OUR LADY OF FÁTIMA CHAPEL | Idanha-a-Nova, Portugal | 2017

Architects: Plano Humano Arquitectos 
Client: Corpo Nacional de Escutas
General Contractor: IdeaWood
Photographers: João Morgado

The construction of this building came from the desire to have a chapel at the National Scout´s Activities Camp (CNAE), in the municipality of Idanha-a-Nova, central region of Portugal, for the XXIII National Jamboree of Portuguese Catholic Scouts, which involved about 22,000 participants, and to join the other definitive buildings that this scouting center has.

The chosen location is privileged, in a plateau area, central in the CNAE, surrounded by a rural environment, with an extraordinary panoramic view, that also impelled the design of the building.

The spacial experience begins with the access route to the chapel, a gradual passage to a more introspective environment.

This space is delimited by a wood fence, composed of spaced poles, sufficient to delimit the space, but purposely open, showing a chapel available to all who pass by.

Crowning the entrance there is a bell, acclaimer of Christian life, and allusive to the catholic Scout association of Portugal and to the XXIII National Camping.

The chapel is dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima and is inspired by the scouting experience: outdoor life, camping, the tent, and by the sobriety and simplicity of buildings and lifestyle.

The pointy edges of the building allude to the scout’s scarf, the symbol of vow and commitment of this movement. 

The chapel was thought out as a large tent, with open doors to everyone, at all times: a constant welcoming point for shelter, contemplation and introspection.

It´s very simple form, as a classical tent, is formed by a gable roof, adapted to receive all visitors. The structure approaches people in the entrance area, where the volume is lower and narrower, closer to the human scale, and stretches forward and upward, elevating the user to something higher, facing a dazzling landscape in background, that amplifies these sensations.

This intimate setting is allied to the scout and Christian spirit of communion with nature.

The east / west orientation of the chapel enables the sunrise to illuminate its interior space, and the sunset to fill the place with an immensity of colors, tones and ambiences, that arouse the eye and sustain the architectural arrangement.

In fall and winter, the light emphasizes the tranquility of the place, and the unadorned symbiosis between building and landscape.

The entrance point, where the building resembles the scouts scarf, and the way it rests on the neck, is also marked by the presence of water, that is “born” here. Here emerges a watercourse, that invites to visit the chapel and the Mystery that it celebrates. This course evokes the long and rich biblical and liturgical symbology.

The water crosses the whole space of the chapel, on a path that develops into the altar - the central place of any Christian celebratory space - and then into the landscape, directing the user to the cross, which is outside the chapel, in the same alignment.