Located in the district of Nyagatare, in Rwanda, the Rukomo community will host the Murakoze Chapel which, in the Kinyarwanda language, means “Thanks”. Proceeding 7km to the north, leaving the paved road, the path reaches a plateau surrounded by conifers, from which the disarming beauty of the Rwandan landscape can be appreciated. This is where Murakoze finds its place. The small chapel, designed to accommodate up to a hundred people, embeds itself within the landscape becoming part of it, choosing to silently express its presence, preferring, instead of protagonim, mystery and discovery. Murakoze was designed to encourage the active participation of the inhabitants in all the construction phases in order to emphasize the value of the community and generate bonds of solidarity between the people. The materials used are available locally and the technologies used pay particular attention to the technical and economical capabilities of the local operators. A thick Rammed-heart masonry resting on a stone foundation defines the external perimeter from the internal one describing an introverted space predisposed to receive light.
Perimetral light. From top to bottom. Light diffused. Time.
There is, in this space, a spirituality strongly linked to the human experience, made of imperfection and limits, connected to the Earth and to the Energies that can be drawn from it. Murakoze is made by the man for the man, revealing to the latter that divine beauty is, perhaps, in rediscovering oneself free from any dogma and perhaps just beyond the fear of death.
