Architecture · Public Space

Sacred Spaces: 5 Chapels Where Architecture And The Divine Meet

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Words: Rosie Flanagan

Throughout history and across religions, architectural innovation and excess have found form in sacred spaces. From our archive of such spaces, we have retrieved the five most striking chapels in countries as far flung as China and Portugal, where contemporary architecture and the divine meet.

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Ribbon Chapel - Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP Architects

This spiraling chapel in Onomichi, Hiroshima stands at over ten meters high, overlooking both the Japanese inland sea and islands. Find the full story on the minimalist wedding chapel designed by Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP Architects here.

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All images © Koji Fujii / Nacasa & Partners Inc

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Capilla Seashore Chapel - Vector Architects

Vector Architects has built this futuristic, yet traditional chapel on the waterfront of Bohai Coast in China. Find the full story about this place of worship situated between the sun and the sea here.

All images © Chen Hao

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Sunset Chapel - Bunker Arquitectura

Designed to represent the spectrum of emotions evoked within a place of worship—from love to sadness—the Mexico City-based architects designed a space full of tension. The ‘Sunset Chapel’ is both heavy and light, classical and chaotic, natural and built. Read more about the chapel designed to look like a boulder here.

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All images © Esteban Suárez

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Bataan Chapel - Not Vital

Situated in a remote town just 50 kilometers west of Manilla, Swiss artist Not Vital has completed a chapel that expertly blends the lines between art and architecture. Find the full story on the geometric concrete chapel in Bataan here.

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All images © Eric Gregory Powell

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Capela do Monte - Álvaro Siza Viera

In Barão de São João Portugal, Álvaro Siza Viera has designed a place of worship and warmth—the minimal, off-grid hillside chapel ‘Capela do Monte’. Find the full story on this sacred space where light is sculpted here.