Quotes by Peter Zumthor

Peter Zumthor

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.

Silence

Sleep

Thinking

Architecture is exposed to life. If its body is sensitive enough, it can assume a quality that bears witness to past life.

Body

Past

Quality

Architecture is not about form

Architecture

Form

Architecture to me is whole. I cannot say I only care about this 25% and the other 75% I let go… it’s just I want to work the way I want to work. In my shop, you can order certain things and other things you cannot. They are not available.

Care

Letting Go

Order

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.

Beautiful

Fire

Heart

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.

Believe

Simple

Wall

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.

Age

Scratches

Thinking

I design for the use of a building and the place and for the people who use it… the reputation for arrogance comes because when work is offered to me, I look whether I can find a genuine interest in quality.

Arrogance

Design

People

I grew up in a craftsman’s home, where things were done with our own hands. I did cabinetmaking for four years and I hated it.

Hands

Home

Years

I need a close contact to the client, whoever it is, and a commitment of the client to go out and do a process together. I want to do the best for him. I need his respect and his patience. I want to work with a sophisticated person who’s interested in a good building and not in my name.

Commitment

Names

Together

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Age

Architect

Architecture

Arrogance

Art

Artist

Beautiful

Believe

Bigs

Body

Care

Chance

Comforting

Commitment

Company

Creating

Design

Done

Drag

Emotional

Essence

Father

Feelings

Fire

Flow

Form

Gaps

Glasses

Goodbye

Hands

Heart

Home

House

Ideas

Intelligent

Letting Go

Light

Lines

Memories

Mountain

Museums

Names

Needs

Nice

Order

Passion

Passionate

Past

People

Plant

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Quotes by Peter Zumthor

Peter Zumthor

Architecture is exposed to life. If its body is sensitive enough, it can assume a quality that bears witness to past life.

Architecture is not about form

Architecture to me is whole. I cannot say I only care about this 25% and the other 75% I let go… it’s just I want to work the way I want to work. In my shop, you can order certain things and other things you cannot. They are not available.

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.

I design for the use of a building and the place and for the people who use it… the reputation for arrogance comes because when work is offered to me, I look whether I can find a genuine interest in quality.

I grew up in a craftsman’s home, where things were done with our own hands. I did cabinetmaking for four years and I hated it.

I need a close contact to the client, whoever it is, and a commitment of the client to go out and do a process together. I want to do the best for him. I need his respect and his patience. I want to work with a sophisticated person who’s interested in a good building and not in my name.

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Topics by Peter Zumthor

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