As more people turn to a range of veneration practices across the globe, the necessity of creating furniture and products to meet the particular needs of modern day spiritual practitioners has emerged as a new design imperative. It is within this spiritual and cultural context that Stephen Burks has created a collection of modern altars entitled “Spirit Houses.” The creation of the pieces for the exhibition at Volume Gallery in Chicago reflects a necessary expansion and intervention into the largely secular world of industrial design that responds to and serves our everyday needs through the creation of products, furniture, and devices.