A place of peace in the bustling city

  • September 15, 2017
A place of peace in the bustling city

Sofia Singler wins honorable mention for her design in an international architecture competition.

A Gates Cambridge Scholar has won an honorable mention in an international architecture competition.

Sofia Singler [2016] and her design partner Luka Pajovic won the mention in the competition organised by ArchMedium, a European architectural competition organisation for their proposal 'Templum Sapientiae'.

Sofia began collaborating with Luka, a 2017 architecture graduate from Cambridge, during the first year of her PhD. The competition was for a contemporary non-denominational chapel in central Rome.

The competition brief was to rethink spiritual and worship spaces in the city of Rome, to create "a place of encounter, a space for dialogue and hope for peace in a complex world". 

The brief stated: "Nowadays with the vertiginous lifestyle of ever-changing cities, it is even more necessary to have a space where you can reflect and be calm. In a delicate European context, we propose to rethink spaces of worship as a place of introversion in the city with no association to any religion. A new place disconnected from the city and connected with the will of the people and the Rome of the 21st century."

The site chosen for the building was the historic Via Giulia of Rome, one of the most important streets in Rome and one directly affected by demolitions carried out during the era of Mussolini. 

The brief was highly relevant to Sofia's PhD research on modern post-war religious architecture and provided her with the opportunity to test some of her theoretical hypotheses and conclusions on contemporary religious space through design.

Sofia Singler

Sofia Singler

  • Alumni
  • Finland
  • 2016 PhD Architecture
  • Pembroke College

My research examines how the Finnish modernist Alvar Aalto’s ecclesiastical oeuvre can enrich our understanding of the relationship between religion and modern architecture, and revise misleadingly uncomplicated assumptions concerning their mutual exclusivity.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge
Yale University

Latest News

Piecing together a scientific knowledge puzzle

Zhi-Yu Chen’s research is like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle. Zhi-Yu is interested in the cross-cultural exchange of scientific knowledge between Chinese migrants and other communities in Southeast Asia between […]

New book explores future of the Arctic

A Gates Cambridge Scholar has co-written a book about the future of the Arctic which has been praised by the executive director of the Arctic Economic Council for bringing the Arctic […]

Behind the scenes in discussions on Inter-American rights treaties

What is the difference between how we think of human rights and economic and social rights? Several decades in the case of Mexico, according to research by Andrés Ruiz Ojeda [2023].  […]

Exploring the mechanisms of human life

Marcelo Mesa Costa Lima [2025] is interested in one of the fundamental questions of science – what gives us life. His PhD, which follows on from previous research experience working […]