Colab-19 has built a temporary church shaped like a cross to allow a local congregation to worship together safely during the coronavirus pandemic in Bogotá, Colombia.
Called Alhambra Cross, the pop-up church is made from old horizontal frameworks, a system usually used for casting concrete slabs.
The temporary church is made of old construction systems
The steel structures have been painted white, instead of their customary orange, and hung with mosquito nets to allow airflow while creating a more spiritual atmosphere for worshipers despite the car park setting. The mosquito net helps with blocking the outdoor activity, helps with social distance, keeps the ventilation going, and protects individuals from horizontal rain showers, explained Colab-19.
Words by Francesca Perry
Colombian architecture studio Colab-19 delivered a temporary cross-shaped church structure for the Easter weekend in Bogotá. Described as ‘a temporary church for a pandemic Easter’ and named Alhambra’s Cross, the structure was devised in response to restrictions on religious gatherings due to the Covid-19 pandemic and rising case numbers across Colombia.
The architecture studio, which was set up in response to needs emerging from the pandemic and has also been responsible for a scaffold amphitheatre and market hub in the Colombian capital, approached Bogotá’s archdiocese wanting to
donate a temporary church for socially distanced, open-air Easter celebrations. The archdiocese connected Colab-19 to a local church in need, Parroquia Santa Maria de la Alhambra, which had suffered as a result of the pandemic and saw the opportunity of an outdoor church structure as a step to recovery.