Peter Zumthor

Thinking Architecture

PETER ZUMTHOR

THINKING ARCHITECTURE

BIRKHAuSER - PUBLISHERS FOR ARCHITECTURE

BASEL · BOSTON · BERLIN

A way of looking at things 9

The hard core of beauty 27

From passion for things to the things themselves 35

The body of architecture 48

Teaching architecture, learning architecture 57

• A way of looking at things 1988

In search of the lost architecture

Whf'1l Ithink ahout arl'liit c('IUrC, irnagc~ rome into Illy mind. Many

of these images arc conncclPd with III )' training and work as an

architect. Tilt,), contain Ihe profess ional knowledge about afchilec­

tUff' that I have gathe red uver the ),f'ars. SOlli e of th e other im ages

have Lo do with mychildhood . Th cff' was il time when I ex perienced

a rchitecture \\ ithout thinking about it. Sometimes I ca n a lmost fecI

a partic ular door hand le in my ha nd, a pi ece o f metal shape d like

the bac k of a spoon.

I used to ta ke hold of it when I went into my aunt 's ga rd e n . That

door h a ndle still seems to me like a special s ign or e ntry into a

world of diffe re nt moods and sm e ll s. I re member the sound of the

gravel under my feel , the soft g lea m of th e waxed oak sta ircase,

I ca n h ea r the heavy front door dosing b(' hind me "IS I walk along

the dark corridor and Cllt('r the kit c he n, the on ly rea ll y brightly

lit room in the house.

Looking back, it sec ms as if thi s was the o nl y room in the house

in whi c h the ef'i ling did not di sa ppear into twilight j the small

hexago na l tiles of thc Il oor, dark red and lilted so tightly together

that th e c racks bel\\('ell them \\ ere almost imperccptilJle , we re

ha rd and un yielding und e r my feet , a nd a sme ll of oil IHlint issued

from th e kitchen c UI}boa rd .

Everything a hout thi s kitc h e n was typi ca l of a traditional

kitch e n . There was nothing SI}ccia l about it. But pe rhal)s it was just

the fact that it was so v('ry much , 50 vcry mlt urall y, a kit che n th at

has imprintl'd its ml'lIlory indelibl y on Ill y mind. Th e atmosphere of

thi s room is inso lubl y li nkf'd with my i<ka of a kitchf'n.

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'10\\ I feel like gOing on and ta lking ahout tht' door hand les

",hil ·h ('a me after th e hantllt~ on m) aunt"s gard f' n ga te, about tht'

grou nd a nd tht~ fl oors. ahout the so ft :.l::o ph a lt \\;.lrlllt,tl b) th e s lIn .

about 111(' pav ing StO IH'S ('oHred \\ith dlf'stllut It'aHs in tht,

autUlI1n , and a hout all thi' doors \\ilich dosed in t- ll ch ditTer('nt

\\i.I) S, 0 1H' rq)If'It, ;'lIl tl dignifit'fl. a notl lt~r "ith a thin , dlt';]ll dall er.

others hard . inqli;.lI..:a hle and intimidating .

\l rlllories lik(, th ese cont a in the deqwst architectural ex pf'r i'~ 'H"e

that I knm\. TIlt' ) are tilt' rcsl'rvoir" of the are hit t'clll ral atmos­

ph ere" and im agt's that I f'xplorc in my \\ ork as a n a rc hit (,ct.

WIH'n I d esign a building, t frequently find myst' lf s inking into

o ld , half-forgotH'n mf'mOrl{'s. a nd tllf'n I trv to r{'('olled \dlat

the re me mbe rc(1 ;Hchitectural situati on was rea ll y like, what it

had mea nt to IIH' il t th e tim e, and I try to think how it could he lp

me 110\\ to re\ iH' that vibrant a tmosphere pe rvad ed b) the sim pl e

pres(, lH'e of things, in which e \ c rything had it s OWII spf'c ifi c pi<u.:e

a nd fo rm . And a ltho ugh I ca nno t trace any specia l forms. there is a

hint of fullness and of ridln{'ss \\ hi c h makf's me think : thi s I h<lvc

seell hefo rc. Yet, at the salll{' time. I know that il is all new a nd

diffe re nt , and that Ih ere is no direcI reference to i.l fo rm f' r work

of ' lr(·hit t'clure "hif'h might di\ld gt~ Ihe sec re t of tlH' memory­

lade II 1I100d .

