TITLE: Chapel on the Water

Chapel on the Water emerges from the forest of Hokkaido like someone dropped a small box in the wonder of nature and completely blends into the surrounding. The architect requires visitors to go through a carefully curated circulation before entering the chapel. Tadao Ando is famous for creating a ritualistic passageway that deliberately takes people on to the symphony he conducts and detour from the fastest circulation. At the end of the adventure, a spiral stair leads people into the seating area where mountains and trees are the backdrops of the metal cross on the water. This is one of the most sacred spaces Tadao Ando has ever created. Ando has always been trying to absorb everything he could from the existing and interpret them to a poetic form of functioning space. This philosophy is perfectly reflecting at The Chapel on the Water.

AUTHOR: Ssu-ing Wu (Taiwan)