SSCS News and Events Happening Now or Soon (+ record of past events)


Summer-Fall 2016
• Indian architect Prem Chandavarkar (principal at CnT Architects, Bangalore) is the 2016 Walton Critic. During his stay, he will co-teach with Professor Julio Bermudez, delivers two public lectures, participate in life of our school, and take part in other events. Click here for more information.
• SSCS student work from the Fall 2015 concentration studio is published as a featured article and cover of the June issue of Faith and Form magazine.Congratulations!
• Travis Price and his SOP go to Colombi to built what promises to be yet another remarkable project.
• Julio Bermudez goes to the Universidad National de San Juan (Argentina) to lecture and also lead an intense doctoral course in cooperation with Universidad de Mendoza professor Sandra Navarrete.

Spring 2016
• Julio Bermudez presented his books "Transcending Architecture" and "Architecture, Culture, and Spirituality" at at the University of Hartford and CUA respectively.
• Led by Travis Price, Spirit of Place 2016 students are working in the design of a sacred space located Colombia and to be built this coming summer. For more, go here and here too
• Stanley Hallet directed the second phase of educational worskhop and advising for an Architectural School in Tunisia.
• Spirit of Place receives the 2015 AIA IFRAA/Faith & Form Magazine Award for "The Crossing" at the AIA National Convention in Philadelphia (May 2016). Congratulations!
• Spirit of Place project "Procession of Souls" wins the ibp Pride of Place 2015. For more, go here.
• Julio Bermudez is named President of the Architecture, Cutlure, and Spirituality Forum, a 400+ member (from 48 countries) international, non-profit organization.
• A happy hour for SSCS students, faculty and alumni is held at  Obrien and Keane Architects in Arlington, VA on April 14.

Summer-Fall 2015
• Pope Francis visits CUA campus on September 23th!!!
• Julio Bermudez co-edited book "Architecture, Culture, and Spirituality" (with NC State University Professor Thomas Barrie and Texas A&M Professor Phillip Tabb) is published byAshgate. For more, follow this link.
• Travis Price's latest professional work with containers is featured in the Washington Post magazine (Sept 24)
• Faith & Form editor-in-chief Michael J. Crosbie was the 2015 Walton Critic. During his stay, he co-taught the SSCS studio with Professor Julio Bermudez, delivered two public lectures, participated in life of our school, and took part in other events. Click here for more information.
• North Carolina State University professor and renown sacred space scholar Thomas Barrie came to CUA to teach the SSCS theory seminar in fall 2015.
• CUArch 2015 Lecture Series was dedicated to the consideration of contempoary sacred space issues with talks by Joan Soranno, Rev. Michael J. Kelley, Susan Jones, Michael J. Crosbie, and Thomas Barrie.
• Julio Bermudez joined the executive board of Johns Hopkins new Neuroaesthetics Initiative.
• Stanley Hallet gave a final run to his world-class Paris Design Studio in the Fall 2015 as well as directed a major pedagogy workshop in Tunisia.
• Travis Price and his SOP are featured in the June issue of Dwelling Magazine !!!!
• Julio Bermudez presented his book "Transcending Architecture" in a series of venues during the Summer and Fall (New Mexico, Utah, California and Mississippi, and North Carolina).
* Spirit of Place 2015 built "The Procession of the Souls" project in Swinford County Mayo in Ireland (June 2015). Here is more information.
• Julio Bermudez co-chaired the 7th Symposium of the Architecture, Culture, and Spirituality in Ghost Ranch, New Mexico.

Spring 2015
• Julio Bermudez is co-chairing the Seventh Architecture, Culture and Spirituality Symposium that takes place in Ghost Ranch, New Mexico (June 2015).
• Julio Bermudez's book Transcending Architecture. Contemporary Views on Sacred Space is released by CUA Press (Feb. 2015). For more, follow this link.
• Led by Travis Price, Spirit of Place 2015 students are working in the design of a sacred space located inthe Mayo county in Ireland and to be built this coming summer.
• Indian architect Prem Chandavarkar (CnT Architects, Bangalore) is visiting CUArch and deliver a talk on the spiritual and cultural foundation of architecture on April 17th at noon.
• Mimi Locher, chair of the University of Utah School of Architecture and recognized expert in Japanese architecture, is delivering a lecture on Japanese gardens on April 1st at noon at our school.
• SSCS students, faculty, and alumni enjoy a full day escape doing a tour of wineries in Virginia (April)
• Panel Discussion: “Between Memories and Making: Design for Loss, Life and Learning,” The American Institute of Architects DC, Washington DC (Feb. 4th) (with Julio Bermduez and architects Tom Barrie and Mark McInturff and moderated by Julie Kim).
• Julio Bermudez goes to Guatemala to lead a workshop on drawing and deliver the lecture: “Belleza, Fenomenología y Espiritualidad. Sobre Experiencias Extraordinarias de la Arquitectura,”  at the Universidad Francisco Marroquin. To see lecture (in Spanish) follow this link.

