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. 

Rotten architecture in Switzerland (with a side of Furka)

 

We weren't trying to drive the "James Bond Highway" through Furka Pass, but, as we traveled to gawk at some Zumthors, we drove the James Bond Highway! Along the way, we gawked at some of the vernacular architecture of the Rotten River Valley.

 

These homes and barns in Geschinen, Switzerland, dating from the 1600s (!!!) have unique designs all about security from two-legged and four-legged thieves. First, the natives placed the barn above their homes. This allowed them to keep close attention on what was happening in their barns. They then created an air gap between the two spaces thus leaving the barn cool and unwarmed by the living space beneath them. On top of the posts supporting the barn are large, flat rocks called "mouse plates," used to keep rodents out of their barn. The large, flat rocks created a large ledge that was too much for the rodents to free-climb around (clever!). 

 

The barn usually held grains as well as aging cheese (no wonder the mice wanted in!).  

 

Here's a clip from "Goldfinger" of the scene in Furka Pass. You can also see how far back the glacier here has retreated. Sadly, the historic hotel is abandoned.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RdK51Igeqc

 

 

 

 

 

 

flw at asu

I hootdoddled into Tempe for a couple days to attend an atmospheric water harvesting conference and had a wee but of time during a break and walking back to the hotel to gawk at Frank Lloyd Wright's Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium built between 1962 and 1964. In 1957, Gammage reached out to Wright to design an auditorium for Arizona State University. Wright already had an unrealized project on the books, an opera house for Bagdad, that he tapped for the ASU design. Wright passed away in 1959 before he finished the plans. William Welsey Peters jumped in to wrap up the design and oversee the construction.