Entry for "Rwanda Chapel" Competition
Hosted by Young Architects Competitions

Location: Rukomo, Rwanda
Project Date: June 2019

Design Team: 
Alfredo Pimentel


Conflicted by the past atrocities made partially possible by unhinged actors within the local Catholic Church, this proposal takes on the position that a new place of worship in Rwanda should be open and accessible both in its mannerisms and iconography. Rather than enclosing the worship space in permanence, the walls were designed to allow for flexible openness to the outside so that audible and visual connections can be made to the outside. Conversely, the altar side is reserved as a stationary zone for the rituals of the church service. 


Construction and materials play a key component for the contextual iconography for this proposal, with the intent being that the church should be humble to its surroundings. Beginning with the floor plane, the interior and exterior ground plane is intended to be a cobble stone packed in soil so that a seamless connection is made between ritual and common spaces. Walls and structural members are to be locally sourced cross laminated timber.

To strengthen the message of inclusiveness in the region, this new church will defiantly run counter to the recent government’s efforts to eradicate thatched roof structures in the region – which have displaced many of Rwanda’s most marginalized people. Rather than modern roofing materials, the composition of the roof assembly is to be of a basket weave timber structure with a thatched roof. In all, taking a stance of defiance & inclusive would be a good start for a conflicted religion to redeem itself in the region.