Located on a small Indian Reservation in the backcountry of northern San Diego county, the existing historical chapel, a satellite associated with Mission San Luis Rey, was the symbolic heart of the Rincon community until it was destroyed by the Poomacho wildfire in October of 2007. This was a painful blow to the community that had celebrated many of their family’s most important events inside this beloved chapel; weddings, funerals, and baptisms. Only the original mission bell and adobe tower survived, which naturally became the anchor element in the redesign. The needs of the current community had changed quite a bit in the past 100 years. The fire presented a blank slate opportunity to update and enlarge the facility, primarily by doubling the seating capacity and adding a stand alone multipurpose fellowship hall, which created a third space, a landscaped courtyard in between the two structures. Emulating or recreating the past literally was not a project goal. The new design was conceived to reverently knit together past and comfortable traditions, while acknowledging and offering something relevant to current and future generations. Drawing from a limitless well of Native American and Catholic symbols/metaphors, design elements in plan, section, and elevation all reference and infuse layers of meaning into the chapel, some obvious, other subtle. One of the first questions the design team asked the client was if they wanted to a “green” or sustainable project. George Arviso, head of the Church Committee, got a wry smile on his face, amused by the naiveté of my inquiry, responding “we have been living on this land in a sustainable way for thousands of years.” Employing a combination of hi-tech products as well as many lo-tech passive features, the project intentionally lives lighter on the land designed to consume significantly less energy (-29%), produces approximately 40% of its own electrical needs and a thoughtful landscape design utilizes significantly less water (-62%) than comparably sized structures. The client specifically requested a highly fire resistant structure. This led to one of the most unique features of the Chapel, the 2 foot thick rammed earth walls that flank the sanctuary. A 180 tons of earth for these walls was harvested directly on site, symbolically important because sacred soil from the reservation was literally molded to form these beautifully textured and organic walls. The rammed earth walls are also reminiscent of the adobe construction found all over the reservation; assuming both modern and traditional sensibilities at the same time. The baptismal font fashioned from a 3.5 ton site-found boulder, the altar fabricated with solid 6” thick slabs of hand hewn wood from a +100 year old Coastal Live Oak, are just some of the earthy materials that were employed to physically connect this congregation to the beauty of their natural surroundings and the sacred connection to their land.

Project Information

Project Address: 

2 Mazzetti Lane, Valley Center, Ca. 92082

Project Owner/ Developer: 

Rincon Band of Luiseno Mission Indians

Owner Contact Name/ Email: 

George Arviso georgearviso@aol.com

Project Architect/ Designer: 

Kevin deFreitas Architects AIA

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