La Ascensión del Señor Church

Architects: Joaquín Pérez-Goicoechea Salvador Cejudo
Team: Daniel Muñoz, Gwenola Kergall, Bruno Gomes, Stefania Rendinelli, Javier Alonso, Daniel Bas
Other consultants: Singe K, Ingenieros Consultores, S.L Javier Drake Canela
Sevilla, Spain
09/2013
Client: Archidiócesis de Sevilla

This building proposed by AGi architects means the completion of the Parish Center and its empowerment as focus of community activity for the neighborhood. The project aims at strengthening the Parish Center as a meeting and fraternization place, in order to develop spiritual and welfare tasks. It has been designed by economical savings and sustainability premises, simple construction techniques and materials, while endowing the district with an image and sign of identity.

The spatial scheme of the building is structured through three different qualifying voids: the large central courtyard that belongs to the first phase of the Parish Center, which now articulates the relationships between worship spaces and the rest of facilities. Its stone surface is prolonged inwards to enter the main space of the church and, bending towards the walls, creates a huge vessel that houses the congregation of believers. There are other two smaller scale courtyards, one of them linked to the area of the baptismal font, the other to the penitential chapel and sacristy.

Due to security reasons, the nature of shelter and interaction inherent to the project are only revealed to the outside in the main entrance that plays a relevant role as an open attraction space to welcome and invite users inside.

The shape of the roof, which unfolds freely to cover the assembly space by joining various inclined planes, allows the introduction of natural light inside, to achieve a clear qualification of the different areas needed to comply with liturgy requirements.

According to AGi architects’ team, “this church is very close to the community, reaching the transcendental through the existing social problems and needs. Our goal has been to open the space for community use, making it more human”.