Bruder Klaus Field Chapel

Description

This small chapel located south of Cologne is an expression of the deep connection that architecture and location can have.  Built in honour of St. Niklaus von Flüe, the chapel’s construction process is a display of craftsmanship that is reflected in the visitor’s sensory experience. The material chosen for the construction of the 12-metre high pentagonal volume was concrete composed of white cement, river gravel and locally sourced reddish-yellow sand. The concrete was poured in stages every 24 hours in order to create a visible outer layering. The interior formwork, designed by carpenter Markus Ressman, is made of locally sourced tree trunks in a complex conical arrangement. Once the concrete works were completed, a bonfire was left to burn for three weeks. At the end of this period of time, the trunks – now black – shaped the texture of an interior space that has retained the smell of the combustion process.  The cubic shaped exterior, which changes according to the angle of vision, contrasts with the interior space, a cave where light can only pass through the zenithal oculus, which also lets in the rain. This magical space features a metallic floor surface created from melted recycled cans, a process carried out by the chapel’s developers in a traditional way.