apaloosa's open-air chapel engulfs worshippers in a celestial experience in rural mexico

La Escondida Chapel sits in rural La Garza in Mexico

Designed by Apaloosa Estudio de Arquitectura y Diseño in collaboration with Walter Hugo Flores, La Escondida Chapel sits in the rural area of La Garza in Mexico. A public space amid a housing complex, the chapel seeks to spatially create a connection with its users while fostering direct spiritual connection with the divine. Its pavilion-like form crafted from steel and wood encourages visitors to become enveloped by the large-scale, open space and gaze upwards for a celestial experience. Its deliberate placement, visible yet requiring a lengthy journey towards it, creates a reference for its surroundings and imparts a sense of anticipation to approaching worshippers.

all images courtesy of Apaloosa Estudio de Arquitectura y Diseño

Apaloosa Estudio crafts a pavilion-like experience

La Escondida Chapel manifests the universal human quest for a celestial connection, exploring the interstitium — a space that channels the infusion of natural zenithal light and fosters a communion between the worshipper and the divine. Apaloosa Estudio de Arquitectura y Diseño (more here) embraces the concept of an intangible direct relationship, acknowledging the personal or collective pursuit of expression with a higher being.

To enhance this connection, the project introduces a silo that serves as a conductor of light, absorbing, sifting, and diffusing natural light while controlling its intensity within the interior space. The feature’s strategic height also ensures a uniform distribution of temperature, creating an atmosphere conducive to spiritual reflection.

sited in the rural area amid a housing complex

Apaloosa Estudio de Arquitectura y Diseño unveils La Escondida Chapel

a silo serves as a conductor of light

its deliberate placement, visible yet requiring a lengthy journey towards it, creates a sense of anticipation 

the opening absorbs, sifts, and diffuses it while controlling its intensity within

project info:

name: La Escondida Chapel

location: Mexico

architecture: Apaloosa Estudio de Arquitectura y Diseño, Walter Hugo Flores

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edited by: ravail khan | designboom