“Stone lends the project a tie to Nature”

How has stone been used in the Santa Ana y San Joaquín Church project?

We have placed stone all over the church’s floor as well as the vertical wall faces by way of a ventilated facade and stapled to interior walls.

What variety of stone was used in the project and why?
The stone is white limestone with a very marked streak. It is called Royal Travertine, and comes with a sanding treatment.
 

Which do you consider to be the best features or qualities of stone as a material to work with?
What we liked the most about it when developing the project was the stone’s intrinsic qualities in terms of permanence, durability and nature. All of this creates sensations in this work that are conveyed to those who inhabit it.

What difficulties arose when carrying out the project?
We did not come across any difficulty related to using stone.

How does stone relate to, and harmonize with, the rest of the materials that make up the church?
White stone was chosen to blend in with the rest of the building’s different shades of white. In the church, everything is white except for the furniture. The choice of stone with such a pronounced streak offers a uniform white backdrop from a distance, and one that is texturized at the same time. This lends warmth to the space.

What importance or significance does stone have in architecture in general?
For us, stone lends the project a tie to Nature. When natural stone is used, the project is enriched with solidness, permanence and tradition, without having to introduce past forms to confer these qualities on the building. The modern day human being is so mechanized and removed from his or her natural origins, that feeling the texture of stone on our skin seems advantageous and necessary. Stone, in the end, is a hewn piece of Nature.