Well, Mr Zumthor was not as tall as I had hoped. Don’t get me wrong, he is not short but I was hoping for something in the mauve range of the pastel rainbowhowever he was more like a greeney aqua.

Not to worry though as it was obvious in the short time that he was onstage that his clothes did not fit… His coat was too big and there was some serious low-pant in action. This was evidence that he may once have been taller. Had he shrunk? Had he boarded his flight in Zurich, green as it were, and turned up in sydney like the Swiss Pavilion, open air shrunk and ready to be dismantled and reassembled in another guise? I would like to think he had such commitment.

Aside from height issues, Zumthor gave a wonderful talk full of charming anecdotes and beautiful images giving the Australian Architecture Association {AAA} series of talks a good kickstart. In addition to the old chestnuts, a Chapel devoted to a rather gaunt looking Swiss saint and an art gallery for a single artwork by Walter de Maria stood out.

As it is one of the AAA’s stated goals to demystify architecture, make it more accessible and as the Chapel seemed quite easy to make, I would like to outline how the general public can get out there and make their own. I made my own this morning and it turned okay, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble.

Step One: Gather your entire village together in one spot.
Step Two: With your fellow villagers, go out and chop down some trees.
Step Three: Again with the villagers, lean the trees up against each other, forming a kind of tree tee-pee.
Step Four: Seal up all the gaps between the trees using other trees if necessary. This step is essential for later steps so make sure the tee-pee is water tight.
Step Five: Make a big timber box around the tree tee-pee. This will be used as form work for the next twenty four steps.
Step Six: Pour 50cm of concrete into the formwork and leave for a day.
Steps Seven to Twentynine: Each day pour another 50cm of concrete until you reach the top. If you have followed the instructions correctly you should have a big concrete box with lots of horizontal lines on it. Inside the box should be an intact tee-pee made from trees that you and your fellow villagers cut down with ancient farming tools.
Step Thirty: Go inside the tree tee-pee. Light the trees on fire.
Step Thirtyone: Run outside and let trees burn.
Step Thirtytwo: Once trees have burnt away go back inside and clear away the debris.
You should now have a big concrete box with a hole in the middle shaped like a tee-pee. If you don’t have something like this, go back through the steps to check where you got it wrong, otherwise post a comment below and one of our staff members will attempt to help you out.
Step Thirtythree: The final step is to pour floor liquid silver over the floor. This will make the floor nice and reflective.

Easy!