December 6, 2024

Habitat

'An unspecified place for gathering, one that manifests as whatever people need, like a tower offering a call to prayer but for giving thanks.'

Tuba Christmas at Thanks-Giving Square in Dallas in December, 2018 Photo by Siggi Churchill via CC

""The Chapel of Thanksgiving in Dallas doesn’t commemorate anything or anybody specifically. It’s not linked to pilgrims or Native Americans, and it has nothing to do with turkey or Dallas Cowboys football (the other reason for the season). The structure, designed by Philip Johnson in 1976, isn’t really linked to the founding of America but rather to the feeling of gratitude.

""In fact, the Chapel of Thanksgiving is an example of sacred architecture, albeit a crunchy one. It’s a nondenominational shrine for people of all faiths: less a place of worship than a site for services. The 90-foot-tall building is simple; light streams inside through a spiraling stained-glass ceiling, designed by the French artist Gabriel Loire. The spiral structure is modeled after the Malwiya minaret of the Great Mosque of Samarra in Iraq, which itself is a descendant of the Terbal of ancient Iran. Very little to do with pie."" - Kriston Capps

Article: Why Every City Should Build a Chapel Devoted to Thanksgiving

Public Spaces

Habitat

How to turn an abandoned industrial site into an urban oasis, a community and cultural center, and a business incubator.

CASE STUDY: Transformation: The Story Of Creating Evergreen Brick Works

Habitat

Our trash might be the most honest thing we produce.

BOOK REVIEW: W.A.S.T.E. Not

Habitat

Designing a public space that emphasizes the sensory experience of books

Habitat

'On a porch, inside can feel like it’s outside.'