Sacred Places / Civic Spaces
By Rachel Hildebrandt
Senior Program Manager, Partners for Sacred Places
I
nfill Philadelphia: Sacred Places / Civic Spaces is a pioneering
design project in Philadelphia that is bringing faith commu-
nities together with architects and neighborhood leaders to
find creative ways to rethink the use of urban sacred places, open-
ing them into the larger civic commons and adding new energy to
community life. This project responds to findings gleaned from a
recent examination of the factors that contribute to congregational
vulnerability and resilience.
• Reactivate prototypical historic, purpose-built religious
properties that present common design challenges
The Philadelphia Masjid is famous for the
food it prepares in its large kitchen.
Sacred Places / Civic Spaces, funded by the William Penn
Foundation, will add the design community's voice to the growing
dialogue about the intersection between sacred places and commu-
nity vitality. It has assembled working teams—each composed of a
congregation, a community group, and a design firm—that is,
through an iterative design process, envisioning a new future for
each faith community’s property.
Sacred Places / Civic Spaces is intended to:
• Demonstrate that underutilized space in historic sacred
properties throughout Philadelphia can be activated in ways
that expand the civic commons, serve a larger secular purpose,
4
• Promote understanding of the realities faced by faith com-
munities stewarding historic, purpose-built sacred places
Funded by The Pew
Charitable Trusts and con-
ducted by PennPraxis in
collaboration with Partners
for Sacred Places, the 2017
research project produced an
updated citywide inventory
of older, purpose-built sacred
places and an accompanying
narrative that summarized
key research findings. It con-
firmed that unprecedented
numbers of religious build-
ings will be transitioned out
of religious use in the years to
come. Many of these build-
ings will be adapted for resi-
dential use or demol-
ished—unless key constituen-
cies come together to identify
alternatives that encourage
public uses and prevent un-
necessary destruction and
loss.
and strengthen communities while also sustaining congrega-
tions themselves
SACRED PLACES • AUTUMN/WINTER 2018-19
• Develop innovative, replicable models in which religious
buildings house a multitude of co-existing religious and secu-
lar uses
The three sacred places are:
• The Philadelphia Masjid, which is collaborating with Peo-
ple’s Emergency Center and HOK;
• Wharton Wesley United Methodist Church, which is part-
nered with ACHIEVEability and Brawer & Hauptman Archi-
tects; and
• Zion Baptist Church, which is working with Called to Serve
CDC and Studio 6mm