St Francis - Abrahamic Family House

We visited Louvre Abu Dhabi 7 years ago. It was THAT special because it was my first Dope Ceiling blogpost. It was a brief series of blogs that I wished I could’ve shared more of the experience. I wonder how the “rain of light” is now. Anyway we’ve always been planning of a revisit but couldn’t find time. Until this opportunity of visiting St. Francis - Abrahamic Family House came our way. Yes, it is not the Louvre Abu Dhabi but very close in terms of the design intention if I may do say so myself, and the location. Both tourist attractions are nearly neighboring in Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Cultural District on Saadiyat Island. Earlier today I kind of explored the place under the scorching sun!

Street view of St. Francis

Upon entering the St. Francis - Abrahamic Family House, the very first thing that caught my attention was the ceiling. I was captivated by the suspended linear battens from the ceiling of different levels which to me, feels like creating a seamless integration of something that I can't fathom myself. Haha!

St. Francis' Altar view

"The columns on each side of the building have seven points that touch the ground and eight points that touch the soffit - with seven being a representative symbol of man, and eight representing God above," explained Adiaxe Associates.

Also, the church's natural light is a whole class itself. The design took advantage of the Gulf's gift of endless sunlight like literally the nave and altar are filled at any angle. The amber drop lightings was turned on as the mass starts. About half of the seated crowd looked up instantly and inevitably pointing their gadgets to the ceiling capturing the drama that emphasized the ceiling more. By the way, the amber color (yellow and shades of yellow actually) means renewal and hope, typical in many churches. Here's some snaps of the interior.

Not really sure what this is. I'm afraid to take the movable cover off to check what's inside. Lol 

Matching wooden chair

Marble finish Ambo or the reading desk

Church's wooden pews and part of the altar

Mother Mary statue

If there's something that I feel like I'm missing is the freewheeling in the air of random birds just above your head and the ceiling. Haha. We know churches are homes to birds, in fact, their chirpings makes the atmosphere extra heavenly (but it's just me, some friends wouldn't mind about the birds or the lack thereof). Nevertheless I understand that any openings through wall or ceiling to provide some percentage of natural air or light is impossible for obvious reason: the extreme summer desert heat. No argument there. 

Another thing that I thought the designer could've strategize more is the location of the holy cross. The ceiling gets the attention more (not complaining though, I'm dope ceiling), they could've incorporated a cross in the center since people most of the time is looking up to take pictures and videos. Or maybe the modern holy cross is almost camouflaging the vertical background while being nearly concealed too by the full light during daytime.

Modern steel-made Holy Cross

At a point, I thought that maybe blocking strategically a portion of natural light where the holy cross is located may work to accentuate. I even took an angle where I can emphasize the cross clearly.

The view just above the altar

I don't know if this makes sense but it's just an observation, not scrutiny at all. After all, it's always what's in our hearts that matters when we worship in places like this. And when we worship, as the homily says, “Keep knocking. God will never depart from us.”

Design-wise, what matters is that, it moves the end-user literally and figuratively. As the architect would say, “We hope we have set out a plan for a beautiful and thought-provoking space that celebrates the three faiths and stimulates dialogue and understanding at a critical time for the world.”

Random photos outside after the mass:

Steel signages and the Brutal-ish finish just outside St. Francis

Almost peaking: Imam Al Tayeb Mosque

Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue gorgeous under the scorching sun

Abrahamic Family House lobby. Look at the acoustic walls, the vibe and the dope texture though

Good news, we're visiting again very soon! xx