search
×
menu
login
donate
San Isidro Chapel
Oaxaca, Mexico
follow
share on:mail linkcopy link to clipboardShare via LinkedInShare via TwitterShare via FacebookShare via Facebook
Built cooperatively by the architects and the local commuity

image: rootstudio | CC-BY-NC-SA_black.png some rights reserved
i
Category:
religion & memorial
Phase:
in use
Design:
b_rootStudio
Updated:
15 November 2011
introduction

San Isidro Chapel was built together by the local agricultural workers and the architects. It's the place for local farmers to perform their prayer for rain and abundant harvest. During the meetings between the different parties involved, the idea was raised to incorporate the chapel in a paved plaza, so that the whole complex could work as a place of contemplation, reflection, gathering and celebration on the day of Saint Isidro on May 15th.

The surrounding landscape.

image: rootstudio | CC-BY-NC-SA_black.png some rights reserved
i
read more >
< read less
cultural and social context

The project area is located in the municipality of San Bartolo Coyotepec along the road to Zaachila, a few hundred meters from the town center. The building lot is Bordostrada and is surrounded by harvest fields, mostly corn. The town of San Bartolo Coyotepec is located in the central part of the State of Oaxaca, in the region of the central valley belonging to the district center, and at an altitude of 1520 m.

It can be deduced from archaeological findings that this area was a Zapotec settlement (pre-hispanic period) since ancient times. Before Zapotec it was called Zaapeche, which means “place of many jaguars”, and after the first Spanish expedition to Oaxaca in 1521, it was named San Jacinto Leontepec. Later it was changed to its present name, San Bartolomé Coyotepec.

read more >
< read less
materials and building techniques

The chapel and the north wall (which bounds the square) are built with Taipa brick (gravel) of 40 cm thick, absent on a concrete base and river stone, which does not use armor iron. The north wall is framed by a lime plaster and cement, which protects the upper clay from the weather. This vertical element of protection from the road performs the function of a support element to a mural composed of seven reliefs in black clay, made by master craftsman family of San Bartolo glyphs depicting the Zapotec communities that once occupied this territory.

The south wall is constituted by a series of wooden planks nailed together and fixed at the ends to the concrete base ribbed with iron bars ¼" protruding vertically falling 2m. The length of the elements was calculated to optimize the use of the material in its standard sizes that are available on the market (2.5 m long). Used motor oil was used to protect the wood from environmental degradation (fungi, insects xylophages, precipitation) and increase durability.

Foundation.

image: rootstudio | CC-BY-NC-SA_black.png some rights reserved
i
Foundation.

image: rootstudio | CC-BY-NC-SA_black.png some rights reserved
i
rammed earth

image: rootstudio | CC-BY-NC-SA_black.png some rights reserved
i
Rammed earth wall.

image: rootstudio | CC-BY-NC-SA_black.png some rights reserved
i
The exterior brick creates a frame above the concrete perimeter beam with geometric designs that reinterpret traditional local solutions.

image: fulviou | © all rights reserved
i
Rammed earth wall.

image: rootstudio | CC-BY-NC-SA_black.png some rights reserved
i
read more >
< read less
earth and climate

The project site is located in an area with dry climate for most of the year, except for one rainy season lasting about four months (June to September), when rainfall reaches 170 mm in the wettest month and 760 mm 's year. Temperatures throughout the year vary between 34 º and 11 º C, with prevailing wind coming from the north - east.

The project site.

image: fulviou | © all rights reserved
i
read more >
< read less
image gallery
Building together with the local community.

image: Joao Caeiro | CC-BY-NC-SA_black.png some rights reserved
i
external links
Location
show earth plate boundarieshide earth plate boundaries
Explore more inspirations
Keyword:
hands-on (43)
earth (66)
participation (113)
student participation (47)
prev
  •  meeting place
    Place au Changement
    Saint-Étienne, France
  •  housing
    Itakura Core House
    Momonoura, Japan
  •  meeting place
    laTren - elNodo Participatory Cultural Center
    Saltillo, Mexico
  •  housing
    A House For All Seasons
    Shijia Village, Shaanxi, China
  •  agriculture & fisheries
    Warehouse for agricultural products
    Bolmo, Mali
  •  housing
    Mud house
    Marfa, U.S.A.
  •  meeting place
    Palomino, Building a Society.
    Palomino, Colombia
  •  education
    Thon Mun Community Centre
    Takeo, Cambodia
  •  meeting place
    Esperanza
    El Cabuyal, Ecuador
  •  housing
    MUKWANO HOME
    Rakai, Uganda
  •  emergency shelter
    Canopy Installation
    New Delhi, India
  •  emergency shelter
    Bamboo Dome Structure
    Ramsar, Iran
  •  housing
    Homemade mud house
    Dinajpur, Bangladesh
  • play
     education
    The House of Biomaterials
    Rishikesh, India
  •  meeting place
    Chiwiñas Shadows
    El Alto, Bolivia
  •  housing
    20K house
    Alabama, U.S.A.
  •  education
    P'Yan School Project
    Mae Sot, Thailand
  •  meeting place
    Klong Toey Community Lantern
    Bangkok, Thailand
  •  meeting place
    CICADA
    Taipei, Taiwan
  •  education
    Sra Pou Vocational School
    Sra Pou, Cambodia
  •  housing
    Casa Chuy
    Leon, Mexico
  • GC2021 finalist
     agriculture & fisheries
    Cocina CoLaboratorio
    Ejido Loma Bonita, Mexico
  •  housing
    House of Plenty
    Nijmegen, Netherlands
  •  meeting place
    Old Market Library
    Bangkok, Thailand
  • play
     education
    Observatory in the desert
    Tabas, Iran
  •  meeting place
    Forgotten Spaces; from Rust to Revival !
    Cairo, Egypt
  •  meeting place
    Sidi Amor’s eco-village for arts and crafts
    Ariana, Tunisia
  • GC2021 finalist
     education
    Rebuilding the Haadibadi Community library
    Bengaluru City, India
  •  emergency shelter
    SBAM.it 2011
    Massarosa-Stiava (LU), Italy
  • play
     education
    Healing Spaces for Children of War Zones
    Damascus, Syria
  •  education
    Safe Haven Library
    Ban Tha Song Yang, Thailand
  •  education
    SAL Exhibition Pavilion/Learning by Making
    Ahmedabad, India
  •  infrastructure
    Taxi Rank
    Magagula Heights, Katlehong, South Africa
  •  housing
    Chen house
    Sanjhih, Taiwan
  •  meeting place
    Old Vicarage Youth Centre
    Bradford, United Kingdom
  •  emergency shelter
    Pallet Garage
    Indianapolis, U.S.A.
  •  meeting place
    LA CUADRA: Social Production of (In)formal Parks
    Cuenca, Ecuador
  • play
     health & sanitation
    KCDC - Kyaninga Child Development Centre
    Fort Portal, Uganda
  •  urban planning
    The Self-made Dwelling
    Dharavi, India
  •  education
    Senior Citizen’s Library
    Bhatpore Village Surat, India
  •  education
    Kwel Ka Baung school- phase II
    Mae Sot, Thailand
  •  meeting place
    Generating Resilience
    Majuli, India
  • play
     urban planning
    Reviving Khargerd Adobe Village
    Khaaf, Iran
next