Chapel in Valleaceron
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.
It is set at the top of a slight hill, turning it into a reference point in the landscape seen from the entrance to the property, at a 2km distance from a lower level, displaying different visions along the entire itinerary. It is oriented slightly off an east-west axis. One goes to the chapel on arrival at the residential zone, making it an entrance turning point. Visitors enter the chapel rising through the western façade until arrival, interiorly, at the focal point in a non-symmetrical front.
Along with this walkthrough interval, the varying scale of the fold makes the compact volume break offering a closed compact, open-fragmented sequence of spaces in a constant change of time. The chapel has been thought naked, with no artificial lighting, as in a place where the exterior-interior spatial relationship determines its sense, its attention; only a cross, an onyx lamp and an image in the focal point reinforce the symbolic aspects involved in the project.
By proposing a fold in the box, in the corbusian “boîte”, a single material arises: golden concrete that captures all of the shades demanded to the volume, from capturing the direct light that breaks through an additional plane in the spatial composition to the transmission of the unstable, colored scent of dawn. The light thus takes on the role of a second material in the chapel, a material that contrasts with concrete, fragile, changing, mobile, unstable, dominating or vanishing.
Project Info
Architects: Sancho Madrilejos
Location: Ciudad Real, Spain
Architect in Charge: Sol Madridejos, Juan Carlos Sancho
Assistant – Technical Architect: Martín Pozuelo
Project Leader: Luis Renedo
Study Collaborators: Luis Renedo, Juan A. Garrido, Emilio Gómez Ramos, Patricia Planell, Marta Toral, Andrey García, Javier Moreno
Year: 2001
Type: Religious
