Ecumenical Chapel
A client that visited our Estancia Chapel contacted us to design a private chapel on the plot of land they had recently bought on the backside of their weekend house in Cuernavaca, Mexico. They wanted an Ecumenical Chapel, a non-religious and universal space, to meditate. They liked our Estancia Chapel but wanted something more discreet, something that would be hidden from sight from their house.
Our Estancia Chapel is a wedding chapel conceived to celebrate life and our Sunset Chapel is a mausoleum in a garden of crypts conceived to mourn death. This third chapel meant for meditation represents the midpoint between these two opposites, life and death, so it is a balance point, an opportunity to journey into our deeper self. The chapel is buried underground and a spiraling ramp that surrounds it brings us inside. This ramp is flanked with a vegetated wall that functions as a vertical garden.
A water pond forms the rooftop of the chapel and at its center we find an oculus, a glass covered opening in the metallic plate, that lets sunlight filter through the water generating light and shadow patterns on the inside. The space is contained by a lattice wall formed by separated glass beams that lets the air flow through its inside. The oculus is also a visual connection with the outside vegetation and the sky, a constant reminder that we are part of a whole and connected with everything that surrounds us. In the center of the chapel we find a metallic fountain with a giant quartz on top that reflects the light coming through the oculus.
Design:
BNKR Arquitectura
Partner in Charge:
Esteban Suarez
Design Team:
Emelio Barjau, Jaime Sol, Jorge Alcantar, Christian Morales, Gloria Castillo, Montserrat Escobar, Marcell Ibarrola, Fernando Maya, Marco Mayote and Daniel Aguilar
Structure:
Juan Felipe Heredia / DAE
MEP:
Sylvia Roman / MmasXpresiones
Lighting:
Ricardo Noriegga and Santiago Bautista / NorieggaIluminadores
Area:
170m2
Cuernavaca, Morelos. Mexico
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