2019

Spatial work, Draaimolen Festival, 2019–2023

Dimensions: 1400 × 800 × 500 cm

Materials: wood

 

The Chapel is a spatial installation first realised in 2019 for Draaimolen Festival. The work grew out of a relationship with the dying Charlotte Oord forest in Tilburg and functioned as an open, reflective space within the festival landscape. Over the years The Chapel became an iconic element of Draaimolen: not only as an architectural object, but as a place for encounter, exploration and collective experience.

 

Conceptually, The Chapel focuses on the meaning of spiritual spaces and explores the relationship between sacred architecture and natural geometry. The structure is based on the Chinese philosophy of Wu Xing (the Five Elements), in which water, wood, fire, earth and metal are seen as interconnected forces that shape the natural order. These principles have been translated into a wooden supporting structure, with a hand-hammered brass disc at its centre that serves as both a light and a projection surface.

 

Placed in the forest, The Chapel is a space for contemplation, free of fixed rituals or hierarchies, that emphasises nature as an intrinsically spiritual context.

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The Chapel was conceived and designed by Heleen Blanken and realised with the help of Jorik Mulder, Zalán Szakács and Woodparts.