Culiacan

Location: Mexico
Client: Private
Status: Competition
Program: Cultural

In collaboration with Jack Carter Architects

The proposed design boldly articulates the massing of the chapel on the site, and suggests the development of a new public square with urban functions.

The elliptical plan creates a simple, unifying geometric solution.  The form is at the same time old and modern, timeless.

A dramatic sloping roof follows the topography and corresponds with the program.  Within the chapel, the architecture fosters a sense of serenity and meditation, with ethereal natural light filtered through the skylight system and flooding the space.

The façade of the building is made of layers, unwrapping around the central elliptical nave.  As you get further from the center, the layers of skin open to create circulation spaces and concealed support spaces, until connecting with the existing retaining walls of the site, creating a unified, integrated geometry.  The openings between the layers of the facade become apertures to the outside, inviting the circulation of people and the connections with the site, also catching wind to provide natural ventilation throughout the building.

The proposed design boldly articulates the massing of the chapel on the site, and suggests the development of a new public square with urban functions.

The elliptical plan creates a simple, unifying geometric solution.  The form is at the same time old and modern, timeless.

A dramatic sloping roof follows the topography and corresponds with the program.  Within the chapel, the architecture fosters a sense of serenity and meditation, with ethereal natural light filtered through the skylight system and flooding the space.

The façade of the building is made of layers, unwrapping around the central elliptical nave.  As you get further from the center, the layers of skin open to create circulation spaces and concealed support spaces, until connecting with the existing retaining walls of the site, creating a unified, integrated geometry.  The openings between the layers of the facade become apertures to the outside, inviting the circulation of people and the connections with the site, also catching wind to provide natural ventilation throughout the building.