zumthor's shelter for roman ruins in chur, switzerland

We stopped into Chur to also see Peter Zumthor's "Shelter for Roman Ruins" (1986). This is one of Zumthor's first projects, and all of his talents and tendencies are on full display. These are simple designs with simple materials for simple goals but high concepts. The program was to protect the ruins from the elements (namely rainfall and wandering wankers), but the structures are beautiful in their own right and create pleasant backgrounds for the Roman ruins. 

Minimal and massive, the two volumes are similar but offset. You enter through an impossibly floating concrete stairwell into a large, open interior with thin vertical and horizontal rhythms and a majestic skylight.   

As it turned out, we were lucky to see the interior as a design student had a key and was there to photograph his semester project at the site (he, his friend, and his mom were kind enough to not kick us out as we were gawking at the space!). 

 

Heiligkreuzkirche (Church of the Holy Cross) in Chur, Switzerland

This was the last of the Holy Brutes in Switzerland we visited. This one is in Chur, Switzerland, designed by architect Walter Maria Förderer and completed between 1966 and 1969. It has the same architectural language of Förderer's other churches (and it's cool that so many communities in Switzerland wanted one of thee babies!). The courtyard is gorgeous as is the delicious combination of concrete and wood. This one seemed to fuse the cement and wood more than the other churches with one growing out of the other at the same time. A few statues connect the space to the past, but the future beckons at every surprising turn, just like life. 

peter zumthor's caplutta sogn benedetg in sumvitg, switzerland.

I've been in love with the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor for a wee bit, a love consummated when we stopped in a few years ago to visit the Bruder Klaus Field Chapel in Germany as we drove to Stuttgart. Zumthor reminds me of a modern Rudolf Schindler in the use of minimalism, creativity, and affordable construction. Such is the case of the Caplutta Sogn Benedetg (Saint Benedict Chapel) just outside of Sumvitg, Switzerland.

In 1984, an avalanche destroyed the original church, dating from the 1200s (a common theme it seems...). Zumthor won the design competition with this design. Although some sources suggest he built his church on the site of the original church, we can testify that this is not true since the original site is still extent with the ruins (and a park) on it and Zumthor's church a short distance away around the hill. 

Built in 1988, Zumthor's design reflects the local vernacular architecture in materials but also something new in its design. In plan it evokes a teardrop, pointed uphill, a nod to diverting future avalanches as well as an architectural acknowledgment of the sadness of losing the old space (as well as [perhaps] a nod to how we all lose everything in the end [the tears of Jesus...]).

Although small and simple in design, the chapel is breathtaking in its beauty and austere quiet. The space is naturally lit by a round ribbon of clerestory windows, too high to see out of, restricting the interior view to the soul.