There are some prestigious architecture awards out there, but being dubbed the World Building of the Year at the World Architecture Festival has got a particularly reputable ring to it, right?
It’s the title that has just been awarded to – take a deep breath – The Holy Redeemer Church and Community Centre of Las Chumberas, a project by Spanish architect Fernando Menis in La Laguna, Tenerife. Announced at a glitzy gala in Miami, attended by hundreds of architects, the winner was decided by a ‘super jury’ which included Victoria Wiley, professor of design and distinguished service at Harvard, among other big-name architectural experts.
The site not only features a church but also a community centre and public square, which is an integral gathering space for locals. It’s nestled in La Laguna, which is in northeast Tenerife.
The building was completed in four different phases due to various funding channels, and its design is inspired by the island’s surrounding volcanic landscape. There are enormous, roughly textured concrete walls and sculptural use of metal and glass to control the entry of light. It’s dramatic and severe but beautiful to look at, and the innovative use of smooth and rough, concrete and volcanic surfaces means the building has acoustics comparable to an opera house.
‘The judges particularly admired the intensity of the architecture and the way light has been used to shape the quality and character of the interiors, enhancing the tactile nature of the surfaces,’ said programme director of the World Architecture Festival, Paul Finch.
Scroll down for some snaps of the space.
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