Editing Peter Zumthor (section)

==Literature==

Zumthor's work is largely unpublished in part because of his [[philosophy|philosophical]] belief that architecture must be experienced first hand.<ref>Nico Saieh (2 November 2010), [http://www.archdaily.com/85656/multiplicity-and-memory-talking-about-architecture-with-peter-zumthor/ Multiplicity and Memory: Talking About Architecture with Peter Zumthor] ''ArchDaily.com''.</ref> His published written work is mostly [[narrative]] and [[Phenomenology (philosophy)|phenomenological]].

===''Thinking Architecture''===

In ''Thinking Architecture'' Peter Zumthor expresses his motivation in designing buildings that have an emotional connection and possess a powerful and unmistakable presence and personality. It is illustrated throughout with color photographs by [[Laura J. Padgett]] of Zumthor's new home and studio in Haldenstein.

<blockquote>To me, buildings can have a beautiful silence that I associate with attributes such as composure, self-evidence, durability, presence, and integrity, and with warmth and sensuousness as well; a building that is being itself, being a building, not representing anything, just being. The sense that I try to instil into materials is beyond all rules of composition, and their tangibility, smell, and acoustic qualities are merely elements of the language we are obliged to use. Sense emerges when I succeed in bringing out the specific meanings of certain materials in my buildings, meanings that can only be perceived in just this way in this one building. When I concentrate on a specific site or place for which I am going to design a building, when I try to plumb its depths, its form, its history, and its sensuous qualities, images of other places start to invade this process of precise observation: images of places I know and that once impressed me, images of ordinary or special places places that I carry with me as inner visions of specific moods and qualities; images of architectural situations, which emanate from the world of art, or films, theater or literature.</blockquote>

===''Atmospheres''===

''Atmospheres'' is a poetics of architecture and a window into Zumthor's personal sources of inspiration. In nine short, illustrated chapters framed as a process of self-observation, Zumthor describes what he has on his mind as he sets about creating the atmosphere of his houses: images of spaces and buildings that affect him are every bit as important as particular pieces of music or books that inspire him.

From the composition and "presence" of the materials to the handling of proportions and the effect of light, this poetics of architecture enables the reader to recapitulate what really matters in the process of house design. In conclusion, Peter Zumthor has described what really constitutes an architectural atmosphere as "this singular density and mood, this feeling of presence, well-being, harmony, beauty...under whose spell I experience what I otherwise would not experience in precisely this way."

===''Peter Zumthor Therme Vals''===
[[File:Therme Vals wall structure, Vals, Graubünden, Switzerland - 20040530.jpg|thumb|Therme Vals, Switzerland]]
''Therme Vals'' is the only book-length study of this singular building. It features the architect's original sketches and plans for its design as well as [[Hélène Binet]]’s striking photographs of the structure. Architectural scholar Sigrid Hauser contributes essays on such topics as "Artemis/Diana," "Baptism," "Mikvah," and "Spring"—drawing out the connections between the elemental nature of the spa and mythology, bathing, and purity.

Annotations by Peter Zumthor on his design concept and the building process elucidate the structure's symbiotic relationship to its natural surroundings, revealing, for example, why he insisted on using locally quarried stone. Therme Vals's scenic design elements, and Zumthor's contributions to this book, reflect the architect's commitment to the essential and his disdain for needless architectural flourishes.<ref>{{cite book |url= http://www.press.uchicago.edu/presssite/metadata.epl?mode=synopsis&bookkey=226061| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100619215651/http://www.press.uchicago.edu/presssite/metadata.epl?mode=synopsis&bookkey=226061 |archive-date=19 June 2010 |date= March 2007 |title=Peter Zumthor Therme Vals |editor-first=Peter |editor-last=Zumthor | isbn=9783858817044 |website=press.uchicago.edu| publisher=University of Chicago Press }}</ref>

===''Seeing Zumthor''===
''Seeing Zumthor'' represents a unique collaboration between Zumthor and Swiss photographer [[Hans Danuser]], containing Danuser's images of buildings created by Zumthor. More than twenty years ago, in a milestone event of twentieth-century architectural photography, Danuser photographed, at Zumthor's invitation, two buildings: the protective structure built for archaeological excavations in Chur and [[St Benedict's Chapel, Sumvitg|St Benedict's Chapel]] in [[Sumvitg]]. When first shown in exhibition, those photos ignited a lively debate that has been revived with a recent exhibition of Danuser's photographs of Zumthor's most famous work, the spa at Therme Vals. ''Seeing Zumthor'' collects these three important series of Danuser's pictures and includes essays by leading art historians exploring the relationship between the two seemingly different disciplines or architecture and photography.<ref>
{{cite web |url=http://www.press.uchicago.edu/presssite/metadata.epl?mode=synopsis&bookkey=406544 |title=Edited by Köbi Gantenbein: Seeing Zumthor—Images by Hans Danuser |access-date=13 April 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416031247/http://www.press.uchicago.edu/presssite/metadata.epl?mode=synopsis&bookkey=406544 |archive-date=16 April 2009 }}</ref>

=== ''Dear to Me'' ===
In summer 2017, Peter Zumthor curated the exhibition ''Dear to Me''<ref>''[https://www.park-books-specials.com/zumthor Dear to Me]''</ref> at the Kunsthaus Bregenz, marking the twentieth anniversary of one of his most famous designs. Part of the program were conversations with philosophers, curators, historians, composers, writers, photographers, collectors, and craftsmen that Zumthor had invited to contribute to the exhibition. His dialogues with them offer insights into the thoughts and practice of fascinating personalities. Together with his counterparts, he explores artistic preferences and practices, reasonings, as well as practical knowledge from artisanal experience. In ''Dear to Me'', Zumthor's equally serious and serene conversations with Anita Albus, [[Aleida Assmann]], [[Marcel Beyer]], Hélène Binet, Hannes Böhringer, Renate Breuss, [[Claudia Comte]], [[Bice Curiger]], [[Esther Kinsky]], Ralf Konersmann, Walter Lietha, Olga Neuwirth, Rebecca Saunders, [[Karl Schlögel]], Martin Seel, Rudolf Walli, and [[Wim Wenders]] are collected in seventeen booklets held together in an exquisitely manufactured box. [[Wim Wenders]] will also make a film about Zumthor.<ref name="domradio2024">{{Citation | title=Das Werk erfahrbar machen | newspaper=[[domradio.de]] | date= 12 September 2024 | url= https://www.domradio.de/artikel/wim-wenders-dreht-3d-film-ueber-star-architekt-peter-zumthor}}</ref> The short film „Notes From A Day In The Life Of An Architect“ focuses on two upcoming architectural projects: the extension of the [[Beyeler Foundation]] in Riehen near Basel and the new building for the Los Angeles Country Museum of Art.<ref name="filmstarts2026">{{Citation | title=Das Geheimnis der Orte | newspaper=[[filmstarts.de]] | date= 2025 | url= https://www.filmstarts.de/kritiken/285136.html}}</ref>