Brooklyn-Native Architect Wins Inaugural Bernini Award for Monastery Project

Architect Riccardo Vicenzino won the first Bernini Award in the Churches, Shrines, and Ecclesiastical Buildings category from the Catholic Art Institute. The Manhattan-based principal of Riccardo S. Vicenzino Architect, PLLC, received the award in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 19.

The Catholic Art Institute selected Vicenzino's design for the Carmelite Monastery of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in Fairfield, Pennsylvania. The project serves as the abbey for the Carmel of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, a community of cloistered sisters. Vicenzino worked closely with the sisters to plan the building complex, which he said aims to follow tradition while adhering to sustainability principles.

Vicenzino's winning entry was chosen from 94 submissions. The award is named after the 17th-century Italian architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini.