TADAO ANDO: CHAPEL IN MT. ROKKO

TADAO ANDO: CAPILLA EN EL MONTE ROKKO. 
 VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL

This small chapel located on Mount Rokko, near Kobe, completes the trilogy of Christian religious facilities  designed by Tadao Ando in the mid-eighties. While not enjoying the same fame as the Church on the Water or the Church of Light, the chapel at Mount Rokko becomes a synthesis of its predecessors and stresses the architect’s effort to establish a link between the religious space and  nature.


LOCATION

The chapel in Rokko is similar to its counterpart in Hokkaido, as it is a venue for the celebration of marriages and belongs to a hotel, unlike the Church of Light, which is devoted to preaching and prayer. While the design was made after her sisters, the construction of the chapel in Rokko (between 1985-1986) preceded the churches at Hokkaido and Ibaraki. Its location in Mount Rooko enjoys formidable views of the sea.

See location on Google Maps.

CONCEPT

In this chapel Ando uses his usual vocabulary: simple geometry, the meticulously studied and delicate play of light and shadows, as well as the modulated exposed concrete surfaces that dialogue with the metal and glass. However, this chapel includes Western elements like the bell tower, which meets a  formal rather than utilitarian role, becoming a vertical counterpoint to a predominantly horizontal composition.




Unlike the Western church towers where the bell used to call parishioners to religious services and other events, in this case (as the guide told us) the bells are rarely played, to avoid disturbing customers of the hotel in which the chapel is located.

After passing through the lobby, we arrived to a garden, adorned with a small pond. The chapel is located in a lower level.

As in other of his churches, Ando avoids a direct and pompous access to the chapel. Instead, he uses a 40 meters long concrete arcade, covered by turquoise matte coated glass, upon which a steel and glass vault is located. This tunnel provides a processional access to the chapel, stressing the majesty of the wedding approach.


However, this tunnel view does not lead directly to the building or to a monumental access, since the chapel is located on one side of the circulation. The tunnel just frames nature, or in this case, the garden.


Next is a dark lobby defined by a curved wall that invites the visitor to enter the chapel by establishing a transition between darkness and light, the mundane space and sacral area.




Subsequently, the space is expanded to generate the main chapel, a cube of 6.5 m per side in which one wall has been replaced by a large window, using the structure to represent the theme of the cross.
Thus Ando achieves the virtual contact with nature, through a framed landscape view and a lavish display of light. The effect is reinforced by the contrast of the colorful garden and the solemn monochromatic room.


A different kind of light sharply illuminates the altar area through a thin, elongated slot located at the junction of the wall with the roof. This feature allows an ever-changing play of light on the rough concrete surface, whose appearance changes according to the time of day and the day of the year.

The same effect can be observed in the back of the church, where the architect uses sharp light to enhance the character of the walls as "free standing" compositional elements that virtually separate from the cube’s structure.


The furniture is also simple, as in other Ando churches, inviting the visitor to focus his attention in the main elements of the design, only this time he replaces wood by metal..



The vases in form of a inverted cone levitating on metal plates, the austere altar table and the long chairs back are some of the austere furnishings of the chapel (in contrast with the excessive interior decoration of the hotel)


Several kilometers away is the famous residential complex Rokko Housing .

SEE ALSO

- OTHER WORKS BY TADAO ANDO.

• Church on Water, Tomamu.
• Church of Light, Osaka.
• Garden of Fine Arts, Kyoto.

Neatly dressed for the wedding but... wait... oops! it seems someone forgot the bouquet...

TADAO ANDO: CHURCH ON WATER

TADAO ANDO: LA IGLESIA SOBRE EL AGUA
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL.

"I believe that a sacred space must be related in some way to nature, which has nothing to do with animism or pantheism."

Tadao Ando

Wrapped in an aesthetic devoid of any ornament, many of the works of Tadao Ando base their richness in the relationship of the building with light and nature. In that sense, the Church on the Water, designed in 1985 and built in 1988, is one of its most celebrated achievements, in which nature has been involved in the design of the building. Here, Ando manages to create a microcosm that combines simply but brilliantly concepts on the profane and the sacred, the artificial and the natural, the enclosed and the exposed, the emptiness and the infinity.

