What is the proper form for a new, twenty-first century chapel in a nineteenth-century Roman Catholic cemetery in Rotterdam?
Mecanoo’s answer is that it should be timeless – a contemporary structure that looks like a jewel case, an extraordinary building like a precious casket, with beautiful light inside and a shaft of light, and a remarkable roof with a heavenly gold ceiling.
The chapel should be designed as part of a ceremony, of a journey undertaken, in this last resting place designed as a campo santo. After entering the chapel the ceremony takes place, after which the procession continues through another door. Indoors the atmosphere must always be intimate regardless of the number of people attending.
Finally the chapel is built on a site with a history that needs to remain visible.
Status: Built
Location: Rotterdam, NL
Additional Credits: programme
Catholic Chapel of 120 m² built on the remains of a 19th century chapel and public space design
client
R.K. Begraafplaats St. Laurentius, Rotterdam
project address
Nieuwe Crooswijkseweg 123, Rotterdam, Netherlands
design
1998 -1999
realization
2000 -2001
