Thorncrown Chapel is a chapel located in Eureka Springs, Arkansas – designed by E. Fay Jones and constructed in 1980. The design recalls Prairie School architecture – popularized by Frank Lloyd Wright, with whom Jones had apprenticed and was commissioned by Jim Reed, a retired schoolteacher.
BNKR Arquitectura’s first religious commission was a wedding chapel conceived to celebrate the first day of a couple’s new life. Our second religious commission had a diametrically opposite purpose: to mourn the passing of loved ones. This premise was the main driving force behind the design, the two had to be complete opposites, they were natural antagonists. While the former praised life, the latter grieved death. Through this game of contrasts all the decisions were made: Glass vs. Concrete, Transparency vs. Solidity, Ethereal vs. Heavy, Classical Proportions vs. Apparent Chaos, Vulnerable vs. Indestructible, Ephemeral vs. Lasting…
Sunset Chapel - Photograph by Esteban Suárez
Design: BNKR Arquitectura
Partners: Esteban Suárez (Founding Partner) y Sebastián Suárez
Project Leaders: Mario Gottfried, Javier González & Roberto Ampudia
Project Team: Mario Gottfried, Rodrigo Gil, Roberto Ampudia, Javier González, Óscar Flores, David Sánchez, Diego Eumir, Guillermo Bastian & Adrian Aguilar
Collaborators: Jorge Arteaga & Zaida Montañana
Structural Engineers: Juan Felipe Heredia & José Ignacio Báez
MEP: SEI
Lighting: Noriega Iluminadores – Ricardo Noriega
Construction: Factor Eficiencia – Fermín Espinosa & Francisco Villeda