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!).
