Honor Award for Religious Architecture, New Facilities
Daniel Gimeno and Miguel Guitart, Gimeno Guitart
Tarragona, Spain
The new church of Santa Maria Assumpta emerges from the urban fabric of the Bonavista neighborhood in the city of Tarragona as a large stone volume framed by the neutral background of the parish center. The volume of the church stands against the parish center, which acts as a neutral L-shaped background containing complementary functions. The building retains the urban fabric from the east and north, freeing the public corner of the site next to an open plaza. The horizontality of the soft metallic-skinned building that hosts the parish center contrasts with the presence of the church as a rocky polyhedric 60-foot-tall mass that resembles a mineral formation.
The church overlooks the boulevard and manifests its presence as a monument within the urban fabric of the Bonavista neighborhood. Access to the parish center occurs through a private outdoor space defined by the void between the two buildings of the complex. This space is limited by the smaller volumes of the sacristy and the side access to the church, both protruding from the concrete base of the nave. The courtyard organizes access and circulation between the church and the parish center, and introduces light into the interior rooms of the latter. The void becomes a realm for exchange and relation.
The main entrance to the nave from the plaza takes the visitor through a large opening within the main facade. Dramatically high space inside the church is lit from two large concealed clerestory windows that run the length of the building. Light and scale are primary characteristics of the space and vehicles to reach the experience of the sacred. The material experience of the new space is sparse and assertive. The alabaster used to close off these openings generates a natural, scenographic, and smooth light inside. The manipulation of the transverse section floods the space with light from the two long clerestory windows along the nave. Light, scale, and materiality deliver the experience of the sacred. Sparseness helps achieve a serene and profound place for everyone. Structure, form, and space speak to universal values in the church and parish center in Bonavista.
Jury Comments
A contemporary version of a community church. The scale of this church complex on the piazza is well ordered. The restrained interior with its warm materials balances with the engaging exterior of articulated concrete. Natural light throughout the building is subtle along with the inclusion of views.
Project Team Members
Miguel Guitart
Daniel Gimeno
Project Consultants
Mecanismo SL, structural engineering
Pedro Pegenaute, photography
