Church of Atlantida

The Cristo Obrero church at Estación Atlántida was built between 1958 and 1960 by the engineer Eladio Dieste, and it is made almost entirely of ordinary brick used in a way nobody had used it: the walls undulate in a double curve that stiffens them without buttresses, and the roof is a set of brick shells spanning the nave without beams or a steel frame. Dieste called it reinforced ceramic. It was inscribed by UNESCO in 2021.

What to look for

• The undulating walls - brick walls curved in plan so they stand without buttressing.
• The shell roof - brick vaults spanning the nave with no beams.
• The light slots - the openings Dieste cut where the curves allow.
• The bell tower - the openwork brick tower beside the church.

When to go

Year round; it is open in daylight hours and closed during services. Morning light through the openings is the best. Weekday visits are quietest.

Practical notes

It is a small parish church and the visit takes half an hour. Opening depends on a keyholder outside service times. The village around it is unremarkable.

Nearby

Atlantida is south on the coast, and Montevideo is west.