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Architects: FBD Arquitectura y Diseño Urbano, Verónica López
- Area: 345 m²
- Year: 2017
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Manufacturers: Etex, Etex Colombia, Gyplac, Kreato, Santa Teresa
Text description provided by the architects. Santa Cecilia church is located in Ciudad Verde, a housing development in Soacha a municipality in the outskirts of Bogotá. Our project done in collaboration with Verónica López was selected as the winner of a private competition held in 2013.
It is occupies a part the garden of a rural house dating from 1940 designed by Vicente Nasi, an Italian Architect that was one of the pioneers of modern architecture in Colombia. The house has been listed and is now surrounded by an expanding urban context. The siting of the church takes advantage of being in the crossing point of two important urban axes becoming a landmark for the community and re configuring the scale of the compound. The House will soon become a parish center.
The Church is connected with the garden through a low narthex. Four pivoting wooden doors provide access and allow larger ceremonies to overflow onto the park. The nave is housed in a pure volume built in brick and rendered white evoking the austere materiality of the house. The interior intends to be a peaceful space for spirituality, free from ornament where natural light filters through the overlaps between the walls and the ceiling. Two aligned crosses constitute the main focal point of the nave. Inside, a cross formed by steel beams stands in contrast to the white masonry. On the outside a second cross subtracted from the wall creates a halo of light behind the first one. At night it is illuminated from the inside acting as a beacon for the community. Two loose and taller walls are combined to form the bell tower.