Made of materials

' Ib lII e. there is so met hing revea ling aho ut th e \\ork of Joseph

BCll) s and some of the artis ts of t1w ;\rle PO\ {'fl.l group. \\ hat

impress{'s lIl e is the prec iS(' a lld Sf' IlSUOUS way tlr ey U fle matf'ri­

a ls. It secllls a n(' hol"('d in ;.In aIH.: ielll , (' If' mc ntal kllo,d('dgf' ahout

man's Ul)(' o f ma ter ia ls, a nd al the sa nw time to (" pos(' l h f' \f'ry

esse lHT o f tllf'Sf' matc rial s \\hit"h is hf'),o nd a ll cu ltu rl.l ll y CO ll v(' ycd

Ill ean ing.

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I try to U ~f' l1Ialt~ ri a l s like thi ~ in Ill) \\Ork. Ilw li ne th at th ,'~ ('a n

a.:iSIIIlI{' a p,wtic qualit y in the l'onlt" t o f an architf'ctural ohj('ct,

although oll l ~ if the are ilit f'(, t is ah l .. , to generat!' a llH'ani ngfll l s itu­

a t ion fo r tlWIII . s ince rnatt'rials in Ih t' 1II5e " e5 art' not pOl' ti (·.

The S(, Il Sf' th at I tr) to instill inl o malerial s is hryo nd a ll 1"1I1t.'5 of

(·o mposit ion. a nd th ei r tl.ln:.6b ilit ), i-o llldl a nd acollstic qua liti('.s a r('

IlI r rpl ) eirlllt'nt s of tilt' lan~uagt' that 'H~ arf' ob ligNlto U M'. Se nsc

l' lIl erges ""he ll I slIct."t't.,d in bring in l; oul Ih c spl'c ifi c Illea nings of

('trtai n materi a ls in Ill ~ buildings. lIl ea nings that c<I n on l" be

pe lw' ived ill just Ihis "a) in this one huilding.

If we work towa rds thi s goa l, ""t~ lIlust {"onsta nli y ask oursel "cs

\\ hat the lI Sf' of a partic uhlr mate ri a l ('ould nwa n in a spec ifij ' archi­

tc(' tural CO llt t'X I. Good a nswe rs to tli{'sC qllf'stion5 ('a n thrO\\ nc"

light onto ho th Ilw way ill which 1I1 f' mater ial is ge lH'rall y lIs('d and

its OWIl inlwrt' nt senSllOUs qualiti t's.

If we sU(,(,f'(' d in this. ma te rial s in a rchitecture ca n be made to

shin f' and vihrat e,

Work within things

It is sa id th at o ne of th e most impr('s~ i\{' things about the music of

Jo l1<ll1n Se bastian Bach is it s "an..: hit f'(' ture." Ib construction s('e lllS

d ear and tran spar(' nt. It is Iloss iblf' to pu rs ue thf' detai ls o f th e

llI e lodic, harmon ic and rh ~lhmi e;'l l f'le nl('nl~ \\ithout lo"i ng th e

f(,el ing for the compositio n as a whole - thf' "holt' which ma kes

Sf'n se of th (' detai ls. The music SI't'IlIS to 1)(' has{'d upo n .a dear

structure. and if \\ e trace the indi\ idual Ihn'ads of th e musica l

fabri c it is possi ble to apprehend th e rules tha t ~o\{' rn th e stnlt' turt'

of Ih (' mu sic.

Co nstnl{, tion is th(' art of making;J mt.'a ningfl.l l \\ hole ou t of lIIall )

pari s. Buildings art' wit ll esses to tilt' larrn a n ahilit)' to ('ons truct

("O IH"rf'tf' things. I hf' li ('\(' tha t th e ft'al core uf all architectural

\\ork li cs in til(' ad o f t"o nl)truct io n. At the poillt in tim (' \\ hcl1 ("o n-

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I II II I

I

Ii

ercLe mat e ri a ls are assembl ed and e rected , the a r(' hiH'cturf> wc

h ave bee n loo king for becomcs I)art of th e rea l world.

