About the Project
Immigration, perhaps the defining characteristic of the contemporary city, is a process of rearticulation. Identities, economic conditions, and material realities are each reinterpreted as immigration simultaneously transforms individuals and their new cities. Though often overlooked, religious spaces provide a rich environment through which the process of immigration unfolds. The role which religion plays both personally to people who’ve immigrated and out in the built environment is constantly shifting and redefining the relationship between the two. Growing out of old storefronts, houses, workshops, and even parking garages, religious spaces quietly transform the leftover parts of the city. They serve the varied needs placed upon them by their community members while navigating the realities set by their local governments. By compiling photos and stories of spaces which depict immigrant narratives, this research project aims to show the value which religious architecture provides to both immigrant communities and their respective cities.
This project was jointly funded by a Beckerman Fellowship and a Branner Fellowship awarded by the University of California Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design. My faculty advisor for the project was Georgios Eftaxiopoulos who provided tremendous help throughout the planning stages of this project.
About Me
I am Emmanuel Carrillo, a recent Master of Architecture graduate from UC Berkeley. I grew up in Argentina, Chicago, Minnesota, and California’s Central Valley. In my free time I like to paint, watch horror movies, read books, and play music.