St Vicente de Paul Chapel

This article is part of the Hidden Architecture Series “Tentative d’Épuisement” , where we explore the practice of an architectural criticism without rhetoric and based mainly on the physical experience of the work itself. Este artículo forma parte de la serie “Tentativa de Agotamiento” , comisariada por Hidden Architecture, donde exploramos la práctica de una crítica arquitectónica ausente de retórica y fundamentada sobre todo en la experiencia física de la propia obra. (context) | (contexto) We walked through a residential area for almost an hour without being able to find the entrance to the church site. Google Maps guided us toward the center of a large block, but because of the very low resolution of the map, we cannot find the correct street to access. Meanwhile, this urban dérive allowed us to discover the neighborhood of Santa Catarina in Coyoacán, a high-end residential area where traditional single-family houses with colorful facades leave room to some galleries and restaurants. The traditional Mexican architecture is, at some moments interrupted with some “contemporary houses” executed by unscrupulous promoters who forgot all relation with the environment. Nonetheless, we also discovered the Fonoteca Nacional (National Sound Library) and the Watercolor Museum. We had the chance to enter into the Fonoteca Nacional that surprises with the richness of it garden, a concatenation of patios and green areas that has been recently restored with special attention to outdoor furniture. Finally, after two hours walking in spiral round the church site and getting some indications from other pedestrians, many of them incorrect, we managed to find the street that allowed us to access to the church. Llevamos casi una hora paseando por una zona residencial sin ser capaces de encontrar la entrada al recinto de la iglesia.