Caplutta Sogn Benedetg
Sumvitg
Graubünden
Switzerland

Peter Zumthor and Annalisa Zumthor-Cuorad 1985-1988

By public transport: From the city of Chur, take the train Rhätische Bahn to Disentis/Mustér. Stop at Sumvitg-Cumpadials. Follow the hiking signs from the station to the town of Sumvitg, from there you can either walk to San Benedetg by the paved road or hike through the trails in the forest. The hiking path takes you there faster but you must be in a good physical condition because the hill is very steep and the path demanding. The paved road is much longer but a softer slope.

By car: From Chur follow the direction of Disentis until you reach Sumvitg. Take a right upward turn to S. Benedetg at the back of the village.

The church is continually open for visitors.

For rail timetable information see Swiss Rail at www.sbb.ch and Rhätisches Bahn at www.rhb.ch.

- from Galinsky.com

view from down the hill

closer look, here you can see that the whole lower part of the cladding is really weathered to the point that there is no color left in the wood

close-up

detail

view from the walking path (leading to the church)

it's an amazing form

more detail

the windows

more of the windows, this time from the side.

the stairs don't touch the church

the entrance

view down towards the altar

view from the altar

the roof construction

the altar up close

the altar

detail of wall construction

detail of floor construction

windows from inside

don't know what you call these in english and am to lazy to look it up, but you gotta have one of those in a church... you just gotta!

exit.

and finally the setting, it's beautiful. You just got to see it for yourselves. If you ever go up there and wanna stay for the night just take the road down to the valley from Sumtvig instead of going up to Benedetg at the bottom of the valley there is a wonderful guesthouse where the have refurbished a barn. Me and my little family of 3 (Annska my girlfriend and Ninja my 11 month old daughter) stayed at this guesthouse and the people where so nice and the traditional Swiss food was delicious.

Thank you for photos, Kristov.
I feel like I've seen pics of this church 2000 times but there are always little new findings here and there.
What was your impression of the church? and your girlfriend's?

Thanks Kristov, this is a beautiful piece of architecture.
Zumthor's work is fascinating, I think he expresses the nature of materials and of the constructive process in a unique, extremely coherent and poetic way.

Nearby the chapel are the stone ruins of the former chapel. The ruin has a similar round and pointed shape, as well as a tail (the entrance). Furthermore the disintegrated stone surrounding the old walls has a likeness to Zumthor's gravel. And the best part: If one peers through a high circular opening in the apse(I think) wall, the new chapel rises in background. I have no pictures of this (ran out of memory on the chapel itself).
Matt

Kristov,

This is a beautiful piece of architecture. Thank you for posting. :clap:

shoot- I did a presentation on this building about a year ago- I have a ppt at home- Ill try to remember to post some images or facts --Its a very nice little church/chapel- nice wood work

Just BEAUTIFUL!

I'm sorry to make this kind of observation, but don't you think the thread title would work better in english? I'm sure that as a web resource it will be easier to find... Most people looking for information about this building will be searching for "Saint Benedict Chapel". Oh, and the town's name is Sumvitg, right? Following what is commonly used in the forum shouldn't that be the name between []?

Well the sign leading from the town of Sumvitg says "Benedetg" and the village where the church is, is named Vitg. I see someone has gone ahead and changed the threads name and I don't oppose to that, anything to help people find the church.
I actually thought that Sogn (in Sogn Benedetg) meant parish.

Beautiful building. I have one question, where is the lateral support for the structure? I don't see any cross bracing anywhere. Kind of a dry question, but I bet there is an interesting solution.

Its interesting everyone is blown away by this building, it is nice, BUT I dont think its an amazing church, It looks more like a silo to me.

It would be interesting to know why Zumthor designed it like this, he always has good concepts behind his buildings.

Its interesting everyone is blown away by this building, it is nice, BUT I dont think its an amazing church, It looks more like a silo to me.

It would be interesting to know why Zumthor designed it like this, he always has good concepts behind his buildings.

that's because zumthor's buildings are not so much about how they LOOK, but how it feels to be in them.

Beautiful building. I have one question, where is the lateral support for the structure? I don't see any cross bracing anywhere. Kind of a dry question, but I bet there is an interesting solution.
Japanese magazine A+U Architecture and Urbanism, February 1998 Extra Edition is dedicated to Peter Zumthor and has some technical drawings of this project. By looking at them I am unable to answer your question, but maybe that's just me as I'm not familiar with wood construction. My guess would be the shape he uses is very stable in itself, as the drawings don't show any cross bracing below the floor either, unlike what I expected...
Its interesting everyone is blown away by this building, it is nice, BUT I dont think its an amazing church, It looks more like a silo to me.
It would be interesting to know why Zumthor designed it like this, he always has good concepts behind his buildings.
The only text on the magazine regarding this project says (and this is a full transcript):
"A chapel on the alpine road through the hamlet of the same name. Constructed of wood, the traditional building material of the region, it is shaped like a boat, the leaf of a tree, a eye... The design was inspired by the image of the Mother Church: security, softness, dignity, composure, concentration; a place of reflection, space to breathe.".

Zumthor's architecture has a strong relation with its physical and social environment, the traditional typologies, the craftsmanship, using them as a starting point. It seems natural that for this program and this site he has chosen to do such a humble building, yet perfectly detailed and crafted as usual.
He doesn't do large scale work, he works in a small town somewhere in the alps, and I'm sure he does so because he chooses to. I'm sure he's beyond wanting anyone to be blown away by the building in itself (although that can occur as a side effect), he's aiming at simpler yet more profound sensations.

he's aiming at simpler yet more profound sensations. mmmm.....yes

Jesse, As I mentioned previously, I believe that the form and siting of the new chapel was informed by the ruin of the previous chapel. Coupled with the text quoted by Void, I think there's a good idea of where the building came from.

Void, He has said that he would like to work on larger scale work, just not much has been given to him. Opening soon is a large museum/ archeological site in the historic centre of Cologne, and in the works is the renewal of a historic, industrial site in the Netherlands.

As for the silo comparison, this is interesting, but the plan-figure is actually a lemniscate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemniscate), an algebraic curve.

Aha! Found a photo. Now I'm not talking out of thin air.

a slide from a presentation I did like 2nd year in school

another slide w/ info