Carlos Góndola
The project is a place of reflection, silence and prayer; an intimate space for the encounter with oneself and nature.
A place of contemplation that is a kind of stele, refuge and sanctuary. It is proposed to raise three prisms that serve as lanterns and that emerge from the ground, on top of an island in Lake Titicaca. Inside a cave is excavated, configured by three light locks that are born from the towers and rest on a water mirror, resulting in a diaphanous space that seeks the spiritual and essential connection of whoever visits it.
The arrival at the Chapel is initially preceded with a concrete volume that allows to visualize a long walk, in a space that seems to lead to the depth of the earth and at the end a space where you can enjoy the silence and the sounds of nature.
Once the tour is finished, the project welcomes you with a slab invaded by three locks of light that rest in a body of water, which makes conceptual reference to the religious centers and ancestral constructions surrounding the place, the materials are rustic, always looking for the More punctual relationship with Mother Nature, six rows of benches narrow the path to frame the most important space of the place: The Altar.
Three elements are born from the earth and adorn this mystical place. The volume of the entrance serves as a union between the spiritual – earthly world and it is here where the journey to the interior of the chapel begins where little by little the speaker detaches from the outside.
The chapel was designed so that the visitor interprets the space according to their spiritual needs. It is not intended to impose a specific proposal, but on the contrary, it invites the user to appropriate the place depending on the moment, the weather, the light, and of course, their faith in particular.
Author: Carlos Góndola.
Website: www.behance.net/gondola
Location: Lake Titicaca, Bolivia.
Year: 2021
Competition: Titicaca Chapel Architecture competition.