Photo courtesy of ellen's attic

REFERENCES

As a result of his self-leducation, Tadao Ando has usually taken Western architectural references, but without abandoning the roots of Japanese architectural tradition, particularly regarding the use of light, the geometric order and the ascetic aesthetic of Zen Buddhism

The idea of connecting places of worship with water, linking the sacred area with the landscape has a notable precedent in the Itsukushima shrine in Miyajima, near Hiroshima. In the shrine, a torii or gate is located in the middle of water. This place is considered one of the three most beautiful sceneries in Japan (according to the Japanese themselves).

At the same time, Ando’s Church on the Water finds in the chapel of the University of Technology in Otaniemi, Finland, designed in 1957 by Kaija and Heikki Siren, its most immediate Western reference.

THE SITE

The church is located close to Tomamu in the heart of the island of Hokkaido, in northern Japan. It's actually a small chapel belonging to the Alpha Resort Hotel, specialized in arranging the perfect honeymoon for newlyweds.

See location on Google Maps.

In Japan it is common for hotels to offer spaces for Christian, Shinto and Buddhist weddings, according to the customer's preference. The Alpha Resort is comprised of various facilities made in an style that tries to mimic the northern European architecture and organize their rooms in a kitsch, grotesque tower which stands horribly without any consideration to the environment or any kind of integration into the landscape (and that, therefore all architectural publications about the church have desperately tried to hide).


Ando, then, seems to start organizing his chapel by giving his back on these grotesque buildings, separating the church by a L-shaped wall, establishing a holy place isolated from the mundane and focusing all views toward a grove of beech trees on the front of the temple in which also a small stream runs.

Church of the water stream. Photo courtesy of Shinkenchiku-sha

CONCEPT

Ando's architecture is based on a clear geometrical order. The composition of the church on the water is based on the intersection of two volumes (a prism with a square base of 15 m2 and a cube of 10 m per side) that share a corner in an area of 5 x 5 m.

Diagrams courtesy of Tadao Ando Architect & Associates

The most notable feature in the church is that Ando has substituted the front wall of the temple, which generally displays images or icons of religious significance, with a more vivid and eloquent representation of the Creator: nature itself. This provides a live, colorful and ever changing setting, ranging from the intense red colors in autumn, the serene snow white tone in winter, the colorful spots in spring and the intense green hues in summer.

The chapel is separated from the hotel, as we previously said, by two arms 39.45 m and 75,425 m forming an L, located to the east and south respectively, allowing the user to discover the church while going around it and entering it through the north end.

The pond in front of the church is a rectangle of 45 x 90 m, divided into four 15-meter platforms, that provides a virtual compound which connects the church with nature, a clearly visible water square but with which the user can not establish physical contact. At the same time the space of the chapel seems to extend outward, maintaining a visual and symbolic link with the metal cross located in the middle of the pond. Placing the cross outside the church actually increases its visual impact.

Diagram courtesy Tadao Ando Architect & Associates

THE PROJECT

After going around the L wall, the visitor ascends and descends a few steps around a space defined by four crosses, which define a virtual cube representing a sacred space that spreads toward the cardinal points. The interior of the cross is a little square with glass ceiling, which seats are arranged around its perimeter.

Photo courtesy of Philip Jodidio

The 50 cm thick crosses are arranged so that their end vertices are separated by only 5 inches, increasing the drama of the composition.


Making reference to the original form that originated them, the crosses are enveloped by a transparent cube, a metallic frame covered with laminated glass.


Tadao Ando, summarizes experience of approaching from the cube of light to the chapel: "The approach to the chapel is carried out by following the path of the free wall and ascending a gentle slope to reach the access area, defined in its four sides by a white frosted glass. In this enclosure of light, in which four contiguous crosses rise, the intensive and direct sunlight and the light filtered through the frosted glass are mixed, wrapping visitors in a subtle contrast that gives solemnity to the place.

In this section, the curved wall is made of concrete, but I made it transparent in order to see the detail of the staircase. 3D images by Carlos Zeballos.

A stairway starts from this enclosure, dark and curved, which leads to the sudden vision of a fifth cross and the dark blue lake. The horizon separates the sky from earth, the sacred and the profane. The landscape changes gradually appearing as a transition in which visitors can feel the presence of nature and the sacred. Sunlight, the lake and the sky will continue to sing different tunes. "

Photo courtesy of Philip Jodidio

Next to the chapel lies a concrete porch of 6.2 m high, holding a beam that extends a span of 9.15 m. This gate symbolically reinforces the idea of a transition from the profane to the sacred, while functionally hosts the sliding glass door that is limiting between the chapel and pond. Thus, when the weather permits, it is possible to open the screen, maximizing the intimate contact of the chapel with its environment. To avoid interrupting the continuity of the water surface, the rail of the screen is slightly submerged, being imperceptible from a distance. This detail seemed very special and original, until I visited Luis Barragán's home studio in Mexico, and discovered where Ando took his inspiration to design that screen.

