Sliding Chapel
SLIDING CHAPEL
Kieran Donnellan
ARCHITECTS
Kieran Donnellan
CATEGORY
Chapel
LOCATION
Byblos, Lebanon
AREA
5.0 m2
PROJECT YEAR
2018
PAVILION ARCHITECT
Kieran Donnellan
PHOTOGRAPHS
Conor De Burca and Kieran Donnellan
MEDS WORKSHOP CO-ORDINATOR
Samer Hayek
PARTICIPANTS
Alberto Ibanez, Amber Goveas, Cynthia Antablian, Faustas Lasys, Gregorio Tomasillo, Hadir Hanna Mahmoud, Hasan Debes, Ioanna Maria Vemou, Magdalena Storozenko, Matthias Brenner, Rabia Hant, Roisin Leavey, Shpat Ademaj, Shqiprron Jusufi.
Text description provided by architect.
The chapel is an elegant slender form that appears to be sliding down a hillside.
The energy of the apparent movement informs the materiality of the heavily charred exterior skin.
The Chapel's function is to act as a non-denominational space for reflection.
Upon entering the pavilion, visitors are offered a place to sit, where they are rewarded with a stunning sea-view.
All of the wood used in the chapel is up-cycled. Most of it was in the form of shipping boxes that we dismantled.
The burning technique used was the traditional Japanese shou-sugi-ban technique of tying 3 boards into a chimney and setting a fire at the base.
It was built as part of the international design festival, MEDS, which took place outside of Europe for the first time this year and ended a fortnight ago.
