Essay looks at Zumthor’s chapel through the lens of Christian iconography.

Excerpt:

Now we have the chapel situated in its site, next we will turn our attention to the chapel itself.  Completely made out of wood on a concrete foundation, the chapel’s entirely closed exterior envelope is clad in imbricated larch shingles except for a band of windows beneath the eaves of the shallow roof.  Its outward appearance reveals almost nothing of the interior.  On a steep slope, the height of the building at the entrance is about half of what it is at the bottom.  What is most peculiar about the chapel is the shape of its plan.  It has been described in numerous ways: a half-figure of the number eight, a water- or teardrop, a leaf, a fish, and a boat or ship (Figure 2).  All of these associations have religious significance.  The number eight is the number of new beginnings; the number of people on Noah’s ark; the number of regeneration; and the number of covenants God made with Israel.[i]  Water, an elemental symbol, is widely used in the Christian church.  In baptism, water is the vehicle that purifies or regenerates the soul before one is granted the admission to the Christian Church; outside of baptism, water represents cleansing and purity.[ii]  The leaf, most notably the olive leaf or branch in Christian symbols, symbolizes peace.  In the story of Noah’s Ark, the dove returned to the ark with an olive leaf in its beak shows God’s peace towards humankind.[iii]  The fish, one of the most important symbols in Christianity, represents both Jesus and his followers, and through the famous acrostic, the fish also becomes a symbol of Jesus himself.  The Ichthys  symbol helped Christians identify one another as believers.[iv]  And last but not least, the symbol of a boat, which I think is the most applicable to Zumthor’s design, and possibly his intension.  The boat or ship is an ancient Christian symbol. It is a symbol of the Church.  Ships frequently get caught in storms, in a parallel respect, the Church get caught in heretical storms, or storms of persecution.  But just as God protected His faithful in the ark and Jesus protected his faithful in the boat on the Sea of Galilee,[v] so too will the faithful on the boat, in the House of God, be protected from the storms.  Zumthor’s St. Benedict Chapel is built like a boat; it is the boat, sailing the lush green sea of the Alps, providing a safe shelter for the locals and pilgrims to rest and pray.

 

The interior of the chapel reveals a little more about the building’s tectonic.  The construction of the chapel is slender, almost featherweight lightness yet without the slightest hit of frivolity.  Thirty-seven slender laminated pine columns with arched pulin and rafters form the chapel’s skeleton.  While the columns reach from the eaves to the ground without touching the walls or floor, the exterior wall in a continuous wrap hangs off the skeleton like a coat on five rows of steel pins.  A protrusion from the southwest end of the chapel marks the entrance to the chapel, however, this addition does not interrupt the regular rhythm of the slender columns that form the ideal shape plan; visitors simply have to slide through and between the building skeleton.  The ceiling wood decking and floorboard patterns all curve and point toward the centroid of the water-drop shape plan, they further accentuated the building’s “boatness.”  As one steps onto the “boat” and takes a seat on one of the lime wood benches in the nave (from Latin navis, meaning ship), one is immediately eye-to-eye with the altar.  A simple metal cross and two candles adorn the minimalistic lime wood altar.  To the left of the altar is an elevated elegant metal box housing an image of St. Benedict.  Three earthen vessels line in front of the altar, they symbolize humility and mortality.[vi]  Furthermore, the number three is the number of divine perfection: it is Trinity; it is number of offices Jesus fulfilled: prophet, priest, and king; it is the parts to the universe: space, time, and matter.[vii]  In the back of the chapel, on the south wall by the entry threshold is a small, humble metal baptismal font, on the north wall are three storage cabinets neatly tucked between the slender columns.[viii]  Overhead are eight equally elegant and slender light fixtures suspending quietly from the ceiling; their presence is almost undetectable.  As minute and minimalistic as it is, the chapel has all the part of Christian church.