In one corner of the chapel adjoining the semicircular staircase and discreetly hidden under the light cube are three waiting rooms and toilets, arranged around a cylindrical glass space that receives top lighting through four glass surfaces (those that form the floor of the plaza of the crosses).


The chapel is separated from the waiting area by a semicircular step that helps define the cylinder entry. From there the visitor is lead to the waiting room (that is the cylinder shown the picture) and is inscribed below the square of the 4 crosses. Beneath this floor are located the boilers for heating. Let’s not forget that the church is located in Hokkaido, where winters can reach temperatures as low as -30 °C.

Basic sketch of the first floor of the chapel. Had I known then that my moleskine would become a blog, I would have made the sketches more carefully... sorry!

THE INTERIOR

The interior of the chapel is sober. Five rows of wooden benches arranged in pairs on each side of the room, a very simple design, are accompanied by two chairs designed by Ando, reminiscent of Charles Renie Mackintosh furniture and inverted cone-shaped vases arranged on wooden frames.


The walls of the chapel housed fenestrations that provide a light source while establishing a pattern next to the exposed concrete grid, a typical signature of the buildings of Ando. The floor is covered with black granite slabs.


DETAILS

The region of Hokkaido is famous for its cold climate, because of the winds that come down from Siberia. To this end, an external 5 cm and an internal 60 cm thermal coating were added to the 25 cm concrete walls, achieving a thickness of 90 cm. The walls were cast in-situ and a special technique gives the concrete a unique external smoothness, as if covered with glass, allowing the light to be reflected and changed during every hour of the day.

The pool of water, towards which the gently hills of grass descend, is divided into 15 m platforms that are staggered along the slope and disappear into a collector at the end of the pond. This detail adds the sound of small waterfalls to the visual qualities of the pond.

"I want to give the power of nature a presence in contemporary society and thus provide the kind of exciting places that speak directly to every sensation on the human being as a living, bodily organism. Indeed, to recover from the layers of history not the form nor the style, but the essential vision of nature and life that flows from its root. The spirit of culture, in other words. "

SEE ALSO

- OTHER WORKS BY TADAO ANDO.

Church of Light, Osaka.
• Garden of Fine Arts, Kyoto.

LUIS BARRAGAN: CHAPEL OF THE CAPUCHINAS

LUIS BARRAGÁN: CAPILLA DE LAS CAPUCHINAS.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL

"...the words beauty, inspiration, enchantment, magic, sorcery, charm and also serenity, silence, intimacy and amazement have disappeared at an alarming rate in publications devoted to architecture. All of them have found a loving welcome in my soul, and even if I am far from claiming to have made them complete justice in my work, they have never ceased to be my beacon. "

Luis Barragan, acceptance speech for the Pritzker Prize

My kind hosts, the Perez family, drove through the treed, pretty cobbled streets which, away from noise of the Mexican metropolis, form the Colonia Tlalpan.
"We're going to a chapel which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and where I made my First Communion," says the eldest child. Intrigued, I figured we'd go to one of the magnificent colonial churches that form the outstanding Mexican cultural heritage. I was very surprised when we stopped at a gate set in a modest wall that constituted a very simple and anonymous facade.

Behind this austere facade an architectural gem hidden inside. Photo courtesy of peaks.

To my surprise, after the wall I discovered the famous Chapel and Convent of the Capuchinas Sacramentarias, a masterpiece by the most renowned Mexican architect Luis Barragán . Barragán along with Oscar Niemeyer, is the only architect to have won the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in Latin America. In fact, when Jay A. Pritzker awarded the architect, he considered that Barragán had dedicated himself to architecture "as a sublime act of poetic imagination."

Details of the pool and the reflection of the lattice. Photo C. Zeballos

Deeply religious, the master filled his works with peacefulness and serenity, using a clearly Mexican formal vocabulary, the expressive tectonic nature of the materials, the sublime use of light and an elaborated yet simple treatment of space.
However, the production of Barragán is not very prolific, mainly because for a good period of his life the architect was very selective in accepting his commissions. However in 1953, he gladly accepted the project for the expansion of the cloister and the chapel of the Capuchin sisters.

