L.Y.F

San Bernardo Chapel 

La Playosa (Argentina)

By Nicolás Campodonico (see video)

On a mountain immersed in the plane of the pampa – in La Playosa, a town in the Argentinian province of Córdoba – stands this chapel built in brick, surrounded by trees. A work of Nicolás Campodonico (Rosario, 1973), the 92-square-meter oratory presents planes and ridges on the outside which contrast with the curves of the openings and interior surfaces. Similarly, the lowness of the atrium is antithetical to the breadth of the main space, where the dome opens in the direction of sunset. The top aperture captures the path of natural light until dusk, at which time the shadows cast by two independent boards intersect to form a cross in the nave. The daily repetition of this suggests Christ’s crucifixion.