‘gratitude open chapel’ by tatiana bilbao + dellekamp arquitectos, lagunillas, mexico image © iwan baan

mexican practices tatiana bilbao and dellekamp arquitectos have collaborated to complete the ‘gratitude open chapel’, a site in lagunillas along the holy pilgrimmage route ‘ruta del peregrino’ which stretches from ameca to talpa de allende, mexico. located within a few kilometers near the beginning of the journey, four clean white forms emerge from the landscape. offering a moment for pause and silent reflection to visitors, the ritual space allows the individual to embrace their upcoming quest.

a boundary made from stacked stone, the ‘wall of promises’ invites individuals to leave behind a symbolic object, image or piece of writing expressing gratitude or compliments. the tall monoliths cast long shadows, which shift during the day, obstructing the once sun bathed terrain. views framed by the ring of towering concrete blocks include an obelisk approximately 23 kilometers away near cerro del obispo.

see the other proposals and structures on ruta del peregrino here.

project info:

project title: gratitude open chapel location: lagunillas state: built architects: tatiana bilbao s.c., dellekamp arquitectos team: tatiana bilbao, derek dellekamp, marco lozano, ignacio mendez, sandra perez, pedro sanchez, jachen schleich, paola toriz

title of the whole project: pilgrim’s route client: secretary of tourism of jalisco; secretary of tourism aurelio lopez rocha program: pilgrim’s route masterplan location: from ameca to talpa de allende, jalisco, mexico. curatorial team: tatiana bilbao and derek dellekamp masterplan and project coordination: tatiana bilbao, derek dellekamp and rozana montiel research team: rozana montiel/periférica, adiranne montemayor, carlos zimbrón invited architects: luis aldrete / luis aldrete | arquitectos (mexico), tatiana bilbao / tatiana bilbao s.c. (mexico), derek dellekamp / dellekamp arquitectos (mexico), alejandro aravena / elemental (chile), emanuel christ and christoph gantenbein / christ & gantenbein (switzerland), tilo herlach, simon hartmann, simon frommenwiler / hhf architects (switzerland), rozana montiel / periférica (mexico), ai weiwei / fake design (china) invited designers: godoylab (industrial), omar orlaineta (graphic), toa taller de operaciones ambi- entales (environmental)