Religious buildings today – spaces between spirituality, design, and everyday life
Representation and monumentality are now less important than atmosphere and materials. Places of worship are becoming open, adaptable and integrated into everyday life. Four current projects demonstrate the diversity of architectural expressions of spirituality.
The Church
Designed by CJ Studio, The Church is located in the middle of a busy office building in Taichung. The space was conceived as a quiet counterpoint to the surrounding working environment — a place that facilitates concentration and contemplation amidst the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Light wood panelling, clearly defined vertical lines and uniform room geometry create a serene atmosphere. The understated design draws the eye inwards, not upwards. Everything appears calm, precise and almost self-evident. The result is a spiritual space without embellishment – simple, clear and touching. The project won the iF DESIGN AWARD in 2024.
The Ossuary Hall 'Prabha'
Light is the central element of the Prabha Ossuary Hall at Myōrenji Temple in Ōita, Japan. Designed by teamSTAR and winner of the 2025 iF Design Award, the hall adds a contemporary place of mourning and remembrance to the historic temple complex.
The hall captivates with its precise lighting design, through which sunlight gently glides over the walls and niches. A dry stone garden, the 'Garden of Silence', connects the new building with the temple grounds. The rocks in the garden come from the site itself, and the central white pine tree symbolises permanence. The use of simple materials and precise proportions lends the space a quiet intensity where spirituality and time converge.
Open Chapel Hillerhausen
Designed by Denzer & Poensgen Architects and completed in 2024, the Open Chapel Hillerhausen uses space, topography and materials to express spirituality. Solid stone walls enclose an open courtyard which opens up to the landscape, incorporating the sky. The focus is on dialogue with the surroundings: wind, sound and seasonal changes all shape the space. The chapel dispenses with religious symbols, finding spirituality in the experience of the place itself. It is a quiet place to pause, where landscape, material and people come together.
Tiny Church Tolvkanten
Designed by Julius Nielsen Office and completed in 2025, the Tiny Church Tolvkanten serves as a temporary meeting place for the Hans Egedes parish in Copenhagen's Nordhavn district until the neighbourhood's new parish church is built. The twelve-sided floor plan symbolises the twelve apostles, translating this concept into an architecture of equality: open and communal with no hierarchical axis.
The structure, which is made of FSC-certified Douglas fir, rests on screw foundations and does not require any groundwork. Visible wood, clear details and precise proportions give this small building a quiet presence.
The space can be opened up and transformed for church services, music performances, and gatherings. The result is a temporary sacred space in which spirituality, sustainability, and community are expressed in a modern way.
Contemporary sacred architecture speaks a new language of quietness, openness, and material precision. Whether it is a Japanese temple complex, a Taiwanese office building or a Nordic wooden chapel, the style is more diverse today than ever before. Rather than seeking splendour, it seeks meaning. Design becomes a tool for translating spiritual experiences into the present, with space, material and light becoming modern forms of prayer, making spirituality a universal, contemporary experience.