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Artist's impression of the church, showing the covered patio which opens on to a public garden
ceremony (out of the church, into the church, into the baptistry and into the parish office). It was located so that its presence would be felt either from the nave or from the adro.
The church has been conceived as a spacious unity between the assembly and the santuary, in order to avoid the worshippers feeling like spectators of the religious services instead of being active participants.
The planning of this church follows closely the "Guiding Principles For The Design Of Churches According To The Spirit Of The Roman Liturgy", published in 1947 by the German Liturgical Commission on behalf of the German episcopate. This is a most valuable reference, worked out by ecclesiastical authorities to guide the draft of new churches.
The plastic form of the church was mainly determined by the rural characteristics of the village for which is has been intended.
Thus, any strong contrast with the surrounding buildings and with the "plaza" on which it will be erected has been avoided. It was thought to be unreasonable or pretentious to attempt to give the building a more erudite or even a more urban plastic form.
Any stronger free form might create in the local residents a state of mind that would not accord with Macau's Diocese intentions. The result is a neat and quiet building, not much different, formally, from its neighbours.
Materials
In the church nave, load bearing masonry walls support the timber roof structure. In the rest of the building the resistant function is performed by either masonry walls or concrete load bearing elements.
The ground floor is paved with marble tiles and the walls are cover- ed with Travertine.
The roofing is of Chinese glazed ceramic blue tiles, laid on a teakwood structure, with a ceiling of the same material, in the church nave, but not concealing the interior view to the roof trusses.
The bell tower is in cast bronze and covers a small interior garden. Lighting of the church interior is achieved by means of a strip of high windows made in the northern wall and ending close to the altar with a stained glass window.
On the east and west walls and
between the timber components of the trusses fixed glass panels will be inserted.
A continuous gap is opened all around the walls of the nave to pro- vide high level transverse ventilation.
I
Interior
the roof
view of structure
Model of church: general
view from the east
SECTION A-A
Far East Architect & Builder June, 1965
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