Stone Chapel by Nomen Architects+Ximena Alvarez

The area is characterized by a natural environment for vegetation (in the desert), in contact with a mountain of the Andes. The main idea was to design within a rural lot, a private chapel for a couple to share in solitude. The volume, away from existing housing is isolated and induces a long walk to get there. The tour continued into the vastness of the plot, thought-provoking and surprise, establishing a transition of the values of “Profane” everyday life “sacred”, where vertical is the way to approach the divinity.

Orthogonal geometry allows differentiation stages along the pilgrimage. The first approach is carried out in contact with nature, accompanying the river with a view of the valley. Later, the water appears as an element of purification, the patio offers the necessary pauses for reflection. The verticality of the interior is an attempt to reach the divine. There is no typological or symbolic reference, or religious character, the materials are rather austere and basic to the experience. The project is solved as an abstract object. To discover inside a cross set in perspective between the vertical and horizontal open door to foreign banks.

The altar has a dual function: on the inside for individual meditation and abroad for the ceremonies. Search for the correct human proportions right, a module (Modulor) is used as a starting point. Such is the case of interior space, with three different heights: the first (1.83 m) refers to men, the second (2.26 m) to their spirituality and the third (2.26 m) to the divine and unattainable . The presence of the constellation solves the problems of natural ventilation of the tower, revealed from inside to outside during the day and from the outside during the night.