Temple and parish

Place: Ponferrada, León
Date: 2005
Developer: Astorga Bishopric
Design/ditection: Eduardo Delgado Orusco & Juan Enrique Álvarez
Award: Competition. 2nd Prize

While other historical models sought singularity in the size of their fabrics, our project explores excellence in architecture and dedication to space, parting from the compromise with the times we are living.

The essential subject of the project lies in its play with light, understood as a metaphor for the prayer, for communicating with the Creator. This play is articulated at different moments: the patio line that virtually amplifies the nave of the temple is combined with particularly intense spaces related to the sacraments (baptism, Eucharist, confession and sacristy). Light is equally articulated by the rooftop shaped by a series of skylights with a marked vertical dimension that pretend to activate the interior space in function of the changing daylight.

Whereas regarding the sacred identity of the edifice, we have chosen to omit any rhetoric allusion, such as crosses, bell towers or other symbols referring to use, that we think are irrelevant today.