Capilla of the Campito de San José
Fig.4 Interior Platform
Fig.1 Church of the Gesú, Rome - Floorplan Fig.2 Library - Floorplan
https://www.pinterest.de/ Campuzano, Carlos. 1995
pin/128634133091500928/ Private Digital Archive
Retrieved on 19.02.2020
Fig.5 View from reading platform to the abse
https://facartes.uniandes.edu.co/programas/pregrados/opciones-acade-
micas/literatura/estudios-clasicos/
Retrieved on 19.02.2020
Katrina Malinski - Santiago Sánchez
The Capilla of the Campito de San Jose, designed in 1922 by Alberto
Manrique Martín and Arturo Jaramillo, is a former church located in
Bogota, Colombia1 2. The Universidad de Los Andes took possession of the
building in 1965 3 and it was converted into the library of the faculty of
Architecture by Carlos Campuzano in 1995 4.
The site, known as the Campito de San Jose, is a former convent and
hospital founded in 1883 by the Sisters of the Preservation of the Most Holy
Trinity. The building complex was later converted into an insane asylum 5.
The Capilla was constructed in 1922, but by 1965 the entire campus was
taken over by Universidad de Los Andes. Most of the buildings, including
the Capilla, were converted to educational use. The Capilla served a
variety of functions during this period, including as a lecture hall, a
drawing studio and eventually a storage facility before being converted to
a library6 for the Architecture Faculty in 1995-1998.
The Capilla, is as is typical of many simple missionary churches in South
America, is modeled loosely on the Church of the Gesù in Rome7, built
for the Jesuit order in 1580. The main space is comprised of a single
nave with chapels, with the shallow chapels located between the pillars
of the nave8 (Figure-1 and 2). The Capilla contains three main spaces; the
single nave, an elevated semicircular apse, separated from the nave by a
transversal arch (Figure-6 and 7), and a choir located above the entrance.
This arrangement is typical of a simple church architecture in Colombia,
built before the Second Vatican Council9. The facade of the church is Neo-
Romanesque. This is characteristic having been designed at the end of
the Republican period that followed Colombian independence in 181010
when experimentation with various historical building styles was common
(Figure-3). The materials used are simple and generally typical of the area
1 Escovar 2005,p.30.
2 Prieto Páez et al., 2017 p.56.
3 Pichincha 2003
4 Escovar 2005, p.31.
5 Escovar 2005, p.31.
6 Guggenheim 2013
7 Adam, 1984
8 Kubiak 2012
9 Laverde 2002
10 Uribe González and López Correal 2012
Bibliography
Adam, Adolf. Wo sich Gottes Volk versammelt : Gestalt und Symbolik des Kirchenbaus, 1984.
Adaptation of Buildings to Library Use : Proceedings of the Seminar, Held in Budapest, June 3 - 7, 1985.
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions: IFLA Publications BV021463498 39,
1987.
Berty, Anne. Architectures colombiennes : alternatives aux modèles internationaux, 1981.
Brenneman, Robert, and Brian J. Miller. “When Bricks Matter: Four Arguments for the Sociological
Study of Religious Buildings.” Sociology of Religion 77, no. 1 (January 2016): 82–101. https://doi.
org/10.1093/socrel/srw001.
Escovar, Alberto. Bogotà : Historic Center. 2. ed. Elarqa Architectural Guides BV024611123 2, 2005.
Guggenheim, Michael. “Unifying and Decomposing Building Types: How to Analyze the Change of
Use of Sacred Buildings.” Qualitative Sociology 36, no. 4 (December 2013): 445–64. https://doi.
org/10.1007/s11133-013-9262-8.
Gutiérrez, Angie. “Atlas Final Carlos Campuzano.” Issuu, June 6, 2018. https://issuu.com/angiegutier-
rez43/docs/pdf_prueba.
Hauke, Petra, and Klaus Ulrich Werner. “The Second Hand Library Building: Sustainable Thinking
through Recycling Old Buildings into New Libraries.” IFLA Journal 38, no. 1 (March 2012): 60–67.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0340035211435394.
Fig.3 Library - Facade
http://www.revistaseneca.com/articulo/conservando-la-memoria-uniandina
Retrieved on 19.02.2020
Fig.6 Library - Longitudinal Section
Campuzano, Carlos. 1995
Private Digital Archive
and the stature of the building 11
. The exterior is brick, in part decorated with
ornamental tile while the interior is plastered, with a Frieze decorating the vault of
the apse (Figure-4 and 5). As is typical in small South American Churches, the roof
is constructed out of timber12, however in this case the roof construction is covered
by a plaster ceiling to the interior.
The conversion of the Capilla to a library was achieved using a “ship in a bottle”
strategy, with the new use, predominantly book stacks and a reading room,
being inserted into the existing volume (Figure-6 and 7). The material strategy
also reflects this separation, with the new additions being built in a light metal
structure 13
, generally dark to contrast with the pastel interior of the Capilla. This
formal strategy has been frequently used in church conversions14, as it allows
the retention of the main spatial element of the church, the nave, and minimizes
structural interventions into the historic building. In the Capilla, this desire for
separation is further reflected in the addition of two main volumes, a rectangular
two-story form in the nave and a circular “book tower” in the apse (Figure-8).
