Located in the center of Pueblo Serena, a new urban development in Monterrey, the Church of El Señor de la Misericordia reinterprets the traditional Christian temple prototype of a temple to adapt it to the context. The building’s forms recall those of the early American missions built with adobe and wood, but in reality it is based on an archetypal organization with generic features that are immediately recognizable: the central nave, the frontal altar, the chorus, the chapels, the baptistery, the cloister, and the bell tower. The floor plan adopts a basilical layout, with a 15-meter-high nave stretching toward the altar in the conventional northsouth direction. At the south end of the nave is an 11-meter-wide door with transparent panels that have the effect of connecting the interior of the church to the plaza outside which gives character to this part of the city of Monterrey. At the opposite end, over the compressed and indirectly lit altar, is a backlit wall with a Latin cross traced on it. The church’s main long axis is crossed by another axis – perpendicular to it, stretching east to west – that starts with three small chapels dug into the volume and finished off with a horizontal window that opens on to a patio featuring a pool. Completing the project are a small baptistery and a bell tower marking its presence in the city with a height of 43 meters...
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