I feci respc!,;l for th e a rt of joi ning, the ability of craftsmcn and

cngin ('('rs. I Hm imp ressed by the knowledge of ho\\ to make th ings,

which li es Ht th e boltom of huma n skill. I try to d esign build ings

that a rC' \\orlhy of thi s kno\\ ledge and me rit the cha ll enge to thi s

skill.

Peopl C' often S,lY, "A lot of work went into this" when th ey sense

til{' ('a r(' and skill that it s maker has lavished on a carefull y ('on­

structf'd obj(,(·t. The notion that our work is an integral part of

what we a('eomplish tak es li S to the very limits of our musings

about the va lu c of a work of art, a work of architecture. Are the

effort and skill w(' put into the m rea lly inh e rent parts of the things

we make? Sometimes, when I am moved by a wo rk of architecture

in th e same way as I am moved by music. lite rature or i1 I)ainting.

I am te mpt ed to think so.

For the silence of sleep

I love music. The slow moveme nts of the Moza rt piano concert os,

John Co ltrlJne's ballads, or th e sound of the human voice in ce rta in

songs all move me.

Th e human ability to invent me lodies, ha rmoni cs, and rh ythms

amazes me.

But til(' world o f sound also embraces th e opposite of melody,

harmo ny, and rhythm. The re is di sharmony and broken rh yt hm ,

fragm ents and cluste rs of sound, a nd there is also the pure ly func­

t iona l sound th :1 t we c<l 1I noise. Contemporary music ,\orks with

these ele ments.

Contempo rary architect ure should be just as r.adi f'a l .as conte m­

porary 11111sic. But there arc limits. Although a work o f <l rt·hit ectur('

hased o n tli s harm ony a nd fragmentation , o n broke n rh ythms, clus­

tering and structural di sruptions may he ahle to convey a l11 es~ age.

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tiS soon as we unde rstand it s statell1('nt o ur curios it y di es. a nd a ll

th at is left is tlit· qu esti on of til(" buildi ng's practi ca l usefuln ess.

Architecture has it s 0\\11 realm. It has a s pecia l phys ica l re la tio n­

ship with li fe. I do not think of it Ilrim aril y as (,it he r a message o r a

symbo l, but as an ('me-lope a nd b.wkground fo r li fe which goes on

in and around it. a sensit ive ('o ntaill(" r for til{' rhythm of footsteps

o n the floor, for th e conce ntrat io n o f work . fo r th e silence of slee p.

Preliminary promises

In it s final , constructed form, architecture has it s place in th e co n­

c rete world. This is where it exists. This is where it makes its stat e­

ment. Portraya ls of as yet unrea li zed iHchit ectural works represe nt

an attempt to give a voice to sOIll("thing which has not ye t found it s

place in th e concre te world for which it is meant. Architectural

drawings try to ex press as accurate ly as I)ossib lc the aura of the

building in it s inten ded 1)laec. But prec isely the effort of the I)or­

lrayal ofte n se rves to unde rline the ahse nce o f the actual object.

and what then e me rges is a n awareness o f t. he in adequacy of a ny

kind of portraya l, curiosity a bout the reality it I}rorniscs, and

pe rhaps - if the promi se has th e powe r to move us - a longing for

it s presence.

If the naturalism and graphic virtuosity of architectural portray­

a ls arc too grea t , if th ey lack "opell l)atehes" where our imagination

a nd curiosity a bout the rea lit y o f the drawing l'an pe net rat e th e

im age, th e IlOrtra ya l it se lf beco llH's th e objec t o f our des ire, and our

longing for the rea lity wanes heca use th e re is little or nothing in

the represe ntation that points to the int e nded reality beyo nd it. The

port ra YlJ1 no longer holds a pro mise. It re fers o nly to itself.

