{"id":326037,"date":"2025-12-04T00:10:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T00:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/326037\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T00:10:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T00:10:10","slug":"this-spanish-church-has-officially-been-crowned-world-building-of-the-year-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/326037\/","title":{"rendered":"This Spanish Church Has Officially Been Crowned World Building of the Year in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There are some prestigious architecture awards out there, but being dubbed the World Building of the Year at the World Architecture Festival has got a particularly reputable ring to it, right?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s the title that has just been awarded to \u2013 take a deep breath \u2013 The Holy Redeemer Church and Community Centre of Las Chumberas, a project by Spanish architect Fernando Menis in La Laguna, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/tenerife\/things-to-do\/best-things-to-do-in-tenerife\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tenerife<\/a>. Announced at a glitzy gala in Miami, attended by hundreds of architects, the winner was decided by a \u2018super jury\u2019 which included Victoria Wiley, professor of design and distinguished service at Harvard, among other big-name architectural experts.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The site not only features a church but also a community centre and public square, which is an integral gathering space for locals. It\u2019s nestled in La Laguna, which is in northeast Tenerife.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The building was completed in four different phases due to various funding channels, and its design is inspired by the island\u2019s surrounding volcanic landscape. There are enormous, roughly textured concrete walls and sculptural use of metal and glass to control the entry of light. It\u2019s dramatic and severe but beautiful to look at,\u00a0and the innovative use of smooth and rough, concrete and volcanic surfaces means the building has acoustics comparable to an opera house.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The judges particularly admired the intensity of the architecture and the way light has been used to shape the quality and character of the interiors, enhancing the tactile nature of the surfaces,\u2019 said programme director of the World Architecture Festival, Paul Finch.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Scroll down for some snaps of the space.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Recommended: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/travel\/worlds-most-beautiful-buildings\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">These are the world\u2019s most beautiful buildings, according to Time Out<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"dc2ffe4c-e049-6f35-8754-fff7434845b1\" class=\"photo lazy inline\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"lazy-embed\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image.webp.webp\" alt=\"The Holy Redeemer Church and Community Centre of Las Chumberas by Fernando Menis in La Laguna, Tenerife\" data-credit=\"Photograph: \u00a9 Hisao Suzuki\" data-width-class=\"\" data-image-id=\"106350057\"\/>&#13;<br \/>\nPhotograph: \u00a9 Hisao Suzuki&#13;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"f484a523-e844-2c8a-cb61-97580b11c029\" class=\"photo lazy inline\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"lazy-embed\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764807009_442_image.webp.webp\" alt=\"The Holy Redeemer Church and Community Centre of Las Chumberas by Fernando Menis in La Laguna, Tenerife\" data-caption=\"\" data-credit=\"Photograph: \u00a9 Hisao Suzuki\" data-width-class=\"\" data-image-id=\"106350051\"\/>&#13;<br \/>\nPhotograph: \u00a9 Hisao Suzuki&#13;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"cc1e0aab-3356-84e1-0766-0ba7e92aca87\" class=\"photo lazy inline\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"lazy-embed\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764807009_429_image.webp.webp\" alt=\"The Holy Redeemer Church and Community Centre of Las Chumberas by Fernando Menis in La Laguna, Tenerife\" data-caption=\"\" data-credit=\"Photograph: \u00a9 Roland Halbe\" data-width-class=\"\" data-image-id=\"106350052\"\/>&#13;<br \/>\nPhotograph: \u00a9 Roland Halbe&#13;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"a714beea-b272-f992-a7a1-13bd8c1c3563\" class=\"photo lazy inline\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"lazy-embed\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764807010_839_image.webp.webp\" alt=\"The Holy Redeemer Church and Community Centre of Las Chumberas by Fernando Menis in La Laguna, Tenerife\" data-caption=\"\" data-credit=\"Photograph: \u00a9 Hisao Suzuki\" data-width-class=\"\" data-image-id=\"106350053\"\/>&#13;<br \/>\nPhotograph: \u00a9 Hisao Suzuki&#13;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"8b7b30ce-fb0c-0979-3b35-1af95068520a\" class=\"photo lazy inline\" loading=\"lazy\" data-component=\"lazy-embed\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764807010_332_image.webp.webp\" alt=\"The Holy Redeemer Church and Community Centre of Las Chumberas by Fernando Menis in La Laguna, Tenerife\" data-caption=\"\" data-credit=\"Photograph: \u00a9 Hisao Suzuki\" data-width-class=\"\" data-image-id=\"106350055\"\/>&#13;<br \/>\nPhotograph: \u00a9 Hisao Suzuki&#13;<\/p>\n<p>ICYMI: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/news\/the-ice-bar-is-back-should-it-be-112625\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Copenhagen\u2019s ice bar is back. Should it be?<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Plus: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/news\/a-major-french-art-museum-known-as-the-little-louvre-has-reopened-after-14-years-120225\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">A major French art museum known as the \u2018Little Louvre\u2019 has reopened after 14 years<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Stay in the loop: sign up to our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/newsletter\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">free Time Out Travel newsletter<\/a> for all the latest travel news and best stuff happening across the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are some prestigious architecture awards out there, but being dubbed the World Building of the Year at&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":326038,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[11480,449,458,459,64,30672,63,11481,460,134,182994,11482],"class_list":{"0":"post-326037","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-art","9":"tag-arts","10":"tag-arts-and-design","11":"tag-artsanddesign","12":"tag-au","13":"tag-audience-location-audience-worldwide","14":"tag-australia","15":"tag-categories-art","16":"tag-design","17":"tag-entertainment","18":"tag-europe-spain","19":"tag-news-art"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}