Det­ta­glio del pro­get­to ed. 2020

BLAN­K­PA­GE ARCHI­TEC­TS – SAINT CHAR­BEL CHURCH

Desi­gner Walid Ghan­tous
Loca­tion Zakrit, Leba­non
Desi­gn Team

BLAN­K­PA­GE Architects

Anno 2018
Pho­to credits

Karam Mor­cos, Majd Achi

Foto ester­ni

Descri­zio­ne del progetto

Loca­ted in a site stee­ped in histo­ry, the chal­len­ge con­si­sted of imple­men­ting a new lar­ger church without over­sha­do­wing the smal­ler 18th cen­tu­ry cha­pel with its lime­sto­ne vault structure.

Reco­gni­zing the histo­ri­cal value and pro­mi­nen­ce of its nei­gh­bor, the new church hum­bly adop­ts a low pro­fi­le at the entran­ce which gra­dual­ly rises as it rea­ches the altar wall. It simul­ta­neou­sly con­sti­tu­tes a bac­k­drop and an exter­nal amphi­thea­ter which highlights and inte­gra­tes the old edi­fi­ce within the rituals of the sacred ceremonies.

With its inte­rior height ran­ging from 3m to 10m, the church ena­bles a trans­cen­den­tal spa­tial expe­rien­ce that is fur­ther enhan­ced by a lar­ge sky­light loca­ted at the apex whe­re a sun­set light of various inten­si­ty washes the rear wall abo­ve the altar and crea­tes the atmo­sphe­re of the church.

A cross is car­ved into this lar­ge wall as a nega­ti­ve imprint that opens the church to the light of the rising sun in the east.

The roof of the church, an out­door amphi­thea­ter casca­ding down towards the histo­ri­cal edi­fi­ce, is suspen­ded bet­ween two mono­li­thic fair faced con­cre­te ske­le­ton, punc­tua­ted by two big oli­ve trees, rea­dy to be cove­red with layers of green climbers.

Rising inde­pen­den­tly in the midd­le of the court, a steel bell tower exhi­bi­ts itself bet­ween the con­cre­te struc­tu­re and the lime­sto­ne cha­pel with a bell inser­ted within the cen­ter of the cross.

Abo­ve eve­ry­thing else, the old cha­pel remains the pro­ta­go­ni­st that defi­nes the new church.

Rela­zio­ne illu­stra­ti­va del progetto
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Foto inter­ni

Dise­gni tecnici

TOR­NA ALLA PAGI­NA DEI PROGETTI