A place of worship built for a community whose church was destroyed in the September 19th 2017 earthquake in Morelos, Mexico.
After the earthquake damaged the biggest
church in town a call was made for volunteers to help create a temporary chapel
so that the community could resume their daily worship and mass service. Knowing that the repair of the original
church would take a long time it was important to build a structure that could
not only last for many years but also withstand another strong earthquake in
the future. The new chapel took over the
courtyard space of the former home of the clergy which was across the street
from the damaged church. It was
important for the community to have a large space for Sunday mass that could
accommodate hundreds of visitors and worshippers.
The interior of the new chapel is composed of
a grid of steel connections allowing for a structurally secure building that
can span vast lengths. For natural
ventilation purposes a high ceiling was built to capture rising heat from the
congregation during the hot summer months. The roof of the structure was
covered with corrugated metal sheets diverting rainwater to nearby
gutters. The outside of the chapel was
then covered with planks of wood creating a new and welcoming façade for the
community. Local volunteers composed of
farmers, youths, and even the elderly built this whole chapel in a period of several
months with the help of outside donations and material contributions.