"We wanted Barragán to do the project, but we had no money, so we went to his office and talked to him." tells us the sister who is guiding us. "He not only willingly agreed to do the project, but also to finance part of its construction."

Layout of the complex, courtesy of Pete Lackey

To carry out the work, which lasted 7 years to complete, the architect dedicated much enthusiasm and passion to define the many details that compose the building.

"We did not know what he was doing, but we trusted him completely, until one spring morning in April 24, 1960 the chapel was opened. To us, it looked amazing, beautiful, austere, almost without images, ahead of the Second Vatican Council " recalls the sister.

3D plant and the chapel, courtesy of Pete Lackey

Upon entering, we get to a small semi sunken courtyard, with white walls, in one of which a monumental cross is embedded.


As a counterpart, a serene pool, in whose waters white flowers float, gives human scale to the space. To the right, a yellow frame lattice accompanies a stairway leading to a secondary chapel that we will mention later. The simple but powerful detail and color of the yellow grid reflecting on the black-stone pond is simply overwhelming.


At the other end of the pool is the entrance to the chapel, which we accessed after a short climb up stone steps. A long single wooden bench seems to float perpendicularly to the wall, but is actually held by invisible metal brackets.

Details of the "floating" bench adjacent to the wooden wall. Note the austere character of the floor.

Once in the room, the nun opened the doors (one of which, curiously, revolves around 30 cm from its end) to let us note one detail: the use of a pink glass, rare at the time, that illuminates the environment with a special tone of light. On one side are the private areas of the convent, arranged on a long plot. Towards the other side, we entered the chapel.

3D representation of the interior lighting of the chapel, which illustrates the interplay of light and shade but does not reproduce the colors of the windows, walls and wood. Image courtesy of Pete Lackey

The light passing through a yellow glass located on the extreme of the choir floods the space turning it of a caramel-color and reveals an austere chapel with hardwood floors and with rough textured walls of vivid ocher tones. The altar is a sculptural work, the golden rectangles by Mathias Goeritz.


I am filled with deep sense of spirituality that conveys in this simple but warm space. Just the color of the wall causes the light to produce shades that suggest feelings of peacefulness and serenity.


To the side, a freestanding cross receives lateral illumination. The effect is dramatic, due to a triangular wedge that is embedded in space (see the plant layout).

Effect of lateral illumination of the cross. Pink hue changes according to time of day. Photos courtesy of the Barragan Foundation

"Tadao Ando was here" he says the sister proudly "and he was amazed by this effect of the light." Tadao Ando, Frank Gehry and Rem Koolhaas among other famous architects have been fascinated and influenced by the mastery of Barragán’s works.

To the right, separated by a white wooden lattice-shaped grid, is a side chapel that is often used by families of the nuns.

View of the side chapel. Photo courtesy of the Barragan Foundation

From above, a hidden slit bathes the ambient with generous, warm light, while discovering the enormous height of the walls, a triple height that gives monumentality to the chapel.

Quick Sketch showing the detail of the light slit on the side chapel.

Exquisite details featured in the small corridor adjacent to the chapel, such as a window whose yellow light is drawn on the wooden wall (the picture shown is taken from outside the window), the confessionary, furniture and doors, demonstrate the thoroughness that the Mexican master put in this work.

Detail of a wall, whose layout has been intentionally distorted. The illumination inside produces on a dramatic character.

The tour ends back in the small courtyard, in the hallway next to the pool, separated by the yellow lattice and with the bench that seems to be levitating.

Religion and Myth
How to understand art and the glory of history without religious spirituality and without the mythical background that leads to the very roots of the artistic phenomenon? Without any of those we would not have the Egyptian and our own Mexican pyramids, there would be no Gothic cathedrals or Greek temples or the amazement that the Renaissance and the Baroque left, not the ritual dances of the so-called primitive peoples and the inexhaustible treasure of popular artistic sensitivity of all nations on earth.

Luis Barragán

I would like thank the fine courtesy of architect Francisco Perez, his wife Carla and their children Erika, Diego and Ximena, without whose generous help my visit through Mexico and its architectural gems, and in particular building, would probably not have been more than an unaccomplished dream.