Exercise 3. Questions to the text

THE BASTION OF FAITH

The first of his works to achieve international acclaim a decade ago was indeed rustic: the little chapel at Sogn Benedetg, a tiny hamlet frighteningly high on the almost vertical meadows of the valley of the boder Rhein. Seen from between the houses at the foot of the field, Zumthor’s building at first seems to be a shaggy deep covered in shingles that have now weathered according to their exposure: light ruddy brown and almost black on the more exposed bank, grey on the side against the hill. A simple timber clerestory is topped by a very shallow cooper roof. The chapel is proud, dignified and tower-like at the top of the flower-strewn grass slope, with its presence emphasized by the dark green of the forest behind. A very simple detached campanile, a tall slender wooden frame holding a single bell, announces the purpose of the place.

As you go up the little lane towards it, the building changes shape, revealing itself to have an almost perfectly streamlined plan, like a section through a bird’s wing, in which the blunt front first meets the onrush of air. The chapel’s round end faces the turbulent valley winds, and the taper is directed toward the hill. Here is the entrance, inflected gently away from the point to welcome the pilgrim with a wooden door always open in summer, and never locked in winter.

Inside, another reason for the plan becomes clear, for the roundness is an apse in which the altar stands, its presence emphasized by the widening volume. The place is filled with light from the strip of windows under the roof, which are detailed in a very strange way. The chapel demonstrates one of the most important characteristics of Zumthor’s work – his belief that “Construction is the art of making a meaningful whole out of many parts…”

1) What is Zumthor the Shaman by profession?

2) What happened to him in 1998?

3) Who were the two previous recipients?

4) What was Zumthor premiated for?

5) What can you say about Peter Zumthor’s oeuvre?

6) What are the fundamental elements of architecture?

7) What is Graubünden?

8) What is Graubünden famous for?

9) What is the name of the cantonal capital?

10) Where did Zumthor live and work?

11) How much time did he live in Graubünden?

12) What can you say about the term “a regionalist”?

13) What did he study at the Basel School?

* * *

14) Did he live in New York?

15) Did the chapel harmonize with the surrounded landscape? Find these lines in the text.

16) How did the chapel receive the pilgrim?

17) What can you say about the interior of the chapel?

18) Is it important to fill the place with light?

19) What did Zumthor say about the chapel?

20) What does it contain?

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