ARCH 172 [UP PARISH OF HOLY SACRIFICE]

UP PARISH OF HOLY SACRIFICE, 1955

ARCHITECT: LEANDRO LOCSIN

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: ALFREDO JUINIO

CONTRACTOR: DAVID CONSUNJI

CAPELLAN, FRANCES LEANA L. | 12 FEB 2010 1

ARCH 172 [UP PARISH OF HOLY SACRIFICE]

Original Structure approximately 55 meters in

diameter
Fr. John Delaney’s (Diliman Catholic Chaplain
in the 50’s) concept: “a simple but strong
building that would be open to the light, air
and space that UP had plenty of”
(Alcazaren, 2005)

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ARCH 172 [UP PARISH OF HOLY SACRIFICE]

LOCSIN’S DESIGN CONCEPT , JUINIO’S

STRUCTURAL TRANSLATION:

Locsin adapted a radical circular chapel

design originally intended as a gift for
the Don Bosco Fathers in Negros

Juinio’s answer for a “dome that will

float above a thousand worshippers
lightly (and at the least cost)” is a thin
shell 9” at the base and diminishing to
only three inches at the top.

(Alcarazen, 2005)

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 Dominated by the concept of a saucer-like structure, the church’s “support system” is composed of pillars

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CAPELLAN, FRANCES LEANA L. | 12 FEB 2010
and arching columns spaced evenly following a radial grid pattern.
[UP PARISH OF HOLY SACRIFICE]

ELEVATION

Compressive Forces from the thin-

shell dome (roof) is first transferred
(distributed) to the arching
ARCH 172

columns. (see: top picture) These

forces are then “caught” by the
secondary circular layer that
functions as a “beam”.
The “pillars” serves as the “bearing
walls” that transmits the forces into
the ground. (see: bottom picture)
These same walls also served as the
canvass for Manansala and Kiukok’s
“Stations of the Cross”.
ARCH 172 [UP PARISH OF HOLY SACRIFICE]

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 ARCH 172 [UP PARISH OF HOLY SACRIFICE]

SECTION
The Structural Unit. The chapel can be read as regarded as “one volume”--- the structural translation was feasible
and helped in imposing the architectural expression of the building. The end product was a structure that looks
light and is “barrier-free”.

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