ST JOHN PAUL II CHAPEL

Almudena Cathedral, Madrid

Architect:

Cano y Escario

Installed products:

Cedar wooden porticos

The new chapel dedicated to Saint John Paul II has been designed as a cedar wooden shell,  which reveals the original Stone.

Cedrela odorata, the main material, fills the space with its texture and color, as a reference to the pontiff´s love for Nature.

Fifty porticos with different geometries and heights rise to 13m, the height of the chapel.  They are made of 150x50mm pieces and placed rhythmically with a separation of 10mm on a base that raises them from the floor creating a subtle line of shadow. Four of the porticos has been machined to embed led strips, that create different light scenes inside.

The pieces of wood are joined with a reinterpretation of Jupiter´s ray, designed by our carpenters. On the bottom the porticos create figures that remind to a grove where images that recreate scenes of Saint John Paul II´s life.

 

There is a confessional at the end of the chapel, made with the same wooden section that gives a penitencial caracter to the space.

The complete set was pre-assembled in our carpentry as a meccano and transported and installed easily in the Catedral (+)

Promoter:

Sta. Maria de la Almudena Cathedral Chapter of Madrid

Photography:

Álvaro Viera