In the spring of 2022, faculty and students from the Pratt Institute School of Architecture partnered with Bricks and Mortals for an Urban Context Laboratory, a graduate architecture seminar. The class worked with five religious institutions to develop innovative solutions for their properties. This report documents their research and recommendations for St. Paul and St. Andrew United Methodist Church, The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the City of New York, St. Martin’s and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Hudson Yards Synagogue, and the Park Slope United Methodist Church.
The report includes an analysis of each institution, looking at strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, historical context, current use of the space, key challenges, intervention goals and proposals for new ways to use the space.
You can download the resource here.
Thank you to the following project partners, students and faculty for your work:
ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS
Brandon Bruscato, Margaret Gaby, Jeffrey Graziano, Seyed Shervin Hashemi,
Jialun Hu, Brandon Lockfoot, Max Sopher, Martin Vargas, Adhithi Venkatesh,
Andrejs Zarins
ARCHITECTURE FACULTY
Meta Brunzema, R.A., LEED A.P. , graduate assistant Jeffrey Graziano
PROJECT SPONSOR
Bricks & Mortals
Kate Toth, Kevin Ritter
PROJECT PARTNERS
St. Paul and St. Andrew United Methodist Church
Rev. K. Karpen, Brent Ness
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the City of New York
Sepideh Behzadpour, Luke Bolton, Diane Pratt
St. Martin’s and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Rev. Patrick J. Williams, Japhet Aryiku, Lindsay Brooks, Jill Davis, Stovette Williams
Hudson Yards Synagogue
Rabbi Jason Herman
Park Slope United Methodist Church
Rev. Melissa Hinnen, Lance Carlile, John Hall, Lisa Watson, Laura Wolf-Powers