demeaculumn--santiago: ii

''the project

''the design principles that guided the project are described below:

''to assume the openness of the process: ... as a result of the clearing of the apse, a new devotional setting was established that would be open to future definitions.

''to assume the fluid construction of circulation: ... all of them responding to processional criteria that do not admit to discontinuities or abrupt changes of direction. ...

''to assume diversity of material finishes: coarse and massive timber pieces, smooth marble and basalt, coarse travertine, fair face concrete, ...

''to subtly counteract invisibility: ... one massive timber beam becomes the only element that simultaneously belongs to the hidden crypt and the exposed nave ... massive and slightly displaced wooden lintels, which serve dual purpose as benches, are also indicative of the spaces underneath the presbytery. ...

''to emphasize scale: ... full evening sunlight that animates the altar's background space and simultaneously highlights the full scale of the nave. ...

''to participate in the buildings memory: ... the most remarkable case was the recasting of the crypts alter from old masonry stones. ...

''to combine informality, intimacy, and solemnity: ... only two devotional figures preside, both of romanesque origin; these were chosen by the client and their scale intrigued us. ...

''to emphasize the descending access: burial is about returning to the ground: its path is always downward. ... ''


rodrigo perez de arce, o'neil ford duograph: 1 chile, crypt in the cathedral of santiago de chile.