Designed by Oscar Niemeyer and part of the Pampulha Modern Ensemble, inaugurated in 1943, the church features a modernist architectural style characterized by sweeping curves that create a broad, continuous space, allowing for multiple possibilities of circulation and spatial experience. Its structural solution enabled a single architectural element to simultaneously form both the roof and the walls through the use of parabolic vaults. The mural of Saint Francis, as well as the rear façade of the chapel, clad in a composition of blue-and-white tiles, were created by Candido Portinari.