tatiana bilbao + dellekamp arquitectos: gratitude open chapel

'gratitude open chapel' by tatiana bilbao + dellekamp arquitectos, lagunillas, mexico
image © iwan baan


mexican practices tatiana bilbao and dellekamp arquitectos have collaborated to complete the 'gratitude open chapel',
a site in lagunillas along the holy pilgrimmage route 'ruta del peregrino' which stretches from ameca to talpa de allende, mexico.
located within a few kilometers near the beginning of the journey, four clean white forms emerge from the landscape.
offering a moment for pause and silent reflection to visitors, the ritual space allows the individual to embrace their upcoming quest.

a boundary made from stacked stone, the 'wall of promises' invites individuals to leave behind a symbolic object, image or piece of writing
expressing gratitude or compliments. the tall monoliths cast long shadows, which shift during the day, obstructing the once
sun bathed terrain. views framed by the ring of towering concrete blocks include an obelisk approximately 23 kilometers away
near cerro del obispo.

see the other proposals and structures on ruta del peregrino here.



image © iwan baan



image © iwan baan



image © iwan baan



site plan



entire ruta del peregrino
image © mario vazquez



table of scale models on display at the venice biennale
image © designboom



model of the gratitude open chapel amidst the ruta del peregrino projects
image © designboom


project info:


project title: gratitude open chapel
location: lagunillas
state: built
architects: tatiana bilbao s.c., dellekamp arquitectos
team: tatiana bilbao, derek dellekamp, marco lozano, ignacio mendez, sandra perez, pedro sanchez, jachen schleich, paola toriz

title of the whole project: pilgrim’s route
client: secretary of tourism of jalisco; secretary of tourism aurelio lopez rocha
program: pilgrim’s route masterplan
location: from ameca to talpa de allende, jalisco, mexico.
curatorial team: tatiana bilbao and derek dellekamp
masterplan and project coordination: tatiana bilbao, derek dellekamp and rozana montiel
research team: rozana montiel/periférica, adiranne montemayor, carlos zimbrón
invited architects: luis aldrete / luis aldrete | arquitectos (mexico), tatiana bilbao / tatiana bilbao s.c. (mexico),
derek dellekamp / dellekamp arquitectos (mexico), alejandro aravena / elemental (chile), emanuel christ and christoph gantenbein / christ & gantenbein (switzerland),
tilo herlach, simon hartmann, simon frommenwiler / hhf architects (switzerland), rozana montiel / periférica (mexico), ai weiwei / fake design (china)
invited designers: godoylab (industrial), omar orlaineta (graphic), toa taller de operaciones ambi- entales (environmental)