Learn more about the project designed by Margot Krasojević Architects aimed at delivering renewable energy to worshipping communities in a newly-designed cliffside chapel in Montenegro
Montenegro has a rich history of religion and politics. In the 1600s, many Orthodox Christians fled to the mountains to escape the Ottoman Empire, a pattern repeated during later wars. Today, Montenegro is a thriving tourist destination with a mining industry and unexcavated mountain tunnels leading to the Adriatic Sea.
The Pilgrimage to Ostrog, a famous cliffside church, is still popular. Montenegro’s landscape is diverse and sometimes treacherous, with mountain ranges, dense forests, plains, valleys, and a strip of Adriatic coast. Tourists, worshippers, and families visit yearly, often driving on winding roads that cause many accidents, marked by numerous roadside shrines. The country’s history is filled with tales of conflict and resilience.
Margot Krasojević Architects’ new cliffside project respects this natural beauty and harsh landscape. Located between Kotor and Budva, the site is a disused tunnel. The design combines a chapel with renewable energy features, inspired by local music festivals and the strong Bora wind.
The Bora wind, reaching speeds of 100 mph, is harnessed by wind turbines in the chapel’s walls. These turbines, designed for efficiency and resilience, use Archimedes spirals to generate energy.
The chapel serves as a place for worship and community gatherings, similar to nearby raves and festivals. The design uses kinetic movement, heat, and wind energy to generate electricity, lighting dangerous roads leading to the Adriatic Sea. The chapel, wind turbine wall, and club form the building’s core. The structure unfurls from the cliffside, with steel pipes and wind generators creating a dynamic, wind-inspired design. The club’s architecture mimics Montenegro’s mountains, guiding drivers to the sea like a beacon of light.
Using thermoelectric materials and conducting polymers, the building converts heat into electricity. The congregation’s movement generates enough energy to power the building and surrounding areas. Piezoelectric cells in the dancefloor also create electrical charges, illuminating the architecture and landscape.
The design captures the movement of the wind, creating a striking and functional addition to Montenegro’s rugged terrain.
Photo Courtesy : Dr.Margot Krasojević
Connect Online@www.margotkrasojevic.org
