Sacred horizontal line: the Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceição by Paulo Mendes da Rocha and Eduardo Colonelli

This article examines the project by Paulo Mendes da Rocha and Eduardo Colonelli for the Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, built in 2006 on the grounds of Francisco Brennand’s ceramics complex in Recife, in northeastern Brazil. Horizontality, a rhetorical figure frequently invoked by Mendes da Rocha, mediates, in this project, the relationship between intervention and the pre-existing structure, while also serving as a poetic motif for the new ensemble. The chapel serves as a pretext for reflecting on other interventions carried out by the architect. As supporting references, the study draws on architect-authors such as Carlos Lemos and Alexandre Alves Costa, who frame the discussion within the field of design, as well as theorists who contribute to the proposed critical framework, including Sophia Silva Telles, Cesare Brandi, and Gustavo Giovannoni. The study analyzes design operations, with particular attention to the relationship between intervention and the existing building, suggesting that historical hierarchies are transcended by the understanding that coherence within the new ensemble is the ultimate goal to be pursued.