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ATELIER BUGIO WITH MATOS GAMEIRO ARQUITECTOS DESIGNED THE CHURCH AND PARISH CENTER OF BAIRRO DE SÃO JOSÉ DA BOAVISTA IN LISBON, PORTUGAL

by da.team April 23 2026, 09:25 RELIGION CHURCH PORTUGAL ATELIERBUGIO MATOSGAMEIRO

The project for the church and parish center in the São José da Boavista neighborhood is rooted in the site’s aggregating vocation, proposing the creation of a structuring public square. This space is defined by a wall-building that extends eastward, shaping its boundary through a sequence of recesses and projections. Stairs and ramps mediate the site’s uneven topography, ensuring continuity of movement while closing the northern edge.

Through this unified architectural gesture, capable of adapting to varying conditions, the square is established at street level, while the upper-level spaces are progressively organized. This strategy enables a smooth transition between levels while integrating a significant portion of the program within the thickness of the built form.

At the heart of this new centrality, the volume of the church is placed in a central and elevated position. Detached from the ground and suspended between earth and sky, it expresses a strong symbolic presence, evoking transcendence and spiritual elevation. Beneath it, a covered square is naturally formed, providing a sheltered space for gathering and welcome, protected from sun and rain.

Overlooking the square, alongside the more prominent volume of the parish center, the church forecourt establishes itself as an intermediate level. It forms a protected and distinct threshold, preparing the transition into the sacred space while maintaining visual and spatial continuity with the public square.

The church adopts the traditional proportions of a single nave, while incorporating the principles of the Second Vatican Council, which emphasize continuity between the congregation and the presbytery. A clear spatial orientation is combined with an organization centered on the altar as the liturgical focal point.

The project seeks to express a controlled spatial verticality while establishing a clear hierarchy between the main nave and a secondary side nave. This lateral space accompanies the liturgical sequence, providing more secluded areas and accommodating the baptistery at the entrance and the confessional at the upper end.

Through this articulation between public space, threshold, and sacred space, the project defines an architecture that is both grounded in its context and charged with symbolic meaning, where the collective and the spiritual converge.

TECHNICAL DRAWINGS