The project was conceived by architects Tatiana Bilbao and Derek Dellekamp: it is a series of buildings for different purposes on the most important pilgrimage route in Mexico - from Ameca to Talpa de Allende, where believers can worship the miraculous image of Our Lady of Talpas. On Easter, about 2 million people pass the 117 km path, crossing the Jalisco mountain range and rising to an altitude of 2000 m above sea level. This is a difficult pilgrimage from the 17th century. usually done in repentance or by vow.
The architects decided that a secular element of admiring nature could be given to a religious event (therefore, observation platforms were included in the ensemble), as well as to facilitate the path of pilgrims - to arrange for them simple resting places with protection from the wind, as well as various "sanctuaries"; however, the latter are more pantheistic in their spirit than Catholic: they, first of all, emphasize the beauty of the desert landscape.
There are eight main objects planned, this year the project will be fully implemented, but so far six of them are ready: the open Thanksgiving Chapel (Dellekamp Arquitectos + Tatiana Bilbao), the sanctuary in Estanzuela (Ai Weiwei and his Fake Design bureau), the Espinaso de Diablo observation deck in the Jalisco mountains (HHF architects), the weather shelters in Estanzuela and Atengillo, which count as one “point” (Luis Aldrete), the viewpoint in Las Cruces (Alejandro Aravena and the Elemental group) and the circle sanctuary (Dellekamp Arquitectos and Periférica). All of them are made of concrete (except for Weiwei's work in stone and Aldrete in brick), and their lapidary forms are designed to be perceived in the context of a landscape.
N. F.
