_Woodland Chapel (Skogskapellet) // Erik Gunnar Asplund // 1920
This is the second reason i didn't quit Architecture during my second year. The Theories of Architecture teacher came one day and showed us a photo similar to the first one. "What do you think this is?" "A cabin", most of us said.
He talked about Nordic Classicism. The focus was on Asplund, particularly the Stockholm Public Library and the Woodland Cemetery (Skogskyrkogården). Then, he started talking about the time he visited the cemetery, particularly one place.
How he moved through a forest, surrounded by trees, feeling like they hugged him. How he suddenly found himself in a clearing, watching the building in the photograph, his focus on the golden angel in the entrance, like it was greeting him. How the pillars on the entrance created a place of safety, but also retreat. How the inside felt like an alien place: it was like you were not really there.
He told us the building was a small chapel where every step in the process of getting there was designed to soften the grief of losing a loved one. The porch and its view. The indirect light on the inside. The place out of time and space.
I felt again like I was studying the right thing. I decided to stay.













