My first buildings, when I was about 30, were rejected for aesthetic reasons. Peter Zumthor More Quotes by Peter Zumthor More Quotes From Peter Zumthor 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. Peter Zumthor space believe ideas In order to design buildings with a sensuous connection to life, one must think in a way that goes far beyond form and construction. Peter Zumthor design order thinking In a fragment of a second you can understand: Things you know, things you don’t know, things you don’t know that you don’t know, conscious, unconscious, things which in a fragrant of a second you can react to: we can all imagine why this capacity was given to us as human beings - I guess to survive. Architecture to me has the same kind of capacity. It takes longer to capture, but the essence to me is the same. I call this atmosphere. When you experience a building and it gets to you. It sticks in your memory and your feelings. I guess thats what I am trying to do. Peter Zumthor essence feelings memories Architecture has its own realm. It has a special physical relationship with life. I do not think of it primarily as either a message or symbol, but as an envelope and background for life which goes on in and around it, a sensitive container for the rhythm of footsteps on the floor, for the concentration of work, for the silence of sleep. Peter Zumthor silence sleep thinking My buildings should have an emotional core –a space which, in itself, has an emotional nice feeling. Peter Zumthor emotional nice should-have I am convinced that a good building must be capable of absorbing the traces of human life and taking on a specific richness... I think of the patina of age on materials, of innumerable small scratches on surfaces, of varnish that has grown dull and brittle, and of edges polished by use. Peter Zumthor scratches age thinking I think space, architectural space, is my thing. It's not about facade, elevation, making image, making money. My passion is creating space. Peter Zumthor creating passion thinking Designing is a matter of concentration. You go deep into what you want to do. It's about intensive research, really. The concentration is warm and intimate and like the fire inside the earth - intense but not distorted. You can go to a place, really feel it in your heart. It's actually a beautiful feeling. Peter Zumthor fire heart beautiful If you're lucky, and a building succeeds, the real product has many more dimensions than you can ever imagine. You have the sun, the light, the rain, the birds, the feel. Peter Zumthor light real rain I've said goodbye to the overworked notion that architecture has to save the world. Peter Zumthor architecture goodbye world Presence is like a gap in the flow of history, where all of [a] sudden it is not past and not future. Peter Zumthor gaps flow past Architecture is exposed to life. If its body is sensitive enough, it can assume a quality that bears witness to past life. Peter Zumthor quality body past Architecture is not about form Peter Zumthor architecture form You feel a certain way in a glass or concrete or limestone building. It has an effect on your skin - the same with plywood or veneer, or solid timber. Wood doesn't steal energy from your body the way glass and concrete steal heat. When it's hot, a wood house feels cooler than a concrete one, and when it's cold, the other way around. Peter Zumthor glasses skins house What I try to do is the art of building, and the art of building is the art of construction; it is not only about forms and shapes and images. Peter Zumthor shapes trying art 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. Peter Zumthor resistance waste architecture Every time I imagine a garden in an architectural setting, it turns into a magical place. I think of gardens I have seen, that I believe I have seen, that I long to see, surrounded by simple walls, columns, arcades or the facades of buildings - sheltered places of great intimacy where I want to stay for a long time. Peter Zumthor wall simple believe 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. Peter Zumthor architecture chance thinking Normally, architects render a service. They implement what other people want. This is not what I do. I like to develop the use of the building together with the client, in a process, so that as we go along we become more intelligent. Peter Zumthor intelligent together people My relationship to plants becomes closer and closer. They make me quiet; I like to be in their company. Peter Zumthor company plant quiet
