Located in the district of Nyagatare, in Rwanda, the Rukomo community will host the Murakoze Chapel which, in the Kinyarwanda language, means “Thanks”. Proceeding 7 km 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 100 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, and widely described in the drawings, are materials available locally and the technologies used pay particular attention to the technical and economical capabilities of the local operators. A Rammed-heart masonry resting on a stone/or brick foundation defines the external perimeter from the internal one describing an introverted space predisposed to receive light.

Perimetral light. From top to bottom. Light from the east in front of the entrance. Light diffused downwards from a wooden stack. Light and time. Day and night. Sun and rain.

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.