“Garnet chapel”, Penkenjoch, Zillertal, Austria
2011-2013
Project: 2011-2012
Construction: 2013
Client: Josef Brindlinger, Christa and Georg Kroell-Brindlinger
Site area: delimited area 600 m²
Floor area: 40 m²
Volume: 750 m³
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 overlooking the lower Zillertal to
the north. To the south the chapel overlooks a pool that collects the waters to be used during the
winter for the artificial snow. The area reachable by a cableway from Finkenberg, offers
various tourist facilities for skiing and hiking. The new building, in the shape of a rhombic
dodecahedron set on a concrete base, has a wooden structure covered in sheets of corten steel
(weathering steel) on the outside. From the concrete base, 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 laths. 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.
