Inverted-Pyramid Chapel in Portugal Designed By Bernardo Rodrigues Architects

Bernardo Rodrigues Architects crafts an inverted-pyramid inverted-pyramid chapel in a small rural area in the Azores, Portugal In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Tilted over a pond, the two-fold Chapel of Eternal Light is built in a cemetery. The unique shape of the chapel resembles a flower that leans towards the sun or its placement features that it is bowing down to the village and the ocean. Read more about the project below at SURFACES REPORTER (SR):

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The project that is sited off the main road joins both the cemetery and the neighboring zone. This was the firm’s first commission after the studio was set up in 2001. The project was started in the year 2003 but its construction of it was delayed owing to Founder Rodrigues's own experiences of grief of his child early on in the project. This is the reason Rodrigues describes this project as “slow but sure” 

The community is built around a long road that runs parallel to the sea, which was the traditional means for islanders to defend themselves from the dangers of the sea, such as tempests, storms, and pirates said the architect.

Inspiration Behind The Design

The idea of designating such structure form occurred from Rodrigues' visit to the Tomba Brion in Italy by architect Carlo Scarpa, which showcases an altar lit by a tilted wooden pyramid.

Rodrigues recalls, “The next day talking with first collaborators Natacha and James and sketching, we just looked at each other, no need for the box, let's extrude the inverted pyramid.”

Priest Room

The project comprises a priest's room which is located within the base of it.

A bathroom is integrated with the priest's room. While the main space acts as a congregation room around an altar. 

Also Read: A CHAPEL For CYCLES by Johannes Torpe

Design Details

The project comprises two floors, with a small room and bathroom on the lower floor and a chapel on the upper floor. The firm inverted pyramid is made of concrete and the second one is built of steel. “ In those four concrete faces are anchored metal beams that make up the chapel's support walls on the top floor, with covered and insulated panels painted silver on the inside and green Guatemala marble slabs on the outside, all supported by a steel structure with Facar tubes in between and clamped by the exterior with copper steel buttons” mentioned in their website.

According to the details mentioned by the firm, the chapel has a green marble exterior and its interiors are modelled to function as a "time apparatus". While the maximum work of the chapel is done in green Guatemala marble, some elements are intentionally left exposed both inside and outside. 

"The truth of the structure was there and I had to speak, it is visible but in a very subtle way," said Rodrigues.

The project’s silver walls are lit naturally by a six-meter-long skylight and a small window by the altar, which gives abundant light to the interiors. The silver walls go well with wooden flooring and furniture, including a custom-designed bench and six chairs made from Afzelia wood. 

Project Details

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