Uruguay. A prefabricated chapel in the vineyards

The sacred space has been designed by MAPA, produced in Portugal and assembled at Sacromonte in just one day.

MAPA, Sacromonte chapel, Sacromonte, Uruguay, 2017. Photo Tali Kimelman

The binational collective MAPA, based in Uruguay and Brasil, designed Sacromonte chapel as a prefabricated structure in the productive landscape of the sierras of eastern Uruguay. The building, described as a ‘landscape amplifier’ by the studio, has been conceived as a contemporary sacred space subtly open towards the surroundings, merging interior and exterior space.

The structure consists of two 9x6 meters cross-laminated timber planes, converging but never touching, both leaning on a metallic platform that gives the building a sense of suspension from the ground. A floating box made of black translucent onyx – containing a statue of the Vergin of ‘La Carrodilla’ – perforates one of the timber planes breaking the symmetry of the archetypal-like. This element brings light into the space as if it was a cannon-lumière. The production process of the materials was entirely made in Portugal; the pieces were then transported on site and assembled in just one day.

 MAPA, Sacromonte chapel, animated axonometry
Project:
Sacromonte chapel
Location:
Sacromonte, Uruguay
Program:
chapel
Architect:
MAPA
Partners:
Luciano Andrades, Matías Carballal, Andrés Gobba, Mauricio López, Silvio Machado
Project team:
Pablo Courreges, Diego Morera, Emiliano Lago, Fabián Sarubbi, Sandra Rodríguez, Rafael Solano, Agustín Dieste, Alba Álvarez, Miquel Castellà, Marcos Gómara, Victoria Reibakas, Sebastián Lambert, Lucy Braunstein, Marie-Lise Hofstetter, Claire Gardan, Helena Utzig, Joao Bernardi
Structure:
RDA Ingeniería
Production:
Portilame (Portugal)
Assembly and installation:
MAPA + Cosia y Pombo
Foundations:
Pablo Trucido
Transport:
Carrión Transportes
Onyx box manufacturer:
Laviere Vitacca
Cross:
Taller Capitán
Completion:
2017

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