Summer-Fall 2014
• Argentina-based architectEliana Bormida was the 2014 Walton Critic. During her stay, she co-taught the SSCS studio with Professor Julio Bermudez, delivered two public lectures, participate in life of our school, and take part in other events. Click here for more information.
• Julio Bermudez research on the neuroscience of contemplative architecture and is covered by several media outlets. See notes in The Atlantic, the Third metric (Huffington Post), the Creators Project, Hyperallergic, and FENA aleph.
• Stanley Hallet leads his world-class Paris Design Studio in the Fall 2014 focusing on choreography and dance.
• SSCS students and alumni get together for the FOURTH happy-hour sacred/culture gathering at BARCODE (downtown Washington DC), organized by SSCS alumni president Ana Garcia Bilbao (Friday 3 October). Walton Critic Eliana Bormida attends.
• Julio Bermudez goes to Peru to lead a workshop on drawing and lecture at the Seminario International ACI-R: Aquitectura, Ciudad y Representación, Universidad Católica de Santa María, Arequipa.
• Julio Bermudez delivered a second lecture about his neuroscience research on contemplative architecture at the Institute for Neuroscience For Architecture (ANFA) in La Jolla, California. Here is a link to his lecture.
• Spirit of Place 2014 students following the lead of Travis Price and Kathleen Lane deliver yet another stunning project ("The Crosing") in Downpatrick Head-County Mayo in Ireland (June 2014). Here is more information.

Spring 2014
• World Premiere of "Tales of Thong" film directed by Julie Judith and SSCS faculty Stanley Hallet during the 2014 Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital. March 24 at 7:00pm (reception at 6:30pm). CUA Koubek Auditorium. For more, follow this link.
• The Problem With Architecture Today (and the Solution). Special interview and note about Travis Price and Spirit of Place on the Huffington Post. To read it, go here.
• Student works from the 2013 Cultural Studies/Sacred Space Studio (taught by Julio Bermudez, Randall Ott, and 2013 Walton Critic Visiting Scholar Claudio Silvestrin) are being displayed in the Exhibit "Professing Architecture: Connecting Architecture, Culture, and Spirituality", at the AIA|DC's District Architecture Center. The exhibit runs from Feb 19-March 25.
• • SSCS students and alumni get together for the THIRD happy-hour sacred/culture gathering at BARCODE (downtown Washington DC), organized by SSCS alumni president Ana Garcia Bilbao (Friday 2 May).
• SCSS faculty Julio Bermudez announces his new book co-edited with Tom Barrie (North Carolina State University) and Phillip Tabb (Texas A&M). The manuscript entitled "Architecture. Culture and Spirituality" will be published by Ashgate Press. Expected release in mid 2015.
• Spirit of Place 2014 students are working hard in their design for their sacred space located in Downpatrick Head-County Mayo in Ireland.
• SSCS faculty Travis Prices gets a special interview wtith the Huffington Post on "The Problem of Architecture Today (And The Solution)". For more, follow this link.
• Texas A&M Professor Anat Geva's lecture "Frank Lloyd Wright's Sacred Architecture" will be on March 19 at 6:00pm. For more on her book/lecture, go here.
• An photographic essay entitled "Chichen Itza and The Contextual Mean" by Jim Bassett (Virginia Tech School of Architecture + Design) will be exhibited at CUArch from March 22 until April 6. For more info, click here.
• Two SSCS students received the G.Magi half tuition Scholarship for FAll 2014-Spring 2016 academic year.

