A territorial piece
The chapel is posed as a large cross perched on the landscape, an enormous monument that extends and orients towards the 4 cardinal points. This creates a new reference in the territory that appeals to the entire Rwandan community, inviting it to approach from any direction.
Homage to unification
The walls that give access force the faithful to separate to enter, symbolizing the conflicts of African society. The greater wall represents the civil division, caused by the war between Tutsis and Hutus. The opposite wall, lower and shorter, symbolizes the religious division between different creeds. Thus, the chapel is understood as a point of civil and spiritual union, where all beliefs and ideologies converge and meet.
Austere sacrality
A slightly raised deck above the ground hides the small prayer space. We find a chapel practically buried where the scale, light and temperature are reduced. Imitating the native typologies, the upper plane is separated so that the air is renewed naturally, creating an atmosphere of shade and silence. In this way, a humble and simple space becomes a sacred and timeless place, a dormant architecture.
Simplicity as a constructive idea
Have been sought vernacular solutions that reflect the identity of the place and the austerity of its people. All encounters are simple and intuitive, evoking a primitive and safe construction. The walls are made of compacted earth, extracted of the own excavation and planked to be pressed; the belfry and the roof are formed with the wood of the nearest conifers.
