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Rwanda competition

About the project

The project is based on two fundamental elements, the past and present of the Rukomo community: the reflection and memory of what once Rukomo  was and the present, with the life that is born and with a community that grows together commemorating and rejoicing for a newfound faith. The first approach appears in prayer and in the memory of those who left this world, as an event that we cannot forget.

The major external ring that surrounds the church is constituted by commemorative stones with a symbolic epitaph that represent by lines the number of lives they lost; the way  constitutes a symbolic monument that invites to reflect about our human mistakes and invite to commemorate our loved ones. The only way to expiate sins is through memory  that becomes the only way to reach the church, the place of divine mercy. In contrast with the idea of the cemetery rise a series of symbolic elements of life and rebirth: the fields that represent the noblest activity of men, and the water source of life.

They are enclosed in a series of circles, the undisputed symbol of the cyclical nature of life, which reminds us of the possibility of a new start by fixing our mistakes. The space enclosed between all the elements of the project becomes the gathering community place .

Finally, the church thus has the role of connecting man and God but at the same time all men among them. The circle shape  also comes from one of Rukomo's work tools: the headgear with which the inhabitants transport the products of the crops; In the same way this small urban space offers to the inhabitants a land to cultivate, in which to work together for themselves and above all to give the fruits to those who need them.

Client: YAC - young architects competition

Team: MNDA studio

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