Architect：António Costa Lima Arquitectos

Location：Portugal

Project Year：2024

Category：Chapels

The chapel is placed on the edge of the dam like an anchorage pier.

The shape consists of a simple structure of rustic pine wood poles suspended over the water bank.

Its surface encloses the space (floor, sides and roof) with a semi-opaque palisade only broken by the entry steps at the roof level and by one horizontal window on the floor allowing an exclusive view of the water surface.

The interstices of light pierce the interior creating different tones, reflections and glitters that depend on the time of the day and the season of the year. With the winter rains the water level come up to floor leaving only a gap with a couple of inches. In the summer the cross which is the one pole that holds all the building appears almost completely and scarcely touches the water.

The chapel creates a chamber where the five senses are fully activated in a clear counterpoint to the wide and bright landscape of the dam transporting the mind to hidden places of memory: the smell of the water bank, the moving glitter of the water, the rough surface of imperfect wooden posts, the resonance box with the sounds of water…

The symbolism of water is emphasized by the cross that precedes and protrudes from the dam surface as the only vertical support on this side of the building.

The dimension of the cross confuses the scale, creasing the unusual of the space. On the other hand, it invites tactile interaction with this structural element.

The place relates to the healing harbours of Galilee where the large surface of the water reminds that "For now we see a reflection as in a diffused mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." (excerpt from St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 13). 

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