Santísimo Redentor Church

Description

Community mattersThe construction of The Holy Redeemer Church took more than fifteen years and it has overlapped with the transformation process of Las Chumberas, which is a neighborhood of 670 homes from the 1970s, organized into 42 blocks, to which were later added shopping centers and industrial buildings. Menis conceived the Church as a necessary catalyst for the urban and social changes that were taking place in the neighborhood: in his vision, the new building should create a place where there was none, and contribute to giving Las Chumberas an identity of its own, establishing itself as a reference space in a confusing urban fabric. The resulting compound includes a Church, a community centre and a public square surrounded by greenery, that is, a public meeting place that the neighborhood needed.The building is also an example of collective action since the financing of the works has been carried out through donations from various organizations, many neighbors and some businessmen committed to the neighborhood where they were born and grew. The uneven rhythm of remittances is in fact what has determined the constructive logic of the project and its subsequent execution: a compound made up of four independent modules plus their surroundings, which has been delivered in phases. The community center, housed in two of the four volumes, was completed in 2008 and has been in use ever since while waiting to raise the necessary funds for the rest of the works.Low-tech innovation with concrete and stoneInspired by the geology of the volcanic island, the building is embedded in the ground and rises with its four massive volumes resembling large restless rocks. The rough texture of the exposed concrete strikes a sharp contrast with the conventional residential context where it goes up. It is as if a geological phenomena had occurred on the outskirts, as if nature were fighting against banality. Its petrous volumes are separated by narrow cracks filled with sculptural structures made of metal and glass, through which daylight enters the building to configure an austere and stark compound, which relinquishes all superfluous elements. The use of concrete as the main material in this building, addresses several aspects at the same time: exterior, interior, structure, form, matter and texture. First of all, it is a common material, accesible locally, which allows the architect to work only with local companies and materials, in accordance with the Km 0 architecture principles to which Menis adheres. Second, the energy efficiency provided by concrete, due to its isotropic nature, is enhanced here by the thermal inertia of the thick solid walls. Finally, in terms of acoustics, concrete has been used here in two ways: for diffusion, conventional exposed concrete was used, while for absorption, the surface of the exposed concrete previously mixed with light porous volcanic stone (picón) was chipped. The acoustics thus achieved resemble the usual in the opera, suitable for speech and song, ideally designed for a building that combines ecclesiastical and social functions.(Description provided by the architects)