A matter of light.
BRUDER KLAUS CHAPEL
Mechernich, Germany
Peter Zumthor
2007
“In order to design buildings with a sensuous connection to life, one must think in a way that goes far beyond form and construction.”- Peter Zumthor.
Peter Zumthor designs now a chapel for the german landscape which organic, mystical interior is masked by a sharp, edgy rectangular exterior. The project is known for the treatment and respect to the materials that were used for its construction; in addition, the inexplicable physical experience that one experiments while being in its interior makes it a very standout construction.
The interior of the chapel is a black cavity left behind by 112 rural tree trunks burnt out of the cast concrete wall. Those trunks were used to create a frame around which 24 layers of concrete were poured to give physicality to the conceptual design. The curved, conical form of the framework created with the tree trunks provided the final interior shape with a stark contrast to the smooth, rectilinear outer facade.
The construction method consisted on the basis of that of a chimney where the wooden elements are ignited raising, therefore, very high temperatures to be transformed into simple ashes after a while. After the burning process of the frame, the removal of the leftovers gave way to an eroded concrete wall in which many tiny wholes were left behind, creating an effect reminiscent of the night sky.
The design of the frame leaves a hollow at the top of it that serves at the scape for the smoke during the construction period. When already built, this opening is everlastingly used as the main spotlight entrance for the church luminosity. It comes along with the intrinsic meaning of the light of heaven, the one that we are all suppose to see at the end of our way.
Although creating a dramatic relationship with its surroundings, the chapel perfectly depicts a visual manifestation of Zumthor’s words: “composure, self-evidence, durability, presence and integrity, and with warmth and sensuousness as well”.
