Rwanda Chapel | mnda studio

Rwanda, Africa 2020

The thesis project concerning sacred architecture was born from a project previously developed for the YAC young academy competition in 2019 which subsequently became the subject of a thesis.

Compared to the previous work, the new church has been totally revisited both in terms of its presence in the surrounding area, and for the connection with the pre-existence, a fundamental point for the project in question.

In fact, the monastery of the Poor Clares is the fundamental pivot of the entire process since they were promoters and financiers of the competition held in 2019.

Few people know the true history of Rwanda, but thanks to the competition first, and then to the will of a thesis concept, the preparation for the project was based on the culture, history and religion of this African community, eager to get up for years of suffering and indifference of the European community.

The church stands through two earth and stone layings placed towards the entrance of the hill, and towards the monastery of the Poor Clares, they also act as a guide between inside and outside where we find on one side the area dedicated to the Eucharistic celebration, and from another is that of reflection and sharing.

The part of the church relating to the celebration of the baptismal rite was conceived and designed outdoors, inspired by the Hortus Conclusus with plays of shapes and perspectives of symbolic elements such as the chapel placed behind the baptismal font, the olive tree symbol religious essential, and the baptismal font with its circular structure. The chapel, an introverted and material space that conditions the state of those who occupy it, feeling close to the word of God through cuts of light that enhance the materiality of the structure.

The whole project is conceived in raw earth with pisè application technique, with a corrugated sheet metal roof that allows rainwater to flow towards the central cross-shaped channel that directs the water to the outdoor garden.

Outside the church, on the other hand, we find, close to the churchyard, a circular garden aimed not only at cultivation for work, but for the fraternal joy shared among the populations.

It is no coincidence that the garden is delimited by a walkway connecting the church, monastery and accesses to the hill which allows both a presence consistent with the surrounding context inspired by the typology of the acropolis, and for the function of the via crucias, fundamental in the spiritual rite of Catholic religion practiced by Rwandan communities.

Rwanda Chapel was a stimulus but above all a new awareness for those who believe that design is not an end in itself but is a function of those who live it with respect for their culture and religion.

The westernization of communities like this is often underestimated to give space to monuments that look more to form than to substance, causing in turn struggles and fractures between populations such as that caused in the recent history of Rwanda.