Colab-19 has built a temporary church shaped like a cross to allow a local congregation to worship together safely during the coronavirus pandemic in Bogotá, Colombia.
Called Alhambra Cross, the pop-up church is made from old horizontal frameworks, a system usually used for casting concrete slabs.
The steel structures have been painted white, instead of their customary orange, and hung with mosquito nets to allow airflow while creating a more spiritual atmosphere for worshipers despite the car park setting.
“The mosquito net helps with blocking the outdoor activity, helps with social distance, keeps the ventilation going, and protects individuals from horizontal rain showers,” explained Colab-19.
From above, the temporary church is shaped like a cross in reference to traditional church architecture and Christian iconography.
Seating is arranged around all four arms, with an altar at the centre under a transparent roof panel that acts as a skylight. The rest of the roof is made of corrugated metal sheets.
Colab-19 decided to build an outdoor church after Bogotá’s mayor Claudia López imposed safety restrictions over Semana Santa, which is also called Holy Week and is one of the most important dates in the Roman Catholic church.
The studio contacted the city’s archdiocese who put them in touch with a church named Parroquia Santa Maria de la Alhambra.
“When we talked to them, they told us how much they have suffered since the beginning of the pandemic,” said Colab-19
“They don’t have an existing temple, they just bought a house in 2019 to celebrate the masses there until 2020 when the pandemic arrived. They have struggled since then and saw us as the key to recover the engagement with the neighbourhood community.”
Having experimented with scaffolding for La Concordia: Amphitheatre, a multi-storey structure that is helping Bogotá businesses operate in the open air under coronavirus restrictions, Colab-19 wanted to expand its reuse of construction materials.
The old concrete formworks appealed because, instead of the obsolete systems ending up in landfill, the project could demonstrate how they could be reused to make temporary structures.
Colab-19 reached out to the Colombian Society of Architects for advice and were put in touch with construction company Equinorte, who provided the materials.
Student collective CESCA brought together students from the city’s architecture schools to help assemble the church in time for Easter celebrations.
Architects German Bahamon and Alejandro Saldarriaga founded Colab-19 to mobilise a design response to coronavirus in Colombia.
More outdoor design for the pandemic includes street urinals made from hemp in Amsterdam and permanent outdoor dining setups in New York City.
Drone images by David Carretero other photography by Alberto Roa.
Project credits:
Design: Colab-19
Collaborators: Arquidiocesis de Bogotá, Colombian Society of Architects, Equinorte, CESCA
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