Des ign drawings th at refe r to a reality which still li es In the

future are illlpq,rtant in Ill y work . I cont inue workingon my drawings

until they reach the deli (,ate point o f represe ntation when th e pre­

vai ling mood I seek eme rges, and I stop befo re in essenti a ls start

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dClra l'ling from it s impal.:t. The drawing it s('lf 1II11sttakf'o n til{' qual­

it y o f th e sought-for o bjed. It is like a s l... elch hy a sculptor for hi s

sculpture. not me rel y an illu stration of an id f'a hut an inn ate part of

the work of c rea tion , whic h {' nds with th e co nstruded objed.

Th ese sort of drawings f' nahlf' us to step baL:k, to look, and to

lea rn to unde rstand that whidl has not ye t CO lTl t' into bt' ing and

which has just started to f'mf'rgf'.

Chinks in sealed objects

Buildings are artificial eonstruct ions. They consist of singl e I)arts

which must he joined together. To a large degree, th e quality of th e

fini shed object is dete rmined by th e quality of the joins.

In sculpture, there is a traditio n whil.:h minimises th e ex prf'ss ion

of the joints and joins betwee n the single part s in favour of th{'

overall form . Richard Serra's steel o bjects, for exa mple, look just as

homogenous and integral as the stone and wood scu lptures of the

older sculptural traditions. Mall), of thc installations and objects

by arti sts of the 1960s and 70s ft>l)' on th c simplf' st and most obvi­

ous met hods of joining a nd connccting that we know. Be uys, fi,'l en-:

and others oftcn uscd loosc s(,ttings in space, coils, fold s and laye rs

wh e n deve loping a whole from th e individual parts.

The dircct , sce mingly se lf-evident way in whic h these objects are

put toge ther is inte resting. Thf're is no intf'rruption of th e overall

imprf'ssion by sma ll parts whic h have nothing to do with th e

object's statement. Qur perCf'ption of the whole is not di straetcd

by inessential deta il s. Every touch, e very join , eve ry joint is the re in

order to reinforce the idea of th e quiet prese nce of th e work.

Wh e n I design buildings, I try to g ive th e m thi s kind of presence.

Howcver, unlike the sculptor, I have to start with fun ctional and

techni ca l require ments tha t re presc nt th e fundaJlJ enta l tas k I ha\'('

to fulfill. Arc hit eet ure is always faced with th e c hall e nge of ri evf' l­

oping a whol(' o ut o f innum e rable de ta il s, oul of var ious fun ctio ns

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and forms, mate rial s and dime nsions. The architect must look for

rational constructions and form s for edges and joints, for the points

where surfaces intersect and diffe ren t materials meet. These rorm al

deta ils determine th e sensitive transitions within th e larger propor­

tions of th e building. Thf' detail s establish the rormal rhythm , th e

building's rinely fra ctionated scale.

Detail s express what the basic idea of the design requires at th e

relevant point in th e object: helonging or se paration, tension or

lightness, friction , so lidity, fragility.

Detail s, when th ey are successrul , are not me re decoration. They

do nol dist ract or entertain. They lead to an understanding of the

whole of which th ey are an inherent part.

There is a magical power in eve ry completed, se lf-conta in ed

creation. It is as ir we succumb to th e magic of the full y deve loped

architectural body. Our attent ion is caught, perhaps for the first

tim e, by a deta il such as two nail s in the floor that hold th e steel

plates by the worn-out doorstcp. Emotions well up. Something

moves us.

Beyond the symbols

"Anylhing goes," say the doers. " Mainstreet is almost all right ," says

Venturi , the architect. '"'"Nothing works any more," say those who

suffer fro m the hostility of our day and age. These statements stand

for contradi ctory opinions, if not for contradi ctory racts. \lie get

used to living with co ntradictions and th ere arc several reasons

for this: traditions crumble, and with them cultural identities.

No one seems rea ll y to understand and control th e dynami cs devel­

oped by economics and politi cs. Everything merges into cverything

else, and mass co mmunica tion creates an a rtifi cial world of signs.

Arbitrariness prevails.

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Postmodern life could Iw df' se ribed as a state in \\ hich cve ry­

thing beyond our own p(' rsonal biography see ms vague, blurred ,

and so me how unreal. The wor ld is full of signs and information .

which stand for things that no o ne full y understa nds Iwca usf' th ey,

too , turn out to be lIIe n' signs for othn things. 'I'll(' rf'a l thing

rcmains hiddf'n. No one cv(' r gelS to see it.