The use of the 2 volumes emphasizes the separation of the nave from the apse
inherent to the former use. In addition, the dramatic circular book tower takes on
the qualities of an altar in its location and proportions. In order to accomplish this
volumetric strategy, the layout of the library is stacked, with the floor area being
multiplied vertically within the two volumes. While this strategy of preserving the
main volume allows the experience of the building to remain as close as possible
to the original, it brings several constraints on the function of the library. An
analysis based on Faulkner-Browns ‘ten commandments’ of planning libraries
reveals flaws in the areas of flexibility, extendibility, environment, and comfort. The
retention of the original spaces meant in large part the retention of their lighting
and acoustic qualities, creating conditions that are not ideally suited to the new
use. The space available for is also limited, as the library is unable to grow within
the shell of the former church, meaning future expansion is likely to be challenging.
11 Laverde 2002
12 Trujillo and Kühne 2010
13 Gutiérrez 2018
14 Guggenheim 2013
15 Dewe 1987
Kubiak, Ewa. “Traditions of the European Basilica Model in the Sacred Architecture of Colonial Latin
America.” Arte de La América Latina 2 (2012): 20.
Kusnerz, Peggy Ann, ed. The Architecture Library of the Future: Complexity and Contradiction. Ann
Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1989.
Laverde, Camilo Mendoza. “Arquitectura Religiosa Urbana En Colombia Durante La Dominacion
Española.” Historia Urbana - Imagen y Representaciones - Pedagogía y Cultura 6, no. 12 (2002):
23–38.
Pichincha, Colegio de Arquitectos del Ecuador Provincial de. X Bienal Panamericana de Arquitectura de
Quito. Quito: Bocetos, 2003. https://issuu.com/colegiodearquitectos/docs/10baq/27.
Prieto Páez, Leopoldo., Silvia Arango, Jorge. Ramírez Nieto, Luis Carlos. Colón Llamas, Hugo. Delga-
dillo, Fernando. Carrasco Zaldúa, Alberto Manrique Martín, and Sociedad Colombiana de Arquitectos.
Alberto Manrique Martín, 2017.
Trujillo, Vladimir Rodríguez, and Eckart Kühne. “Timber Structure in the Mission Churches of Chiquitos
(Bolivia): Origins, Evolution and Restoration.” Advanced Materials Research 133–134 (October 2010):
1131–36. https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.133-134.1131.
Uribe González, Mauricio, and Yolanda López Correal. Arquitectura sublime : el patrimonio religioso de
Bogotá, 2012.
https://issuu.com/colegiodearquitectos/docs/10baq/27
Retrieved on 19.02.2020
Fig.7 Library - Cross Section Fig.8 Book Tower
Campuzano, Carlos. 1995 https://loscuadernosdevieco.blog/2015/02/22/al-
Private Digital Archive bum-de-bibliotecas-en-construccion-xv/
Retrieved on 19.02.2020
Beyond the formal strategy of spatial retention, the conversion of the
Capilla into a library shows a clear desire of the part of the Architect
to retain the symbolic nature of the building. Catholic Churches, unlike
the places of worship of other denominations, are understood to retain
their symbolic value after deconsacration16, and this is clear in the case
of the Capilla. While the outward markers of a church such as the cross
have been removed (Figure-3), the building is still clearly identifiable as
a church, retaining symbolic value even if it’s used as a scared space
was historically short17. The arrangement of the books is even roughly
analogous to the former distribution of sacred spaces, with shelves located
in the former side chapels as well as in the apse (Figure-8). Through this
analogy, the ritual nature of the building is largely retained. As Brennan
notes in his 2016 essay18, the expected behavior in religious buildings is
learned socially, and the retention of the symbolic element transfers these
behavioral expectations onto the new use. The result is a space that inspires
silent contemplation and study, even if the new function of library generally
allows for a wider range of behavior. This specific atmosphere is important
in the context of the new use being a library for the Architecture Faculty.
This requires the building not only to fulfill the requirements of a successful
library, but also as Gunner Birkerts notes “to strive for ambience and for
that special space to be creative” 19
. This creative and inspirational element
is a key contribution of the former use, not only in material but also in
symbolic terms. Despite the obvious functional drawbacks presented by the
15
re-use of an existing building, the inspirational atmosphere contributed by
the former use adds an essential and elusive element to the new library.
16 Guggenheim 2013
17 Escovar 2005, p.31
18 Brenneman and Miller 2016
19 Kusnerz 1989, p.166
M_ARCH_T
History Class
Model and Type I
Winter term 2019/2020
Prof. Dr. Hermann Schlimme
Chair for History of Architecture and Urbanism
IfA Institute for Architecture
TU Berlin