Chapel in Villeaceron / S.M.A.O.

Apr 2009

By Nico Saieh — Filed under: Religious Architecture , Selected , Concrete, S.M.A.O., Spain

Architect: Sancho-Madridejos Architecture Office
Location: Almadén, Ciudad Real, Spain
Principals: Sol Madridejos & Juan Carlos Sancho
Assistant – Technical Architect: Martin Pozuelo
Project Leader: Luis Renedo
Collaborators: Luis Renedo, Juan A. Garrido, Emilio Gómez Ramos, Patricia Planell, Marta Toral, Andrey García, Javier Moreno
Project year: 1996-2001
Photographs: Hisao Suzuki

The idea of situating and relating a series of objects in the landscape- Dwelling, Chapel, Hunting pavilion and Guard´s residence- gave the project a dual significance: in addition to the close relationship between landscape, objects and itinerary -between space and objects-, each item had to provide a different response with different emphasis, from the most symbolic to the most silent or private. The unifying thread was to be the concept of the fold: the fold as a hidden generator of different spaces.

The Chapel is developed around the study and manipulation of a focally tensed “box-fold”.

It is set at the top of a slight rights, making it the reference point in the landscape seen from the property entrance 2 Km away at a low point, as well as in different visions from the entire itinerary.

The Chapel has a naked design and lacks artificial lighting. The exterior-interior spatial relationship determines its focus, its meaning. Only a cross and an image at the focal point underscore the symbolic aspects of the project.

The proposed fold in the box, the corbusian “boîte”, gives rise to a single material: golden concrete that captures all the nuances demanded of the volume, from the trapped direct light that bursts in like an additional plane in the spatial composition, to the transmission of the unstable, coloured smell of dawn. Light thus takes on the role of a second material in the Chapel – a material that contrasts with the concrete – fragile, changing, mobile, unstable; dominating or vanishing.

: elevations + sections

: axonometric diagrams

: models 01

: models 02

22 comments »

Bo Lucky says:

Compare simplicty of form and function to the Prayer & Meditation Pavillion in Sudan http://www.archdaily.com/18901/prayer-meditation-pavillion-studio-tam-associati/
In my opinion Sudan definitly wins…

# April 30, 2009 at 13:21

Opium says:

I agree with bo…too many tricks in this one…tipical spanish concrete paella…lot of bullshit talk and in the end you get this very boring space that will eventually appear in one of El croquis issues being sold as spain’s contribution to architectural inovation.

# April 30, 2009 at 13:37

francis says:

WOW! Lines, edges, planes, angles, light, concrete … one word – Modern. No isms, no ity. I want to pray there.

# April 30, 2009 at 14:06

Bernie Madoff says:

Will that chapel make me believe in god again? In any case it will make me believe more in human creativity and inventivness. They really created a “spiritual” place. Beatiful. Hence, I would definitely use it to house my personal gym. Wonderful things could happen in that space.

# April 30, 2009 at 14:39

u says:

it looks like 2008 torino competition’s(info point) 1st place project, paperbox..

# April 30, 2009 at 14:59

jlbr says:

at some point it got too “pointy”, one too many folds i’d say…

like a tadao ando design gone astray.

# April 30, 2009 at 19:43

Ultra man says:

Don’t agree with Bo Lucky, the Prayer & Meditation Pavilion in Sudan feels like a public toilet being manicured. Or a prison cell being painted in white.
This space looks higher and has a real interesting philosophical point of view, the fold, which goes back to thinking about mathematics and god, thus Leibniz…
The first one is an easy politically correct white box for new age architects, this one is trying to elevate your mind in time where science and faith need to confront each other in a positive way.

# April 30, 2009 at 22:07

Mathematics and space indeed! If I may reference the Grande Arche in La Defence, Paris … they belong to the “cube” family or the “tesseract”. It is a very rich language for architecture that is inexhaustible, and yearning to be elaborated.
If Architecture is about occupying a space. The architects here have captured a space and crafted a space from it – very clever, and have found Architecture successfully I believe. The architecture is so deliberate in arresting a space to the point that it does not have a path leading to it. The front, entrance side, denote it is not even connected to the ground. It has the genes of Corbusier.
Architecture should not be considered subjectively nor by comparison (embroil in styles). They are disservices to self or otherwise.

# May 1, 2009 at 05:15

HSXK says:

I do like it, so amazing form. It’s creative, and just the way I appreciate to design!

# May 3, 2009 at 23:26

Gman says:

Goofy

# May 4, 2009 at 11:09

verging on pointless

# May 4, 2009 at 11:18

Adit says:

Good Idea, Brilliant…

# May 5, 2009 at 05:19

Please visit Our web site, http://www.designplusinterior.com.
Thx,

Regards,

Adit

# May 5, 2009 at 05:21

2MACoff says:

АРИГАМИ ЕПТА.

# May 29, 2009 at 19:57

nath says:

perfect, another idea of simplicity dreamt in imagination, executed with effect. concept to outcome is ideal and results in an architecture without influence, purely space and function. can’t express the praise enough.

# June 23, 2009 at 08:22

jc says: