On my way back to Montevideo I coudn't resist passing by this church to get some images for you (my wife is wondering if PPB is a sort of cult for strange temples!)...
Built in the 1960s but aparently never functioned as a church. See the story of Susana Soca further on...

This "Señora de Soca" died and the church is now a warehouse.. :bang head

14 april 2007; it opened as a cultural space and is being restored, great news!
How to get there: after visiting the Atlantida church you continue a few kilometers on the "Interbalnearia" Highway till you reach "La Floresta", but turn to the oposite direction, "Soca". Once you reach the city about 8 km (looks like a ghost town, about 1.500 hab.) get the main street to the right untill you leave town, it is on your right.
Bear in mind it is private property and you can only see it from outside. The guard kindly asked me not to take pictures, fortunantly after I took all these!
Caution: on your way to Soca there are signs of a "sanctuary of the virgin of so so..." IT IS NOT IT!

A side view. It is a simple geometric exercise, a sort of Concrete Origami!
Would make a boring TAMIYA, eh ryo?
Assembled with prefabricated triangular concrete components, wich had thick colour glass panes placed in it, or letters with latin inscriptions.

Here a view from the absis. Notice it is made of rectancular prefab concrete slabs, some of wich have concrete letters too.

a side view...

Here a detail of the door with the baptismal "bath" to the left...
I managed to sneak my arm and the camera under the door to take inside pictures!...

Here an inside view. The colour of light is great, unfirtunantly Soca kids had fun climbing this structure and smashing glasses, wich were then replaced with cheap transparent glass :bang head

A closer view... all taken from under the door and barely seeing the screen

I wonder if this stair was suposed to lead to a chorus above the entrance...

A closer view of were the bell was suposed to be...

A view of the Absis from outside...

Here plan and section. Notice the choir above the entrance...

A perspective and a picture when it was just built...

and some pictures of the construction phase...
on the top left you can see the triangular prefab glass panes stacked in front.

here the kmz, very low res, but gives you the idea anyway...

well, hope you enjoyed it...!

Man, these pics are priceless!!!
Thank you so much!! They're great. The inside shots look fantastic considering the conditions they were taken under.
Are you using you wife as a scale too?

Are you using you wife as a scale too?
Of course! it is part of our cult eh Digdoi? :D

It is dificult to realize the scale because of the slanted faces. It gives the impresion of a small structure, but I think it rises to about 10 meters...

on the outside it looks small but on the inside it looks massive. Those interior shots with people of the book make it look very big.
It's really interesting how the windows join the concrete "pillars" or whatever they are. Too bad there isn't a detail of that.

Primo, What a gem! Thank you. If not for the generous actions of PP2'ers we would not have the opportunity to see these works.

Thanks again! :not worth

Primo, What a gem! Thank you. If not for the generous actions of PP2'ers we would not have the opportunity to see these works.

Thanks again! :not worth

Ditto, wonderful!! Thank you. :cheers:

I have to agree too. I look at some of this stuff that gets built in other parts of the world and I'm jealous. Thanks for sharing this and the others you've shown.

Priceless photos indeed. :not worth
I'm so used to trespassing too. :rolleyes:
Keep the good job, record whole Uruguay!

Fantastic!
And It looks like an acient tomb indeed!

A great post Primo. Thank you! :rock on: :clap:

(What we need are more black bathing shorts and long thin arms ;) )

great play of trigonometry maybe next time i'll review my mathematics and architecture of triangle...amigo...its superb pics... :cheers:

here back on a PC, I autostitched the interior shots

..in Autostitch : Edit / Option/ Rotation Image Clockwise(or anti C) ?
Sometime that un distort the result !
Cool triangle true gem :peace:

Ps There is not something like that in the Movie "Alice's Restaurant" ?
A church used as a house

Bravo Primo!

Thank you very much primocordara for these great photos. It is a really interesting structure and an amazing interior space.
Just one remark; It was built by Antoni Bonet i Castellana .Second surname is important as there is also a Spanish architect and historian called Antonio Bonet Correa.
The work of Bonet Castellana is interesting.He learned at Le Corbusier office Among other things he recovered the use of the spanish traditionl trimbel vaults (also known as catalan vaults) in moderm architecture.Berlingieri house in Uruguay shows this. For the design of this house he worked together with a young engineer called Eladio Dieste for solving the structural issues when using this type of vaults. This collaboration is really interesting as it was relevant in the future developement of Eladio Dieste´s work with ceramic tiles.
Here you can find an article(in spanish) about Le Corbusier, Bonet Castellana and E.Dieste
http://www.udc.es/dep/rta/WebEGA/PDFs/Grupo3/MARI2.pdf

Trimbel vaults are really interesting structures widely used in spanish building tradition for centuries. In late 19th and early 20th century the spanish architect and builder Rafael Guastavino and his son also called Rafael brought this structures to the States and were responsible for the construction of almost a thousand buildings in North America. Some of them really wonderful such as Boston Public Library. But this is a long story. Perhaps some day I could write more about Guastavino and post some images.

gain many thanks primocordara for this architectural joy. Muchas gracias amigo!
Ah, I post an image of house La Ricarda by Bonet i Castellana

Thanks jose, check the other threads on Uruguay and on Eladio Dieste. I couldn't find this house yet...
http://www.pushpullbar.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=79

those arm under the door photographs are amazing! great work!

usually the trespass is forgiven quickly once you confuse the security with an explanation of the purpose....got caught climbing on a roof years ago checking the detail

I think I could post a photo of Berlingieri hose. Give me some days. It is in Maldonado departamento
:cheers:

This "Señora de Soca" died and the church is now a warehouse.. :bang head

Amazing...how could such a wonderful space be used for storage. That SUCKS!
At least it hasn't been torn down to build a strip mall. Do you have strip malls in Uraguy?

Well done - Great eye my friend.

How could I missed this... nice church/ arch/ object... really a shame is being used as storage. :cheers:

:eek: Fasinating building...a real gem!

Such a shame its not used for its intended purpose. The quality of the internal space is quite dramatic! :clap:

This "Señora de Soca" died and the church is now a warehouse.. :bang head

Amazing...how could such a wonderful space be used for storage. That SUCKS!
At least it hasn't been torn down to build a strip mall. Do you have strip malls in Uraguy?
Strip mall is like a shopping centre?... Well, one shopping centre was made by Eladio Dieste 20years ago with undulated brick walls and his clasic vaults, so many people here now say the Atlantida church looks like a mini shopping centre!! :bang head

Muchisimas gracias, El Primo.
My spanish taylor was poorer than my english one.

More of these urugayan reports, plz !

Muchisimas gracias, El Primo.
My spanish taylor was poorer than my english one.

More of these urugayan reports, plz !



just Primo for you m8s! ;) I don't get the taylor coment :wondering pls explain...

Missed this one , great post Primo :not worth

Very first english lesson for billions teenagers
"My taylor is rich"

Jesus !
it's horrible
IMHO
LOL
JAJA! very honest dude!:cheers:
BTW "horrible" was a word that could make you loose any exam at the univ. unless properly justified!

Here more pictures of some of his houses... also in flickr (http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=bonet&m=tags)

The first impression of the church was the star of david (which is Jewish rather than Christian, I believe).

And then I recalled this Synagogue in Neve Dekalim, one of the Gaza strip settlements that were evacuated last summer.

This building was torn down right after it was handed to the Palestinians to keep...[but hey, no politics in THIS thread]

Well, some people called it the "Tupamaros" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupamaros) church, because they used a 5 point star as symbol (urban guerrilla group of the 60's)
I don't think Bonet had any conection, and these certainly guys had no religious links!

The first impression of the church was the star of david (which is Jewish rather than Christian, I believe).

Well but the star of david is not difficult to come by in various projects since it's based on the equilateral triangle, but yes, seeing the first picture of the entrance it definitely gives you that idea.

Hey dudes, some of these pictures together with an article about the church will be in the April edition of Metropolis Magazine of New York.
They contacted me through PPB!

Some restoration might be going underway, will keep you posted!

Congratulations!! You're gonna be a world renonwned photographer that takes pictures for hip New York magazines!!!!

JAJA! very honest dude!:cheers:
BTW "horrible" was a word that could make you loose any exam at the univ. unless properly justified!

I have re-visted this thread and although at first, it was a shock It's grown on me. A bit brutal for a church I thought and the dilapidation didn't help. I imagine it just cast or chem cleaned it would look great, I take it all back. :)

Hey dudes, some of these pictures together with an article about the church will be in the April edition of Metropolis Magazine of New York.
They contacted me through PPB!

Some restoration might be going underway, will keep you posted!

Yo back dude!

The church reminded me of the movie of the book Da Vinci Code. They mumble on about the scared feminine, the cup - a V the symbol of the feminine and the inverted V the masculine.

Anyway to hell the etymology what a fanatsic building and great result - publication :craqueur:

Was there again yesterday, together with a fellow Pushpuller, and found the interior has been cleared and is being prepared for an exhibition... great news!

another shot, to the right what appears to be an exhibition panel...

Here a close up of the wall behind the altar.. like the efect of the changing shadows of the coloured glases.

Trippy!!!
Who did you go with? You should post in the ppb meetings section!

I don't really understand what's there. Is it a sandblasted glass that separates the back?

I whent with Steve Suchy (ssuchy), he is a member but has 0 posts.

It is not sandblasted glass, just a slanted concrete plane with reliefs.
The light creates this strange efect!

Interesting to see that nebulous, out of focus effect produced by the original coloured glass. The interior light is amazing! In its original condition, without the excessive light that comes through the clear glass and the intrusive white triangles projected on the walls and floor, it must have had a really magical atmosphere. Let's hope it gets restored.

BTW: Did you take the photos again from under the door?

I got this great news today! The Chapel will be restored and reopens as a cultural centre this April.

AN EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHS BY GISELE FREUND ABOUT SUSANA SOCA.

Some more info on the chapel's history;

Designed by Antoni Bonet under asignment by the uruguayan poet Susana Soca (1906-1959).
"Susana Soca met Bonet and they interchanged ideas on how to create the chapel she would love. She died prematurely on a plane crash in Rio de janeiro in 1959, so her mother built the chapel in her memory."

She also colaborated on financing Dieste's Cristo Obrero Church, a few Kilometers away from this one.


On the exhibition:
21 portraits by the german Fotographer Gisele Feund of Susana Soca and her fellow poets who colaborated in her publication "La Licorne", some of them:
Joaquin Torres Garcia, Jules Supervielle, Henry Michaux (her secret lover) , Ricardo Paseyro, Silvina Ocampo, Jose Bergamin, Rafael Alberti, Jean Cocteau, Boris Pasternak, Pierre Drieu la Rochele and Borges.

there will be also a sculpture of her head by Yepes, and the 16 numbers of "La Licorne", 3 edited in Paris and the rest in Uruguay 1947-1961.

There will be also a portrait taken by Henri Cartier-Bresson were she is posing in front of her portrait painted by Picasso in 1943.

On the technical point of view, it is a complex task to exhibit pictures inside the chapel due to the odd light conditions, but the idea is to carry out cultural activities such as concerts, theater, etc throughout the year.

The chapel is in the process of being declared national cultural heritage and of being renovated.

Here a picture of Susana Soca in front of her portrait by Picasso.

This site for the town of Soca (http://orbita.starmedia.com/~socaw/mosq.html) says the church was never completed because Susana Soca (http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/susana-soca/)'s mother wanted to have her remains rest in the church which was not allowed by the law at the time.

Website shows this 1981 photo by Olascoaga

wow, interesting picture. I heard that version too about her mother's will to burry her there, will have to check some biographys that have been published recently.
This site also says its a replica of one in Europe, wich I doubt considering Bonet's work...

Here a translation of a poem by Borges on her:

Susana Soca

With lingering love she gazed at the dispersed
Colors of dusk. It pleased her utterly
To lose herself in the complex melody
Or in the cunous life to be found in verse.
lt was not the primal red but rather grays
That spun the fine thread of her destiny,
For the nicest distinctions and all spent
In waverings, ambiguities, delays.
Lacking the nerve to tread this treacherous
Labyrinth, she looked in on, whom without,
The shapes, the turbulence, the striving rout,
(Like the other lady of the looking glass.)
The gods that dwell too far away for prayer
Abandoned her to the final tiger, Fire.

Jorge Luis Borges


I guess the final prase is refered to her plane accident.
Apparently it was a Lufthansa flight comming from Germany. It stoped in Rio de Janeiro and when atempting to depart towards Montevideo it caught fire on the runway. In other sites I read it crashed over the jungle, but you don't fly over it from Rio to Montevideo...

Antoni Bonet biography (http://www.geocities.com/medit1976b/bonet2.htm) - excellent
Works (http://www.coac.net/COAC/centredocumentacio/arxiu/afonsbcn/BonetCastellana/arxiu/singular.html)

I also include a reference of two video productions that include Bonet's work. The first one is specifically of Bonet but it is in Catalonian.

Reference:

http://bibliotecnica.upc.es/abba/publicaciones/arquivideo.pdf
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Catálogo ARQUIVIDEO

43. Antoni Bonet / producció: Mary Campillo ; guió: Josep M.Carandell ; realització:
Maria Elena Monras. Barcelona : TVE, 1986
28 min. : col.(PAL), son.
Resumen: La obra realizada por Bonet: planeamiento en Sudamérica y diversos
edificios en España. Algunos proyectos son comentados por el arquitecto.
Materias: Bonet, Antonio
Localización: COAC, VHS, catalán

870. Tercera Generació, La : l'arquitectura dels anys 50 i 60 a Europa. Barcelona :
UPC. Taller d'Imatge, 1988
7 videocassettes : col.(PAL), son.
Resumen: Conferencias de la VII Semana Cultural de la ETSAB, 10-13/II/88.
Participación de Ribas i Piera, Maurizio Sabini, Abraham Moles, Federico
Correa, A. Bonet Castellana, Pancho Guedes y Alison y Peter Smithson. Algunos de los temas tratados son Kahn, la Bauhaus, el Team X, la École d'Ulm...
Materias: Bonet Castellana, Antonio; Kahn, Louis; Team X; Bauhaus;
Arquitectura moderna - S. XX - Europa - 1950/1960
Localización: ETSAB, Beta, U-matic, catalán, castellano, italiano e inglés

Antoni Bonet is also one of the designers of the BFK Chair (http://www.pushpullbar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=328&highlight=bonet).

Finaly, the church was opened as a cultural centre with an exhibition about its history, pictures of Gisele Feud about Susana Soca, the daughter of a famous doctor who gave name to this small town.
Susana Soca lived in france in the first half of the 20th century and befriended the cultural world of that time.
With Bonet she had discussed the ideas for this church.
After her death in a Lufthansa plane that crashed in Rio de janeiro bay in 1959, her mother decided to go ahead with the church in her memory.
It was never finished, as you can see inside.

2.700 glass triangles are coming from spain to restore the church to its original condition.

Those two wood posts should not be there, they are holding the concrete slab of the choir balcony, I wonder how is it suposed to be suported..

A view of one of the transepts, my kids Guzman and Agustina there...

a view up...

I loved this spiral stair that leads to the choir!
It is anchored just to the ground, no core and does not touch the landing above.
The wood prop is in the way, it should not be there of course...

a closer view from below the choir...

from above...

finaly, a side view of the church as seen from the aproaching street.
Must be a wonderfull view when lit at night!!

here 3 autostitched interiors...

1 a view from the choir

2 a view from the door

and a view from the altar. the exhibition covered the central space...

Artiicle published today in Metropolismag.com (http://www.metropolismag.com/cda/story.php?artid=2698)

William Rey is the friend I comented before in charge of the restoration.

Marcelo, thanks you for this thread and your dedication to the continued updates. Love the internal pictures and the light. :craqueur:

Sos un groso!!!!!
Wow, even your wife is featured in Metropolis Mag!!! That's as cool as you can get!!!