Rising from Ashes , Los Angeles / Vereinigte Staaten

 

TerraViva launches RISING FROM ASHES, a new american competition which encourages to design a spiritual and architectural landmark within the wounded territory of Altadena (Los Angeles, California), embracing both the spectacular context and the local community...

 

Prizes up to 12.000 $ will be awarded to the winners selected by an international jury panel composed, among others, by Martina Rosati (Zaha Hadid Architects), Nicolas Campodonico (Nicolas Campodonico Arquitecto), Amanda Iglesias (The Architecture of Prayer) and Jordi Espinet (Mesura).

 

Within this particular Californian region, where multiple religious buildings were lost in the wildfires in early 2025, the need for a new spiritual anchor takes on greater meaning.

 

In this unprecedented scenario, the possibility of building a new Christian church − open, contemporary and rooted in the landscape − holds both symbolic and practical value for Altadena’s spiritual and cultural recovery.

 

The competition invites participants to rethink sacred architecture as a sensory, symbolic and communal experience: one that can move, restore and connect. The aim is to envision a new place of worship for 400 people, where the mystical meets the social, and the liturgical engages with the everyday life.

 

• 1st Prize: 7.000$

• 2nd Prize: 2.000$

• 3rd Prize: 1.000$

• 5 Golden Mentions: coupon for a free membership

• 10 Honorable Mentions: coupon for a free competition

• 30 Finalists: published on Terraviva channels

 

Rising from Ashes challenges designers to envision a new place of worship for 400 people, where the mystical meets the social and the liturgical engages with the everyday. The project may be organized as a compact volume, a constellation of separate pavilions or a combination of both.

 

Participants are encouraged to focus also on transitional spaces − galleries, patios, pergolas, terraces − with the aim of linking interior and exterior environments, offering shade, rest and moments of reflection. The use of water and vegetation − as symbolic, climatic or compositional elements − may enrich the project, reinforcing the connection between architecture, nature and spirituality.

 

Two A1 panels (59,4 x 84,1 cm - horizontal) and a brief text describing the proposal (250-500 words).

 

• Martina Rosati (London, UK) | Zaha Hadid Architects

• Nicolas Campodonico (Rosario, Argentina) | Nicolas Campodonico Arquitecto

• Amanda Iglesias (New York, United States) | The Architecture of Prayer

• Jordi Espinet (Barcelona, Spain) | Mesura

• Ingo Krapf (Cologne, Germany) | IKID

• Laura Mucciolo (Rome, Italy) | La Sapienza

• Rean Yan Zhuo (Sydney, Australia) | Arkee Studio

• Amparo Dominguez Soler (Valencia, Spain) | Open House Valencia

 

• Competition Opening: July 29th

• 79 € “Early” Registrations: July 29th - October 3rd

• 99 € “Standard” Registrations October 3rd - November 7th

• 129 € “Late” Registrations: November 7th - December 8th

• Submission Deadline: December 8th

• Winners Announcement: January 19th

 

 

The competition is open to students, architects, designers, artists, engineers, urban planners, makers and creatives of all kinds. Participants can compete individually or in teams.

 

 

TikTok: @terravivacompetitions