China's "Narrowest Church" is only 1.3 meters wide!! Junya Ishigami

✨Valley Chapel is located at the bottom of a small valley in Rizhao, Shandong, China. It is a 2016 work by Japanese architect Junya Ishigami.

✨It introduces "light through the crack" without altering the valley, allowing the building to "grow" with the valley. The chapel resembles a 20-meter-deep fissure, a vertical extension of the original valley. The terrain is no longer a limitation but the starting point of the design.

1. ⚡️Extreme Scale｜Contrast of Height and Narrowness
▪️ Total height is 45 meters, equivalent to a 15-story building!
▪️ The narrowest point is only 1.3 meters, truly a "sliver of sky"!
▪️ Two thick concrete walls enclose the space, guiding the transition from darkness to light, leading to spiritual purification and elevation.

2. 🌌Roofless Design｜Dialogue with the Sky
▪️ The chapel has no roof; sunlight, wind, and rain are part of the ritual. ☀️🌧
▪️ This roofless chapel is designed to handle wind and rain. Through unique curvature and height design, rainwater flows down the walls instead of falling inside. It is not only a container of light but also coexists and interacts with all natural elements like wind, rain, and sunlight.
▪️ Light pours down from the top, creating a natural "holy light" that illuminates the altar at the end.

Post by Lucas Ward~34 | Sep 8, 2025