The Chapel | Salzburg, Austria | 2022
[The Department]

The chapel is open to all faiths and thus serves as a place for everyone to reflect. 100 wooden planks create a semi-transparent curtain, a space to sit, pray, meditate, or talk. Upon entering, visitors are withdrawn for a moment from the grown nature and surrounded by a constructed nature.

The eccentrically placed roof, together with the tower and entrance, gives direction to the chapel and focus to the viewer. The roof opening, together with the thin rays of light penetrating through the slits of the vertical boards, create a fascinating play of light and a serene atmosphere that changes with the time of day and the weather. The stones serve as seats and as a reminder of the outdoors, of the sublime and timeless nature.

All parts of the building are load bearing. Therefore, most of the components have two or more functions: the vertical, rough-sawn wooden boards are supporting columns and outer formwork, the gargoyles also carry the round roof, and the tower creates the door opening to enter the chapel.

All building materials come from the immediate vicinity. The gravel and stones are directly from the site, the planks are from a local sawmill, and the U-profile gargoyles from a local blacksmith.

The chapel is designed as a temporary structure and will remain in place until the end of September 2022. Text description by the architect.

Source: www.the-department.eu
Photography by: Christopher Clarkson