Cerejeira Fontes, Capela Árvore da Vida, Portugal

The Chapel designed by the Portuguese architecture firm Cerejeira Fontes Arquitectos with the collaboration of sculptor, Asbjörn Andresen is located in the antechamber of St. James Seminary in Braga, Portugal.

The chapel?s simple parallelepiped plan blends into the regular “peaceful” seminary itself, hiding a small, dynamic space that breaks up the building?s unyielding structure.

The chapel?s corner entrance provides a vibrant diagonal pathway for visitors to follow right to the end. It is the same pathway as the chapel?s wooden beams, the structure and the adornments; the bottom beams are wider to create seating and also provide shelving for books. They also filter the light from the space outside the chapel but inside the seminary, allowing this light to play its magic and providing a perfect atmosphere for contemplation and prayer.

(Agnese Bifulco)

Project: Cerejeira Fontes Arquitectos (António Jorge Fontes, Asbjörn Andresen, André Fontes)
Location: Braga, Portugal
Photos: courtesy of Cerejeira Fontes Arquitectos, Asbjörn Andresen, Sergio Conde

http://www.imago.com.pt

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