First, the baptismal font.
A source of pure water – the origin of everything.
Through the two river banks, one reaches the third – religare; the symbol/synthesis, the cross
Sky and earth – the vertical line
All men – the horizontal line
The internal space is created by displacing the sacred form.
The space is the movement.
The wood shelters, cuddles, protects.
Nature is around participating in solidarity.
Located in the city of Martinho Campos, in a traditional Minas Gerais farm, the All Saints Chapel was built as a gift to a friend and his family. Surrounded by green, the volume made in concrete, stone and wood rests quietly on the land and establishes a dialogue with nature, men and the divine.
Its design stems from the baptistery, the fountain of pure water, the source of everything. From there, the reflecting pool extends itself, representing the two river banks that run to find a third margin, thus consolidating the notion of religare. The cross, in its vertical axis, symbolizes the connection between the earth and the sky; the horizontal axis speaks for all men living side by side. The movement proposed by the cross in the longitudinal axis defines the space. The chosen type of wood, peroba do campo, is supposed to generate an atmosphere of sheltering, quietude and meditation. The glass walls allow for transparency and a better connection with nature, with the sky, the animals, the plants and the ground that surrounds the spot.
The 160m² setting avoided tree removal and used the natural profile of the land. Ventilation and lighting through a zenithal opening renews the air and brings in a light of scenographic quality to the building.
Nothing in the chapel is gratuitous. The symbols are represented there in concrete form, the baptism as an initiation in the spiritual life, the river as a path and the cross as an excuse for reflection, for a moment of self-examination that leads us to reach for transcendence.
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