Church of Santísimo Redentor in Tenerife
If the Gothic cathedrals subdued the faithful through the grandeur of the spaces, now there are projects that are inspired by the basics, the essence . They are works in which simplicity takes on great importance, an austerity that is not without effects to help us get closer to what transcends.
Socially, there is a rejection towards the mixture of religion with civic identity. There is a universal process of secularization that has to do with the individualism and the obsession with the “now” . The search for eternal life has been replaced by a practical awareness of life, of the struggle for the present, and the future is an increasingly abstract idea. Nevertheless, the temples continue to invite visitors to let themselves be carried away by silence and to meditate and pray, as they have always done.
We find temples in Brazil, Spain and Germany that take us back to brutalism , an architectural style from the 50s and 70s of the last century -inspired in turn by the architects Le Corbusier and Eero Saarinen- whose form of expression was submit raw materials . The use of bare concrete and stone, in the air, gives the constructions a rough, “true” appearance , and allows the structure to take center stage outside, where repetitive geometries always stand out.
Born The Chapel of All Saints by Martinho Campos (Minas Gerais, Brazil) has been projected by Gustavo Penna, who has taken as reference the cross, the main symbol of Christianity. The resounding façade appeals to the maximum synthesis : the main body, made of concrete, is a cross on a glass box. A large baptismal font that drinks from a spring of pure and fresh water welcomes the church. Inside, wood is the only warm element that softens the intense daylight.
The Chapel of All Saints by Martinho Campos in Minas Gerais, Brazil
To live Perhaps the cold concrete, without any ornament, be a more direct path to the spirit . La Laguna, in Tenerife, has the Holy Redeemer Church , designed by the Menis architecture studio . The building is made up of large blocks that seem to rest or fall on top of each other and that leave a space at the joints that allows light to enter. Cracks in one of the volumes form a cross drawn as "with a knife" that serves for us to read the use of the building. This temple aims, according to Fernando Menis, "to encourage the visitor of any culture to reflection and mysticism, a timeless emotion".
Die Is funeral chapel , designed to say goodbye to loved ones, is located in the cemetery of Inghelheim am Rheim, in the Rhineland, Germany. When looking at its front, it seems that an Egyptian pyramid emerges from the stone wall, but it is a simple and orderly gabled construction. The Bayer & Strobel Architekten studio has used the gray-yellow stone from the area and light wood in the interior, whether in cladding, flooring or furniture. The Japanese-influenced outdoor garden , collaborates with the sensation of neat serenity that the chapel transmits.
Inghelheim am Rheim in the Rhineland