Astudy in contrasts, French architect Marc Rolinet’s Chapel of the Deaconesses of Reuilly brings together all the classical functions of a church in two pure forms: a stark triangle of glass and, inside it, a rounded, egglike structure made of wood. A recent addition to the central Versailles home of this French order of Protestant nuns (founded in 1841), the chapel was completed in March 2008. It resides on parklike grounds—quite serene in spite of being located next to a train station—that accommodate several buildings, including the original grand manor, a hospital, a conference center, and a small complex, also by Rolinet, of arts studios and rooms for novices (2001).
For years the deaconesses, who attach great importance to social service and exchange, would come from their small group homes all over the world for meetings and prayer, holding their services in a tiny century-old chapel and in a stationary tent erected for the typical overflow of visitors. Although not particularly comfortable, the tent had the advantage of not requiring a building permit. But when it was demolished by a storm in 1999, the deaconesses realized it was time for a larger and more permanent structure.
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