Fall 2013
• London and Milan based architect Claudio Silvestrin was the 2013 Walton Critic. During his stay, he co-taught the SSCS studio with Professor Julio Bermudez, delivered two public lectures, participate in the SSCS theory class (arpl 617), and take part in other events. Click here for more information.
• 2013 Spirit of Place project Tale of the Tongs (directed by SSCS faculty Travis Price) received a Award of Merit in Architecture by the Washington Chapter/AIA Awards Program.Congratulations!!! For more info, click here. Congratulations!
• SSCS alumni Patrick Manning (M.ArchS/C, MSSD '13) received an Honorable Mention, 2013 Healthcare Environment Awards, Student category, for FOUND (thesis), sponsored by Contract Design magazine in association with The Center for Health Design. Also published in Healthcare Facilities Today, Dec 2013. For more info, here.
Congratulations!
• SSCS alumni Andrew Baldwin's thesis project "Lacrosse as Sacred Iroquois Tradition: The Architecture of Cultural Representation," received the Award of Excellence AIA|DC's 2013 WashingtonUNBUILT design program. For more, follow this link. Congratulations!
• SCSS faculty Stanley Hallet directed another version of his remarkable Sacred/Culture studio in Paris.
• SCSS faculty Julio Bermudez announced that his book "Transcending Architecture" published by CUA Press is scheduled for release in early 2015.
• SCSS faculty Julio Bermudez lectured at three Schools of Architecture at the University of New Mexico, University of Utah, and Universidad de Mendoza (Argentina).
• Three SSCS students received the G.Magi half-tuition scholarship (Vanessa Hostick, Ana Román Andrino, and Ugochukwu Nnebue)
• Travis Price named "Best Modern Architect", Home & Design Magazine's Choice Awards, MD, VA, DC 2013
• SSCS faculty Jeffrey Roberson gook a visiting faculty position at Mississippi State University School of Architecture. While saddened by his departure, we congratulated him for his accomplishment and wished him the best.

Spring-Summer 2013
• SSCS faculty Jeffrey Roberson won the highly competitive Deborah J. Norden Travel Grant from the Architectural League of New York. He is to go to the Netherlands for a month to study the works of Dom Hans van der Laan. For more, follow this link.
Spirit of Place|Spirit of Design (nearly 2 dozens CUA students led by SCSS professors Travis Price with the assistance of SSCS professor Kathleen Lane) designed and built a sacred place in the Inishturk Island, Ireland to mark "the gathering", a worldwide year-long event celebrating the Irish diaspora. The Inishturk Island is a mystical place located 14.5 km off the west coast of Mayo and full of ancient cultural and religious history. The formal opening was on Solstice. In addition to prof. Price and Lane, CUA faculty at the site included Stanley Hallet. CUArch Dean Randall Ott visited the premise in mid June as well. The built work is stunningly beautiful and has received quite a bit of press in Ireland and beyond. To see the remarkable work, go here.
• SCSS faculty Julio Bermudez lectured at Harvard Divinity School on "Spiritualizing’ Modernity and the City: The Future of Urbanism, Wellbeing and Spirituality"
• SSCS alumni met for social and professional networking. For more info on the SSCS alumni group, contact Ana Garcia Bilbao (at anapazgb@gmail.com)
•"Box of Miracles: Contemplating a 21st Century Convent": Exhibit of SSCS student work at the Wesley Theological Seminary (Jan 23-March 1, 2013). For a description of the exhibit, go here. For reviewing the work, follow this link.
• SSCS faculty Stanley Hallet published his book "Sketches from Mount Desert Island." For more, go here.
• Four SSCS students received the G.Magi half tuition Scholarship for Spring 2013 (the highest number ever) !!

Fall 2012
• Spanish architect Alberto Campo Baeza was the 2012 Walton Critic. He taught the Fall 2012 SSCS Studio with Prof. Julio Bermudez. For more info, click here.


