Peter Zumthor
Peter Zumthor
Peter Zumthoris a Swiss architect whose work is frequently described as uncompromising and minimalist. Though managing a relatively small firm, he is the winner of the 2009 Pritzker Prize and 2013 RIBA Royal Gold Medal...
NationalitySwiss
ProfessionArchitect
Date of Birth26 April 1943
CountrySwitzerland
architecture believe bit building work
I work a little bit like a sculptor. When I start, my first idea for a building is with the material. I believe architecture is about that. It's not about paper, it's not about forms. It's about space and material.
architecture
Architecture has its place in the concrete world. This is where it exists. This is where it makes its statement.
thinking chance architecture
I think the chance of finding beauty is higher if you don't work on it directly. Beauty in architecture is driven by practicality. This is what you learn from studying the old townscapes of the Swiss farmers.
thinking architecture
There was a time when I experienced architecture without thinking about it,
waste resistance architecture
In a society that celebrates the inessential, architecture can put up a resistance, counteract the waste of forms and meanings and speak its own language.
architecture form
Architecture is not about form
anywhere carefully depending projects work
I work anywhere between three and 10 years on a project, depending on the size. My lifetime is finite. Therefore, I have to look carefully at how many projects I want to put into my lifetime.
asks bought build calls four home money pay three vacation work
I can't be bought with money. If someone calls me and asks me to work for them for three or four years, and they'll pay me well to build their vacation home, I ask myself why I should work three or four years on something like that.
rejected
My first buildings, when I was about 30, were rejected for aesthetic reasons.
cruel history men seems wars women
If I look at history, it seems that most wars and most cruel things have been done by men and not by women.
buildings core
My buildings should have an emotional core - a space which, in itself, has an emotional nice feeling.
built near
I've built two wooden houses near Vals. I built them for my wife. Those were private projects.
buildings interested mainly vehicles
I'm not mainly interested in what buildings mean as symbols or vehicles for ideas.
basic bit cabin core earth human log provide shelter theater whether
If you look at the Earth without architecture, it's sometimes a little bit unpleasant. So there is this basic human need to do shelter in the broadest sense of the word, whether it's a movie theater or a simple log cabin in the mountains. This is the core of architecture: To provide a space for human beings.