Frames Of Reverence, A Thesis
2018
After the Great Migration in the 1930s, Manhattan’s African American population coming from the South settled themselves in Harlem, where housing was most affo dable and work was accessible. Over time, most of the previously established churches were bought out by African American congregations who would then adapt the space to their needs of worship. Because of issues of access and internal disparities within congregations, more additional, informal churches popped up in people’s apartments and bought out storefronts to meet the varied needs of the people.
Today there are around 400 houses of worship, both informal and formal, concentrated in Harlem. They range from various denominations of Christianity to Islam. However, shifts in the population and an increasingly secular society estrange these small Houses of Worship from the community and put them at risk of being bought out by developers who will then take the agency of the worship practices into their hands. This is a case study in how to provide an architectural framework to preserve the network of practiced faith and community.
Cornell University
New York, NY
Advisors Jaoa Almeida and Tao DuFour
architect & urbanist
@BETHLEHEM TESFAYE, 2025. All works, unless noted.