Drawn Hypothesis I. The Chapel Santa María del Pozo by Sáenz de Oíza

Abstract

From Santa María del Pozo Chapel, a project by Sáenz de Oíza from 1958 as equipment for the first Poblado Dirigido of Entrevías, only one photograph of the original model has been published. Since its genesis, the Chapel assumed a complex program as a civic and symbolic Centre of a very poor neighborhood, whose social activism has been linked to the leadership of Jesuit Llanos and his community of residents in the suburbs. The Chapel was an experimental architectural proposal marked by a remarkable constructive austerity whose conceptual force prevailed over other limitations. The oblique trace, superimposed on the orthogonality of Entrevías itself, appropriates the place through the series of haunched portal frames, large continuous decks and rhomboid spaces that remain
partially demolished. An important moment in Oíza’s work, which rehearsed variations in relation to his previous work, and a little-known piece that offers the opportunity to deepen his teaching. This research has been proposed to decipher and draw an approach to the Chapel that could be, as far as possible and waiting for the design plans to see the light.