Saint Mary 教堂丨Mark Cavagnero Associates

这个私密的教堂是为加州的一所宗以教导为向的高中设计的，既是阈值的门槛，也是恢复性的；它坐落在角落里，位于校园的外部边界，光滑的白色混凝土建筑的崛起既是标志也是标记。

This intimate chapel for a religiously-oriented California high school operates as both liminal threshold and restorative retreat; perched on the corner, at the outer boundary of the physical campus, the rise of the sleekly articulated white concrete building is both icon and marker.

教堂的设计目的是为学生服务，其中许多人是低收入者，靠奖学金就读于Saint Mary学校，教堂虽然属于天主教学校，但被认为是一个精神空间，年轻成人的挑战和困难在一个神圣的、沉默的、充满光线的空间中考虑和处理。诚实的材料--白色混凝土、玻璃、阿拉巴马州的石灰石和浅色的美国白橡木--为一个社区的高中生和他们的老师获得专门的安静空间定下了基调，否则，这个社区可能会熙熙攘攘，嘈杂不堪。

Designed to serve the students, many of whom are low-income and attending St. Mary’s on scholarship, the chapel, while belonging to a Catholic school, was considered as a spiritual space, one that invites the challenges and difficulties of young adulthood to be considered and processed in a sacred, silent, and light-filled space. An honesty of materials— white concrete; glazing; Alabama limestone; and light American white oak— sets the tone for a space devoted to quiet for a community (high schoolers and their teachers) that can be otherwise bustling, noisy, and overwhelming.

Mark Cavagnero Associates事务所认为该教堂是事务所的一个“梦想项目”，该事务所通常从事较大规模的机构和商业项目，其项目建筑师喜欢在这种亲密的情感规模下工作。学校的使命是为弱势群体服务，并努力为学生提供安全、平静和舒适的感觉，在这里被转化为一个空间，作为一个从公民生活到内部恢复的旅程。

Mark Cavagnero Associates considered the chapel a “dream project” for the office, which often works on larger-scale institutional and commercial projects and whose project architects relished the opportunity to work at such an intimately emotional scale. The school’s mission of serving the underserved, and of working to provide a sense of safety, calm, and comfort to their students has been transformed here into a space that operates as a journey from civic life into interior restoration.

教堂从后面进入，沿着混凝土块无缝浇筑的白墙温和地衔接起来。从这条路，通过一堵玻璃墙和一个大的木制屏幕，视觉通往小教堂。一个小院子环绕着小教堂的入口；一个小的高床靠近长椅，面对着入口处的浅水池，柔和的光线反射和标志着门槛。这种开放的设计在进入明确的礼拜空间之前提供了片刻的停顿——代表了客户的希望，即在小教堂内感受到的恢复性体验可以开始告知学生的日常生活和教育重点。

The chapel is entered through the back, the approach following the gentle articulation of a seamlessly-poured white wall of concrete blocks. From this path, visual access to the chapel is hinted at through a wall of glazing and defined by a large wooden screen. A small courtyard hugs the entrance to the chapel; a small and contemplative raised bed rests near a bench that faces the shallow pool beside the entrance, the soft reflection of light marking the threshold. This open choreography offers a moment of pause before entering the explicitly liturgical space – a representation of the client’s hope that the restorative experiences felt within the chapel could begin to inform students’ everyday lives and educational focus.

对于这个相对较小的项目，设计团队努力满足他们的愿望，使空间感觉是宽广、连接，并且比它的实际占地面积更大。强烈的尖顶形式既是标志性的，也是响应性的，其形状是庆祝不同模式的光线的方法。光线的发挥成为项目的中心元素，这是对清晨的金色色调和午后的漫天光辉感兴趣的表现。礼拜堂的朝向是为了邀请充满活力的能量脉冲，午后平静柔和的光线会冲刷整个空间，这标志着一天的学习将要结束，他们可以回家了。

For this relatively small-scaled project, the design team grappled with their desire to make the space feel still expansive, connected, and larger than its physical footprint. The strongly peaked roof form is both iconic and responsive, its shape a method for celebrating different modes of light. The play of light became a central element to the project, which is as interested in the golden tones of morning as it is the diffuse afternoon glow. The chapel is oriented to invite in the energizing pulse of morning light, with the calming, softer light of late afternoon washing through the space as the students, marking the end of the day’s studies with a moment of introspection, return home.

Architect:MarkCavagnero

Words:小鹿