• CUA Professor Stanley Hallet directed the Sacred/Culture studio in Paris.
• The book "The Mythic Modern" by SSCS faculty Travis Price was published ! For more, go here.
• SSCS faculty Julio Bermudez gave keynote speech at the First Conference of ADU 2020 Conference on the future of architecture, urbanism and design (Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima, Peru) in December.
• Julio Bermudez delivered a lecture on his neuroscience research on contemplative architecture at the Institute for Neuroscience For Architecture (ANFA) in La Jolla, California. Here is a link to his lecture.
• SSCS student work was published in Rebista Márgenes Arquitectura (Camposanto), España (work produced in SSCS Graduate Studio taught by Julio Bermudez, Greg Upwall and Juhani Pallasmaa). Fall issue.
• SSCS faculty Stanley Hallet publishes his book "The Mosques of Djerba". For more, go here.
• Two SSCS students received the G.Magi half-tuition Scholarship for Fall 2012.

Spring-Summer 2012
• "Sacred Space. Creating Sublime Experiences through Architecture", an article featuring our SSCS concentration appeared in the CUA magazine Spring 2012 issue. Read it here.
• The pirit of Place project "Memorial to the Magar Ancestors" received Landscape Architecture Honor Award from InFORM Magazine, selected among 160 entries ! (April 2012) Read about the award here. Congratulations!
• Nader Ardalan (Lecturer at Harvard University) spoke at CUA on Friday, April 13.
• The Spirit of Place - Spirit of Design Finland (2010) and Nepal (2011) projects received the Award of Merit and the Award of Excelence (respectively) from the American Institute of Architects/DC Chapter. Read more here . For more on the project in Nepal refer to this article in Asian Geographic and on this other note in AID DC. For more, visit the official Spirit of Place Spirit of Design site here. Congratulations!
• Spirit of Place/Spirit of Design directed by SSCS faculty Travis Price is recognized by 21st Annual Inform Awards, Landscape Architecture, Virginia Society, AIA. April 2012
• SSCS students and alumni get together for FIRST annual happy-hour sacred/culture gathering at Colonel Brooks (Brookland, Washington DC), organized by SSCS alumni president Ana Garcia Bilbao (March 28 October).
• Spirit of Place (directed by SSCS faculty Travis Price) received a 2012 award from Faith & Forum Magazine and the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art, and Architecture (IFRAA) for the "Memorial to the Magar Ancestors, Nepal" project. Congratulations!
• Dean Randall Ott was awarded the 2011 Unbuilt Architecture Award from the AIA DC chapter fo his design of a Chapel. For more here
• The CUAdc Hermitage project was featured in Architect magazine. Check it out here.
• Three SSCS students received the G.Magi half-tuition Scholarship for Spring 2012.

Event during Spring-Summer 2011

Spirit of Place|Spirit of Design. After a semester long of design work and cultural preparation, a group of CUArch students joined forces with an established consortium of ongoing humanitarian and education programs in the Namje and Thumki villages (Eastern Nepal) to build a sacred space. These remote villages comprise a rural and disenfranchised Magar community with a traditional agrarian economy, craft and building heritage, and cultural identity that is under threat due to rapid globalization. There is a compelling need in our emerging global culture to develop and record a new aesthetic archetype that speaks to local sacred culture and its metaphors while addressing the rapid exhaustion of ecological and cultural resources. As in the past 15 year, Prof. Travis Price led the 2011 Spirit of Place building expedition to address these challenges using sacred architecture as a fundamental vehicle for positive change. To see what happened, go to the blog or check this publication.

Events during Fall 2011

The 2011 Walton Critic, Juhani Pallasmaa was the Professor in Residence at CUArch this Fall 2011. Mr. Pallasmaa is one of the most lucid architectural theoreticians and practitioners in the world today. He tours the world lecturing, teaching and advising while continuing to run his architecture office in Helsinki. During his visit, he co-taught the SSCS studio with Professor Julio Bermudez and Greg Upwall. For more on this course, click here.

He also provided the keynote address, "The Sacred in Architecture" during the Interdisciplinary Symposium "Transcending Architecture: Aesthetics and Ethics of the Numinous", which took place October 6-8, 2011 at CUArch. This event examined the architectural situations that move us from the ordinary to the extraordinary, from the profane to the sacred. Topics of discussion covered phenomenological, symbolic, and designerly ways in which the holy gets fixed and transmitted through buildings. Other speakers included: Karsten Harries, Thomas Barrie, Karla Britton, Michael Crosbie, Lindsay Jones, Rebecca Krinke, Travis Price, Duncan Stroik, Richard Vosko, Suzanne Reatig and Maged Senbel.