Chapel on Mount Rokko

Tadao Ando – Nishitaniyama, Rokkosan-cho, Nada-ku, Kobe-shi 657-0101 Japan, 1986

This small chapel located on Mount Rokko, near Kobe, completes the trilogy of Christian religious structures designed by Tadao Ando in the mid-1980s. Although it does not enjoy the same fame as the Church on the Water or the Church of Light, the chapel on Mount Rokko becomes a synthesis of its predecessors and underlines the architect's effort to establish a connection between religious space and nature.
In this chapel Ando uses the materials of concrete, glass and light to create a powerful spiritual place through a rich spatial sequence of light and dark, direct and indirect natural light. His usual architectural vocabulary: simple geometry, meticulously studied and delicate plays of light and shadow, as well as modulated exposed concrete surfaces that dialogue with metal and glass.
However, this chapel includes Western elements such as the bell tower, which plays a formal rather than utilitarian role, becoming a vertical counterpoint to a predominantly horizontal composition.
Unlike Western church towers where the bell called parishioners to religious services and other events, here the bells are rung rarely, to avoid disturbing the guests of the hotel where the chapel is located.
As in his other churches, Ando avoids a direct and pompous access to the chapel. Instead, he uses a 40-meter long concrete portico, covered with opaque turquoise glass, on which is a steel and glass vault. This tunnel provides a processional access to the chapel, emphasizing the majesty of the approach to the wedding.
However, this tunnel view does not lead directly to the building or a monumental access, as the chapel is located on one side of the path. The tunnel frames nature, or in this case the garden.
The next space is a dark hall defined by a curved wall that invites the visitor to enter the chapel establishing a transition between darkness and light, the mundane space and the sacred area.
Subsequently, the space is expanded to generate the main chapel, a cube of 6,5 m per side in which one wall has been replaced by a large window, using the structure to represent the theme of the cross.

In this way Ando achieves virtual contact with nature, through a framed landscape view and a sumptuous display of light. The effect is reinforced by the contrast of the colorful garden and the solemn monochrome room.
A different type of light sharply illuminates the altar area through a thin, elongated slit located at the intersection of the wall and the roof. This feature allows for an ever-changing play of light on the rough concrete surface, the appearance of which changes depending on the time of day and day of the year.