A sanctuary growing from the traces of what endured..

Rising from Ashes is conceived as a spiritual and civic landscape that transforms the fire-scarred hillside of Altadena into an architecture of memory, resilience, and light. Rather than overwriting the trauma of the site, the project draws from its surviving traces, burned vegetation, shifting contours, and outlines of former structures, and translates these remnants into a renewed sacred order. The architecture does not attempt to dominate the land; it emerges from it, carrying forward what the site remembers.

The awarded (Shortlisted) design begins with the triangle, chosen for its symbolic and structural clarity. As a universal figure of stability in Vitruvian thought, a vessel of the Christian Trinity, and a geometry that quietly embeds cruciform axes, the triangle provides spiritual legibility and contextual discipline. Its edges align with the land’s natural inclinations, forming a topographic frame that anchors the sanctuary within the logic of the hillside.

Within this triangular field, the existing buildings on the intervention area, together with the outline of the new second skin, define the initial boundary. These remnants form a parametric system that guides the placement and orientation of the new volumes. The buildings are composed in direct relation to the existing structures, using their boundaries and spatial traces to shape the sanctuary so the past becomes an active generator of form rather than a static memory.

A system of primary routes, subtly aligned in a cross-like geometry, organizes the campus and establishes a spatial framework that resonates with the project’s spiritual intentions. The steep contours of the Chaney Trail generate a second layer of design intelligence: paths derived from the topography evolve into accessible ramps leading to inhabitable green roofs. These ramps are framed by vertical charred-timber columns whose rotation is parametrically controlled by the gesture of the contour lines, allowing the structure to express the land’s original slope.

The green roofs are planted with native, fire-resistant species, Artemisia californica, Salvia leucophylla, Quercus agrifolia, Hesperoyucca whipplei, and Festuca idahoensis, ensuring ecological resilience while restoring the hillside with vegetation capable of withstanding future wildfires.

A translucent triangular second skin wraps the ensemble, acting as memory, protection, and spatial unifier. Composed of fire-treated timber slats, it shields the campus while filtering daylight into sacred, rhythmic patterns, echoing Campodónico’s philosophy of light as constructive spiritual matter. The porous veil recalls the ghost of what once stood while opening new ways of entering and perceiving the site.

Inside, the mini sanctuaries are built from rammed earth, their surfaces intentionally burned in a manner reminiscent of Zumthor’s tectonic rituals. The larger volumes remain warm, minimal, and light-driven, shaped by Amanda Iglesias’ liturgical values of sequence, silence, and collective gathering.

From the outside, the campus appears as a memorial figure on the hillside, a triangular landmark whose roofs and gardens offer communal refuge and resilience. Across its ramps, shadows, and thresholds, the sanctuary becomes both a memorial to what was lost and a platform for re-emergence: an architecture rising from ashes, guided by geometry, light, and the enduring memory of the land.