La Salle Church

Description:
La Salle Chapel is a new, inclusive religious space nestled within a larger campus masterplan CAZA also designed for De La Salle University in Biñan City, Philippines.   The design is composed of a series of circular-shaped volumes. Viewed from the outside, the building appears amorphous and mysterious, smooth and loose in its shape. An outer skin made up of vertical slats breaks up the massive volume of the building, endowing the elevational treatment with lightness and permeability. To emphasize the connection with the surrounding wooded landscape, the exterior uses raw and unfinished materials. The materiality changes as you penetrate the space, shifting to softwoods and brass. Fourteen individual doors lead worshippers to a double-height central core. This drum-like congregation space has a tilted ceiling, further emphasizing the connection between the individual, the sacred space, and nature.   This rhythmic outer skin functions as a semi-outdoor space that helps transition worshipers from the bustling university environment into quiet, sacred areas. Circular rooms link together within a porous ambulatory area, creating pockets for liturgical functions that vary in spatial constraints and degrees of formality. The chapel is designed to take individuals and make them part of a larger, connected group, its spatial journey giving physical form to the idea of participating in a community of faith as an individual.   In a bustling university campus, La Salle Church allows people to connect with their personal faith, their religious community, and with nature itself. It weaves together culture and ecology, offering congregants a different idea of spiritual inclusiveness.

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