Located in a suburb of Miami, Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church will become the new home for a multicultural parish of approximately 1,500 worshippers. The design is inspired by the chapels of the renowned Mexican architect Luis Barragán – massive religious buildings with interior gathering spaces cloistered from the exterior. In order to distinguish the church within this context and to maintain a presence at different scales, the main sanctuary building will take the form of a pure, abstract golden form 75 feet in height floating above the landscape. An exterior plaza will provide space for outdoor gatherings and worship.
Three important conceptual ideas have guided the organization of the project. The first is the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, which is one of the most recognizable icons in all of Latin America and has been an inspiration from the beginning of the project.