Chapel for San Giorgio Maggiore

This chapel was commissioned to be part of the Vatican for the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale. The project was curated and organized by Professor Francesco Dal Co, who invited ten architects from around the world to design chapels for this unique wooded site on the Venice lagoon.

Our chapel for San Giorgio Maggiore is a simple structure. Its kin are sheds, buildings assembled of readily available materials for basic shelter or use. It is framed of wood studs and rafters, painted white. All exterior surfaces are clad in translucent multi-skin acrylic. The interior is lined in black painted plywood. The plywood lining is folded down from the apex of the volume, allowing daylight to enter from above into the interior.

The structure is a precise form of anonymous origin. It is an indeterminate presence in the landscape, created with a modesty of means. The covered porch is a place for all to gather, a place from which to look out and survey one’s surroundings. The bench within proposes a place to sit. It is a space for looking inward, under light amidst darkness.