23 November 2011

Around Lipa: the de la Salle Chapel


Inside the de la Salle campus in downtown Lipa is a quiet, contemporary chapel that invites one to just stop by and commune with God. Oftentimes, the other churches in the city can be filled to the brim and may sometimes be noisy and surrounded with activities. But this school chapel has a calming and natural atmosphere, it gives a meditative vibe that somehow makes one introspectful. 


It helps too that from the inside, one can see an expanse of green; the school's football field, surrounded by trees and flowering gardens. It's nice to see that contemporary tropical design principles are also now being applied to ecclesiastical architecture.




Of course, I couldn't help but note that they have interestingly-designed pews. I couldn't tell if it partly uses recycled lumber but undoubtedly, it uses combinations of beautiful tropical hardwoods.
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8 comments:

  1. www.20x30.netNovember 24, 2011 at 11:47 AM

    The pews were done by Agi Pagkatipunan. All lumber came from old pieces like trusses, train tracks, rafters, etc. The hardwood pieces were so dense that nails could not be used. Agi used dark Kamagong as pegs.

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  2. www.20x30.netNovember 24, 2011 at 11:48 AM

    At night, the central lamps right above the altar use LED bulbs donated by Philips.

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  3. www.20x30.netNovember 24, 2011 at 11:48 AM

    Altar design, stained glass, tabernacle cover and the statue of St. La Salle were done by sculptor Toym Imao, Jr.

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  4. UnknownNovember 24, 2011 at 12:14 PM

    Hey, thanks for all this info! It didn't occur to me that this would look good at night too! I will schedule to visit it again and photograph it at night.

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  5. Nikki Briones Carsi CruzNovember 24, 2011 at 2:21 PM

    Hi Alex,

    This post makes me regret not visiting the DLSU Lipa Campus when I lived there. I would have loved to go to mass there instead of the usual crowded churches! I'm looking forward to your next post on how it will look at night :-D Your posts make me miss Lipa a lot.

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  6. BomNovember 28, 2011 at 2:10 PM

    I've never been to the Lipa campus. I'll definitely check out the chapel if and when I visit.

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  7. www.20x30.netNovember 30, 2011 at 11:46 PM

    Here's my link to pics :)

    https://picasaweb.google.com/joselito.gutierrez/CapillaPhotosByJojoGutierrez?authuser=0&feat=directlink

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  8. UnknownDecember 4, 2011 at 12:40 PM

    Thanks Nikki and Bom, it's a welcome respite to a rather noisy downtown. But Jojo, your photos are amazing! Is it alright with you if I re-post your photos in this blog?

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