Ecumenical Chapel, Cuernavaca Meditation Space, Mexican Architecture

Ecumenical Chapel Cuernavaca

Mexican Private Meditation Space design by BNKR Arquitectura, Mexico

14 Mar 2014

Mexican Meditation Chapel

Design: BNKR Arquitectura

Location: Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico

Some customers visited La Estaancia Chapel and contacted us to make a private chapel on their weekend`s house at Cuernavaca. They wanted an Ecumenical Chapel, a non-religious chapel, a chapel to meditate. They also liked La Estancia Chapel, but they wanted something more discreet, something they couldn’t seen from their house but they wanted to be spectacular at the same time.

They didn’t want to see something “formally spectacular”, but rather, they wanted to feel something special when they were inside, something similar to the feeling of being in La Estancia or Sunset Chapel.

Now … If La Estancia Chapel celebrates life and Sunset Chapel regrets death, this third chapel to meditate would be the midpoint between life and death, the balance point, a journey into ourselves. We imagine a chapel buried, a lump in the ground. And in this process we include a vital element in our lives “Water”.

By including a water mirror at ground level, from the house we only appreciate like an “intervention in the landscape” a small stream in the garden. But when you get closer you can see a downwards ramp that surrounds the chapel.

After the tour the chapel recibes you with a beautiful Uglass entrance, then you get in to the central space. An oculus in the metal plate that allows us to see the outside through the water. A metal source with a large quartz in the center reflects the oculus on the floor.

Ecumenical Chapel – Building Information

Design: BNKR Arquitectura
Partner in Charge: Esteban Suarez
Design Team: Emelio Barjau, Jaime Sol, Jorge Alcantar, Christian Morales, Gloria Castillo, Montserrat Escobar, Marcell Ibarrola, Fernando Maya, Marco Mayote and Daniel Aguilar
Structure: Juan Felipe Heredia / DAE
MEP: Sylvia Roman / MmasXpresiones
Lighting: Ricardo Noriegga and Santiago Bautista / NorieggaIluminadores
Area: 170m2
Status: Built 2013
Location: Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico