Peter ZumthorAmit Sen2010uar106

Born

1943 Basel, Switzerland

Education

1958 Apprenticeship in cabinet-making.

1966 Pratt Institute, New York, USA, visiting student in architecture and design.

•He is a Swiss architect and winner of the 2009 Pritzker Prize.•His father was a cabinet-maker and he was also apprenticed to a cabinetmaker in 1958.•In 1966, Zumthor studied industrial design and architecture as an exchange student at Pratt Institute in New York.•In 1968, he became conservationist architect for the Department for the Preservation of Monuments of the canton.• His buildings explore the tactile and sensory qualities of spaces and materials while retaining a minimalist feel.•Zumthor founded his own firm in 1979.•The attention Zumther pays to materials and to their visual, tactile and even olfactory attributes. •He applies materials with the sophisticated precision and he pursues the skills and techniques of construction.•Each of Zumthor’s works always responds to extraordinary architectural demands.

Some of his notable works

1996Thermal Bath ValsGraubünden, Switzerland

2007Brother Klaus Field ChapelWachendorf, Eifel, Germany

2000Swiss Sound Box, Swiss Pavilion, Expo 2000Hanover, Germany

Some of his notable works

1996Thermal Bath ValsGraubünden, Switzerland

2007Brother Klaus Field ChapelWachendorf, Eifel, Germany

2000Swiss Sound Box, Swiss Pavilion, Expo 2000Hanover, Germany

2002Luzi HouseJenaz,Graubünden, Switzerland

1996Spittelhof EstateBiel-Benken, BasellandSwitzerland

1997Kunsthaus Bregenz, Vorarlberger LandesgalerieMuseum and Administration BuildingsBregenz, Austria

1994Truog HouseGugalun, VersamGraubünden, Switzerland

1993Homes for Senior CitizensChur, Masans,Graubünden, Switzerland

1988Saint Benedict ChapelSumvitg,Graubünden, Switzerland

Thermal Bath at Vals

Architect: Peter ZumthorLocation: Vals, SwitzerlandProgram Type: Thermal Bath / Spa buildingConstruction Period: 1994-1996Approx. Size: 4000sm (35000sf)

• The Thermal bath exists as a part of an existing 1960s hotel and spa complex.• The main conceptual idea of Zumthor focuses on the geology of Vals.• He treats the bath complex as a volume of a rock that is hollowed out of the

mountain.

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• To avoid spoiling the view of the guests in the main hotel, the commission refused to allow the architect to build upward and zumthor responded it to sinking his building in the slope.

• The flat roof covered with the grass makes the building blended with the landscape only the geometrical patterns reveal its presence.

• The only façade of the building facing the mountain is built in stone• The façade is interrupted by wide openings, windows and terrace.

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1-Terraces2-Indoor pool3-Outdoor pool4-Showers5-Changing rooms6-Make up room7-Entrance from the hotel

Plan at upper level

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Plan at Lower level

Functions: Massage room, Rest space.

• The spa area revolves around two large irregularly shaped pools, one in the center of the building and other in the open air.

• The whole building is made up of 15 simple units.• This units are all different each one has a large outcropping roof sections.

• The roof of each unit covering the whole developed site fit together like a puzzle.• While the smaller units beneath them don’t quite fill the whole surface area and

that free space allows the movement within the building.

• The overhanging concrete slab is held in the horizontal position by metal cables.• And these cables are invisible due to the second layer of the concrete and this units

look like a single stone unit.

Construction of each unit

• The overhanging roof of the each units doesn’t coincide with each other it creates a beautiful natural light effect in the building.

• In each unit zumthor has created a surprise.

• Architect creates a single sensation in each block, Like in a unit the temperature of the water is 40 degree and the color of that unit associated with the temperature for example Red means hot water and blue means cold.

• Even In a unit you can hear the music of stone.

•The whole construction, inside and outside is clad with the same quality of gneiss stone.•Different sizes of stones are placed in a layer form in a non-repetitive pattern.•Three different thicknesses are used which are 63 mm, 47 mm, and 31mm.•And these three type of slabs are placed again and again in different order to give it a non-repetitive pattern.

Brother Klaus Field Chapel Eifel, Germany

• The field chapel dedicated to Swiss Saint Nicholas von der Flüe known as Brother Klaus, was commissioned by farmer Hermann-Josef and constructed with help of his farmer friends

• Zumthor used a technique called “rammed concrete” where farmers poured a layer of concrete over a tepee of timber.

•In its irregular five-sided form, rising starkly above the surrounding landscape, there are virtually no clues to what lies within.

•A narrow gravel path leads from the road directly to its massive, triangular steel door.

•The tower rises 12 meters in 24 layers of concrete each of 50 cm. thick.

•the interior of the chapel had to be shaped for that, 112 slender tree trunks, cut from trees felled in a nearby forest, were arranged in the shape of a tepee over a concreteplatform.

•And after that 50cm layers of concrete, each layer poured one per day for 24 days

Sections showing 24 concrete layers.

•The timber was then burnt out by colliers, using the same process as making charcoal, leaving a charred inside.•And concrete has taken the shape of tree trunks giving the similar effects as tree trunks.

•Three hundred and fifty holes punched into the concrete shell are filled with plugs of mouth-blown glass; the light passing through them, dancing and sparkling out of the blackened walls.

•The space is tiny and offers no obvious sense of comfort. barely large enough for two or three people at a time.

•ReferencesWikipediaYoutubeThinking Architecture by Peter Zumthor.

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