Chapel in Spain by S.M.A.O.

If you say the word “church” and “modern architecture” in the same sentence, people might look at you in a fuuny way. Many people think these terms are incompatible with each other , but i actually belive the Catholic Church is rather visionary and has succeeded to combine both the traditional and the modern in all fields, including architecture. That explains the unusual cooperation with the S.M.A.O. studio, an acronym from Sancho Madridejos Architecture Office.

1744179462 exterior chapel 2 390x450

This unique and modern building is located in Spain, in a place called Almadén, Ciudad Real, and was made between 1996 and 2001. It is part of a bigger project that also includes building Dwelling, Chapel, Hunting pavilion and Guard´s residence in that space. If you take a look at the unusual architecture of the building you may wonder what could be the source of inspiration for its shape, but it actually is the result of folding a sheet of paper after the Japanese folding art called origami. You can see the starting point and all the intermediate folding positions if you watch the photos.

1744179462 exterior chapel 2 390x450

The building is made of golden concrete and it does not let you guess from the outside what is its destination. Even if you go inside you will see only a simple cross and a lot of space. The light comes in through the intricate shaped window and is then spread all over the chapel, so it does not need any artificial source of light. To be honest I found this building amazing.

1744179462 exterior chapel 2 390x450
1744179462 exterior chapel 2 390x450