Special Edition Vol. 2 of Docomomo US’s 2025 Annual Theme on “Places of Worship” focuses on the adaptive reuse of Modernist sacred places. As the issue’s guest editor, Partners for Sacred Places approaches the topic of adaptive reuse from a “both-and” perspective.

Special Edition Vol. 2 of Docomomo US’s 2025 Annual Theme on “Places of Worship” focuses on the adaptive reuse of Modernist sacred places. As the issue’s guest editor, Partners for Sacred Places approaches the topic of adaptive reuse from a “both-and” perspective.

At its height, the Norwegian Seamen’s Church consisted of 31 churches across the globe, serving as a home away from home for over 900,000 seafaring and expatriate Norwegians. Today, as Spyre Center, the building has found new life through adaptive reuse for a contemporary audience seeking a holistic health community rather than organized religion. 

Two Mid-Century Modernist chapels in New Orleans, the Episcopal Chapel of the Holy Spirit and the Methodist NOLA Wesley Center, built within three blocks and ten years of each other, demonstrate what it looks like for a religious building to stay and adapt.

A case study for other postwar synagogue designers, Park Synagogue is now becoming an important precedent in the preservation and adaptive reuse of Modernist sacred places.

North Christian Church and its site are in transition from a house of worship to a secular purpose, as part of a public library system. This presents an intriguing opportunity and challenge for creative solutions highlighting the unique design by Eero Saarinen and his colleagues, while devising appropriate designs for the new use.  

Crosses of Chicago is a series of photographs by Kim E. Lovely that documents 30 storefront churches that were located throughout the South and West sides of Chicago between 2005 and 2007. The series captures the bold graphic aesthetic of storefront churches, including hand-painted Latin crosses, signage, and graphic facades.

Docomomo US is currently seeking qualified applicants to contribute to the ongoing leadership of the organization as a one year student board member – starting on January 1, 2026, and ending on December 31, 2026 – the term is potentially renewable for one year at the discretion of the board.

San Francisco aims to demolish Embarcadero Plaza and Vaillancourt Fountain as part of the Embarcadero Plaza and Sue Bierman Park Renovation Project, an initiative kickstarted by private interests.

A coalition of advocates have come together to urge the new owners of Victor Lundy's home and studio in Bellaire, Texas to abandon plans to deconstruct the house.

Docomomo US recent response to the Trump Executive Order to make ‘Federal Architecture Beautiful Again’.

It’s our annual survey of the Modern real estate marketplace, where in we hope to connect modern homes with new stewards who will uphold each property's original integrity.

The Nuclear Ship Savannah is not only the world’s first nuclear-powered merchant ship but also served as a floating showcase of mid-century American art and design. Now, not only can visitors experience the restored modern passenger areas like the dining room, staterooms, veranda and main lobby, but they can also walk inside the former reactor space, which has been outfitted with interpretive displays to aid in understanding how a nuclear reactor works. 

The Docomomo US Annual Theme “Places of Worship” profiles and explores the rich array of postwar Modern religious buildings that can be found in almost every community across the nation. It’s worth noting from the start that these buildings house worship, yes, but often much more.

Architect Walter Netsch was only 34 when handed the monumental task of designing the Cadet Chapel – a centerpiece in the bold new vision for the United States Air Force Academy. The commission was unprecedented in scale: a Cold War-era project involving cadet quarters for 8,000, a hospital, an airfield, academic and administrative complexes, a court of honor, and more. Over 340 firms competed for the honor, but it was Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) that won the contract on July 23, 1954.

In 2023, the Wisconsin State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), the Milwaukee Historic Preservation Commission, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee launched a project to survey Milwaukee’s 20th-century houses of worship. The survey had one unexpected outcome, however – the discovery of a relatively unknown architect whose work extended beyond the geographic boundaries of Milwaukee: Henry R. Slaby, AIA. Slaby (1906-1995) was born in Milwaukee and apprenticed in the local architectural office of Herbst & Kuenzli. 

On Halloween night in 1939, the Community Christian Church – at the time known as the Linwood Boulevard Christian Church – suffered a fire that destroyed the church’s second building, and forced them to relocate for a fourth time since the congregation’s inception in 1888.

From an adapted barn in Locust Valley, Richard Lippold spun wire into gossamer threads to create other worldly compositions. He eschewed organized religion but was deeply connected to the natural world and communed with the metals that composed his sculptures.