Architecture studio MAPA has designed this simple prefabricated wooden chapel for a vineyard in Maldonado, Uruguay, puncturing a black box through one of its slanted walls to provide a shrine for the patron saint of winemakers.
The prefabricated open-air chapel is located in the 101-hectare Sacromonte vineyard, which forms part of The Sacromonte Landscape Hotel in Pueblo Edén. Brazilian and Uruguayan studio MAPA previously designed 13 guest suites for the property.
Photograph by Leonardo Finotti
For the Sacromonte Chapel, components made in a factory in Portugal were sent to the rural setting, where they were put together in 24 hours.
The structure comprises a pair of slanted walls made of cross-laminated timber ? an engineered wood with a strength to rival steel and concrete.
Measuring six by nine metres, the walls lean towards each other to rest on a black steel frame at the top, with a narrow gap left between them.
"Simple and austere, its design assumes the challenge of conveying a powerful message using the lowest amount of resources possible," said MAPA in a statement.

The black metal box slotted through a hole in one of the walls forms a cabinet for the Virgin of La Carrodilla, who is celebrated as one of the most well-known patron saints of vineyards. Translucent onyx covers the back of the volume to left natural light filter in.
Other parts that make up Sacromonte Chapel are a gridded metal floor, and a pair of long struts that raise it ...