Religious architecture and civic participation: Two churches by Fernando Rodríguez-Concha

Authors

  • Esteban Fernández-Cobián Universidade da Coruña
  • Verónica Orozco-Velázquez Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4013/arq.2014.102.04

Abstract

During the 60s and 70s of the 20th century many socially engaged architects experimented, with varying degrees of success, a type of work called citizen participation or community architecture. The Mexican architect Fernando Rodríguez-Concha was one of them. The peculiar social situation his country was facing in the 50s prompted his civic engagement—his deep sense of the public realm or his view of the political nature of architecture—which began in the university classroom and was subsequently expressed in various fields of his work as an architect: technical support to small local cooperatives, commitment to independent teaching in higher education, rehabilitation of degraded urban neighborhoods, religious architecture, etc. This article aims to show how his ethical and social commitment materialized through the construction of several community projects. Among them two Catholic churches in Puebla, his hometown, Huexotitla and Las Animas, stand out. These are two churches which, due to their original construction solutions—derived from both his successful collaboration with engineers and users and the architect’s formal intuition—and for their own clear plastic force have become paradigmatic examples of Mexican religious architecture in the second half of the 20th century.

Keywords: religious architecture, civic participation, Fernando Rodríguez- Concha, México, Puebla.

Author Biographies

Esteban Fernández-Cobián, Universidade da Coruña

Esteban Fernández-Cobián (Vigo, 1969). PhD in Architecture (2001, CSIC Award). Contracted PhD Professor at the Department of Architectural Technology of ETSA A Coruña (Spain), Visiting Professor at Universita di Bologna (2008) and Universidad Popular Autónoma de Estado de Puebla (2014), member of the Scientific Committee of the Fondazione Frate Sole (Pavia), is the author of the monographs Between Concept and Identity (2014), Escritos sobre arquitectura religiosa contemporánea (2013), Arquitecturas de lo sagrado. Memoria y proyecto (2009), El espacio sagrado en la arquitectura española contemporánea (2005), Fray Coello de Portugal, dominico y arquitecto (2001), A Coruña. Guía de arquitectura (1998) and a number of scientific articles and conference papers. He coordinated the tree editions of the International Conference on Contemporary Religious Architecture (Ourense, 2007 and 2009, and Seville 2013). efcobian@udc.esDepartamento de Construcciones Arquitectónicas | Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura | Universidade da Coruña | Castro de Elviña s/n. 15192 | La Coruña | SPAIN | +34 981.167.000 ext. 5243

Verónica Orozco-Velázquez, Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla

Verónica Lorena Orozco-Velázquez (Mexico DF, 1972). Architect (UPAEP) and Master in History of Art (UNAM). Full-time Professor at UPAEP School of Architecture, where she is responsible for the subject Critical Analysis and academic co-ordinator of the Master in Ecclesiastical Cultural Goods. Professor at the Pontifical Seminary of Puebla, adviser to the Archbishop of Puebla for liturgical adaptation projects and creating new spaces for worship. Co-author of the book Baroque Paths of Puebla-Tlaxcala Region (in press) and editor of the books The Cultural Heritage of the Church as a means of evangelization and Proceedings of the International Symposium on the Cultural Heritage of the Church (2000), event which she was also the co-ordinator. Currently developing his doctoral thesis on the work of Fray Gabriel Chávez de la Mora. veronicalorena.orozco@upaep.mxDepartamento de Artes y Humanidades | Facultad de Arquitectura | Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla | 21 Sur 1103 Colonia Santiago 72160 | Puebla | MÉXICO | +52 222.229.94.00 ext. 7456

Downloads

Published

2015-01-29

How to Cite

Fernández-Cobián, E., & Orozco-Velázquez, V. (2015). Religious architecture and civic participation: Two churches by Fernando Rodríguez-Concha. Arquitetura Revista, 10(2), 78–90. https://doi.org/10.4013/arq.2014.102.04

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 2 (2014): Jul-Dec

Section

Articles

License

I grant the journal Arquiteturarevista the first publication of my article, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution license (which allows sharing of work, recognition of authorship and initial publication in this journal).

I also take full responsibility for the copyright of images, photos and data included in the submitted work. I confirm that my article is not being submitted to another publication and has not been published in its entirely on another journal. I take full responsibility for its originality and I will also claim responsibility for charges from claims by third parties concerning the authorship of the article, its data and images.

I am responsible for approval in the specific ethics boards for each purpose, whenever necessary.