THE GARNET CHAPEL
Architect : Mario Botta
Location : Penkenjoch, Zillertal, Austria
“ The chapel gets its name from the particular mineral (garnet) that in nature reminds a rhombic dodecahedron. The construction is set on top of a mountain at 2087m amsl, next to a pond and overlooking to the north the lower Zillertal. The new building comes in the shape of a rhombic dodecahedron, set on a concrete base, with a wooden structure and covered in sheets of corten steel. From the base at ground level a staircase leads to the interior space where the visitor perceives at a single glance the evenness of the geometrical space. One single opening on the top offers a light source that brings to life the even surfaces of the walls, clad in larch wood lath. The magic of this space is uninterrupted thanks to the light that comes streaming on the walls, whose identical regular shapes produce different effects depending on the hours of the day.” — Archilovers
In the scale of 1:1000, I modeled the chapel using Balsa wood and Bagasse.
In some angles, the rhombic dodecahedron looks like a cube — one of Botta's signature techniques of form and perception interplaying
It's not a cube!
The expressive light penetration on the interior surface
Another angle shows the interplay between 2D and 3D perception of the strong geometric forms that makes the chapel stands out from the surrounding landscape. Beautifully crafted.
