Convent design

Designed by Mixtura, a practice of young architects from Italy, the new convent of the Franciscan Fraternity of Bethany is now complete. The 5,300 square meter project includes large spaces for prayer, hospitality, and areas for residents from the surrounding local community of Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, to meet. Cesare Querci The design concept comes from an extensive participatory design process between the architects and the community. The resulting complex features primarily low-tech buildings where locally derived wood textures inform the structure and the cladding. The classic typology of the convent, which is oriented around a single closed cloister, is reinterpreted here by multiplying the number of cloisters. In tota... More