Multifaceted sacralities. The spatialisation of religion in the contemporary city

• Applicant: Privatdozentin Dr. Beate Löffler
• Subject Area: Architecture, Building and Construction History, Construction Research, Sustainable Building Technology
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 576362698

The aim of the project is to understand the role of smaller religions and weltanschauungen in the architectural and spatial structure of our cities. These communities take over vacant churches and secular buildings, convert them, build new ones or swap suitable buildings with each other. In this way, they help to inscribe social change into the material dimensions of the urban fabric. Using a highly condensed sample, the project applies an experimental approach to understand the architectural, spatial and infrastructural needs of the communities as well as the practices of localisation at various scales, from individual buildings to regional networks. In this way, it aims to comprehend how communities, which are often very small in terms of members or very young in institutional terms, manage to maintain functional meeting spaces and viable communities. Based on a better understanding of complex processes of urban transformation, especially concerning sacred topography, the project aims in a first step to collect viable approaches for coping with this change. Taken further, this enables the development of strategies for both the sustainable and resilient use of existing buildings and spaces in the city within the framework of the diverse needs of its inhabitants, and for the creation and implementation of customised urban planning and architectural concepts.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants