River Chapel, La Barca
Winning project of the Festival di Microarchittetura
On the hiking path, a weighted wreck stands before the rocky gate. One slips through a barely wide crack, sliding in sideways. The new shipwrecked one, lifting his head, sees an overturned hull. From the bottom of the boat, the sky falls.
River Chapel evokes an overturned hull, with each component subtly echoing the maritime world. Stretched in length, it follows the path’s extension, guiding each step forward. Its slender shape suggests an intention to cross the rift. "As if it had been displaced from the river it follows."
Like a shipwreck, the roof opens to the sky, letting light reveal a series of rhythmic floor timbers, all supported by the central keel, which leads the gaze toward the bow. There, a stone seems to anchor the tapered structure from within. The walls are punctuated with cleats that firmly hold the planking. The floor creaks underfoot.
Six porticoes form a longitudinal corridor bordered by two plank walls. At each end, two curved half-hulls are joined. The curved ribs are cut from the boards and assembled in a sandwich structure. La Barca is ballasted with four stones taken from the site. It offers a place to pause and observe the details of a curious architecture with the look of a boat.
Some people see an overturned boat, a small chapel, a climbing wall or a lost creature. And you, what do you see?
