Tantum
La capilla sobre el promontorio, con el valle y el mar al fondo
Las dos cruces caladas sobre el cerro, contra la sierra
La capilla desde el aire, con su sombra sobre la roca
El interior, con la cruz de luz sobre el muro de tierra
La capilla de frente, con la cruz de madera en el umbral
El canto del muro blanco contra el cielo nublado
La arista de la capilla recortada a contraluz
El interior desde el fondo, con los bancos de piedra
La cruz de luz cruzando el muro, con los bancos delante
La cruz iluminada sobre el muro oscuro
La luz de la cruz abriéndose sobre el muro de tierra
La capilla de noche, bajo el cielo estrellado
El quiebro del muro, con la luz entrando por la hendidura
La cruz de luz vertical sobre el muro y el piso
El interior con la cruz y los bancos alineados
La cruz de luz sobre el muro, vista desde el acceso
La capilla en lo alto del cerro, entre la vegetación seca
El cerro y la capilla al atardecer, con la sierra detrás

San Jorge Church

San Jorge Church

Loreto, Baja California Sur

2023

Category
Special projects
Location
Loreto, Baja California Sur
Year
2023
Area
80 m²
Project authors
Juan Carlos Vidaña
Collaborators
Gerardo de la Torre, Juan Guillen, Taller de Luz, Alberto Vidaña, Antonio Couttolenc and Hannia Hernández
Photography
JVL

After a long walk, the landscape finally opens.

We reach an outcrop of rock from which the territory reveals itself in every direction. To the west, La Giganta rises imposing; to the south, the valley stretches to the salt flats; to the north, the bare hills draw a harsh landscape, cut by ancient rivers of rock; and to the east, the sea and the estuaries complete the horizon.

Everything one looks for in order to withdraw, contemplate and keep silence is here. At the same time, it can receive 20 people for a religious service.

Facing this landscape stands the Mission of San Bruno, the first mission of Baja California. Its old geometry can still be recognised on the ground like a trace of time. The chapel is born of that memory.

Rather than imposing itself on the place, the chapel seeks to be part of it. Its four orientations connect the interior with the territory, while the sunlight crosses the crosses and moves slowly through the space, making the passing of the hours visible.

Here, time is part of the architecture too.

The chapel is a place to stop, contemplate and remember. A space where landscape, light and memory meet; where to build does not mean adding something to the territory, but continuing a story that began long before us.