety of faith traditions, including spaces that don't adhere to one particular faith? How can we represent the different people who make up our community, including but not limited to architects, artists, and faith leaders? How do you draft a short name that still reflects a broad range of people?

With all of these questions in mind, our leaders regularly discussed various options, and took time to reflect. We reached out to members of our community for their thoughts. We asked colleagues with an interest in the topic. We asked emerging professionals what words would make the mission of our group clear. In summer 2017 we decided on a potential final name, and reached out again. After careful reflection and positive feedback, we officially settled on Interfaith Design.

So, what changes?

We've still got the same great goal of encouraging and supporting excellence in the design of worship spaces and their accoutrements. We're still supporting each other across a broad array of traditions. We're still exchanging ideas relating to religion, art, and architecture, and exploring how each of these strengthens the others. Most importantly, we're still excited about the work that we're doing as a community, and would love for you to join us as we dive deeper.

So, what changes is the name. That, and the renewed vigor to make this community ever stronger and more supportive. Our mission and members continue, but under a shorter name. Change is not new to our community--in case you're interested, I've included below a background of the history of our community, as written by a former Advisory Group leader.

 

The history of our community

What is IFRAA? Its history and purpose
written by Richard S. Vosko, Ph.D., Hon AIA
approximately dated to 2010

The story of the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture (IFRAA) is over seventy years old.[i] In the late 1930s and early 1940s two organizations dealt with worship, art and architecture: The Church Architectural Guild (CAG), whose members were mostly Protestant clergy and architects, and The Liturgical Conference, originally a Roman Catholic association. Both groups sponsored independent national conferences for clergy, architects and artists interested in emerging ideas in the fields of religion, architecture and the arts.

Other organizations emerged in the 1950s. The National Conference of Church Architecture (NCCA) based in Washington, DC and the American Society of Church Architecture (ASCA) in Chicago both held periodic regional conferences. The ASCA, which published is own Journal, had a more ecumenical membership which included clergy, architects, writers and artists from various faith traditions.

In 1965 the CAG became affiliated with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and changed its name to the Guild for Religious Architecture (GRA). The relationship between the GRA and the AIA was finally formalized in 1969. In 1966 the National Conference of Religious Architecture (NCRA) was incorporated and coordinated conferences of different groups.

In 1967, the GRA published the first issue of its own journal, Faith & Form, a name taken from the theme of the first CAG conference held in Seattle in 1963. The GRA also developed an image library of internationally known places of worship and featured displays of award winning projects at its yearly conferences.

During the mid 1960s, the Interfaith Research Center on Religious Architecture was established. This organization linked with the GRA, The Liturgical Conference, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the National Council of Churches and its Department of Church Building and Architecture. This new interfaith cohort reflected
the openness between different religions fostered by the World Council of Churches and the Vatican Two Ecumenical Council.

In 1978 the GRA formally merged with the National Conference on Church Architecture (NCCA), the Commission on Church Planning and Architecture (CCPA), the American Society of Church Architecture (ASCA) and the Interfaith Research Center on Religious Architecture. This new organization was named the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture (IFRAA) and was based in Washington, DC.

In 1993, at the request of IFRAA, the AIA began managing its affairs. Five years later the former independent IFRAA organization was renamed Faith & Form, the title of its journal. Faith & Form remains an independent organization which cooperates with IFRAA and the AIA in sponsoring an international awards program and in
publishing the journal, Faith & Form.

Today IFRAA is a Knowledge Community of the AIA. True to its history, the Advisory Group of IFRAA continues to find ways to collaborate with diverse organizations like WFX, local AIA components, architects, artists and pastoral leaders to promote design excellence in religious art and architecture.

[i] Cook, Lawrence D. Cook, FAIA. “IFRAA: Past, Present and Future” in Faith & Form (Spring 1995, 7), Vosko, Richard. “Contributions to Religious, Art and Architecture” in Hughes, Kathleen. Finding Voice to Give God Praise (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1998, 14) and Willet, E. Crosby. “GRA? ASCA? NCRA? Whoʼs Who? Whatʼs What?” Journal of the American Society for Church Architecture (November 1971, No. 12, 5)

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