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Inspired by

 Saint Benedict Chapel  

Location: Sumvitg, Switzerland

The Saint Benedict Chapel, located in the village of Sumvitg, Graubünden, was designed by the Pritzker Prize Laureate Peter Zumthor in 1988. The modest, human-scaled exterior of the chapel encapsulates the beauty and simplicity of Zumthor’s works, while the interior showcases his unparalleled craftsmanship. The roof of the chapel is reminiscent of the hull of a boat. Mediating between the expressive roof and the more traditional, wooden base below, is an elegant, minimal solution: a ring of vertical wood columns and glass panels that crown the chapel, allowing natural light to penetrate the interior space.

Architect

 Peter Zumthor 

Peter Zumthor (1943 - ) is a Swiss architect and winner of the 2009 Pritzker Prize and 2013 RIBA Royal Gold Medal. Zumthor always emphasises the sensory aspects of the architectural experience. To him, the physicality of materials can involve an individual with the world, evoking experiences and texturing horizons of place through memory. Zumthor's work is largely unpublished in part because of his philosophical belief that architecture must be experienced first hand. His published written work is mostly narrative and phenomenological, including Thinking Architecture and Atmospheres.

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