Inga-Mirim chapel

The Ingá-mirim Chapel is located near the city of Itupeva, 80km from São Paulo, on a 19th century farm. We were asked to renovate the old local colony in order to transform it into an environment that would accommodate local celebrations of religious importance.

We understand the idea of architectural renovation as an opportunity to reinterpret the pre-existing construction, enabling new relationships between the project and the landscape. To this end, as an act of reflection, in the Ingá-Mirim chapel project we decided to dismantle the materials of the old colony in order to reuse them and give them a new condition.

The construction was carried out in conjunction with the farm's caretakers, brothers Carlos and Charles, who used to work in construction and now work on local preservation. With them, we experimented with how we could, through their own knowledge, reuse materials from old local buildings. Under these conditions, the construction process keeps pace with everyday activities such as cutting grass, letting the horses out or feeding the oxen.

Using the foundation of the pre-existing construction, the project is guided by three walls built with stones from the old road that allowed access to the farm. Between these three walls, the unarmored bricks of the colony define a path that leads us through spaces that seek continuity between the construction and the landscape, thus suggesting an open religious enjoyment.