Nf'vertheless, I am co nvinced that rea l things do f'xist, howe ver

en dange rf'd th f'y may be. The re arc earlh and wa tf'r, tlw light of

the S UIl , landscapf's and vege tation : and tl1('r(' a rf' ohjeets, made by

man , such as maehines, tools or musica l in strumf'nts, which are

what th ey are, which are not mere vehicles for an arti sti c message,

whose prese nce is se lf-evid ent.

Wh en we look at objects or buildings which seem to be at peace

within th emselves, our perce plion Iwco mes ca lm and dull ed. Th e

ohjects we perceive have no messag(' for us, th ey are simply there.

Our perceptive faculties grow qui et, unprejudi ced and unacquisi­

tive . They reach beyond signs and symbols, they a re open, e mpty.

It is as if we could see something o n which we ca nnot focus our

consciousness. Here, in this percf'ptual vacuum, a me mory may

surface, a memory which s('ems to issue from th e depth s of lim e.

Now, our observation of tlw object embraces a presentime nt of the

world in all its wholeness, because there is nothing thaI ca nnot be

understood.

The re is a power in the ordinary things of everyday life, Edward

Hopper's paintings see m to say. We only have to look at Ihe m lon g

e nough to sce it.

Completed landscapes

To me, th e prese ncf' of ce rtain buildings has something secret

about it. Th ey sef'm simply to be th ere. We do not pay any special

allenlion to them. And yet it is virtuall y irnposs ihlf' to imagine th e

pl ace where they stand with out them. Thf's(' huildings appear to be

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alH:ho n,d firml y in th e ground . Th ey make the imprcss ion of hf'i ng

<l sf' lf-cvidc lit pa rt of tlw ir surro undings <llld th ey seem 10 be say­

ing: -' I am as you see me and I Iw lo ng he re."

I haw a pass ionate des ire to d e~ i g n su(' h buildin gs, buildi ngs

tha t, in time, gro w naturall y into bei ng a pa rt of the fo rm a nd his­

to ry o f thei r pi <lee.

Eve ry new wo rk of architectu re int e rvf'n es in a specifi c histo ri ca l

situatio n. It is essentia l to th e qu alit y of th e inl f' rVe ntio n that

th e new building should emhrace qualiti f's whi ch ca n e nte r in to a

IH ('aningful di a logue with th e ex isting situati on. Fo r if the int e rve n­

tio n is to find its place, it mu st Ill <l ke us see wh ut already cx ists in

a new light. We throw a stone into th e wate r. Sa nd swirls up a nd

se ttl es <lga in . Th e stir was necessa ry. The sto ne has found il s pl ace.

But th e pond is no lo nger th e samf'.

I Le li evf' th at buildings o nly be accepted by th e ir surroundings if

they havf' the abilit y to appeal to o ur e moti ons a nd minds in vari ­

ous ways. Since o ur fee lings and understa nding are rooted in the

past, o ur sensuou s co nnectio ns with a building Illust rf's pect thc

process of re membe ring. But, as Jo hn Berge r says, wha t Wf' re me lTl ­

be r ca nnot be co mpared to Ih f' end of a line. Vario us possi bilities

lead to and meet in th e act o f rf' membering. Images, moods, fo rms,

wo rds, signs or compa ri so ns ope n up poss ihilit ies o f a pproach . \'(Ie

IllIlSt (;o nst rucl a radi al sys1.f'm of a pproac h th at cna hl f's us to sef'

the wo rk o f a rchitecture as a foca l po in t from di lle rent angles

simultan eously: histo rica ll y, aesth eti ca ll y, fun ct io na ll y. persona ll y.

passio natc ly.

The tension inside the body

AnlO tl g a ll th c drawings prod uced by arc hitcl:Is, my favo rit f's are

th e wo rk ing drawings. Worki ng drawings a rc df' ta iled and ohjec­

tivf'. Crea ted fo r th e na i't sllle n who arc to give Lh p im agined o bject

a mate ri a l fo rm , th ey a rc fret· of assoc iative man ipul atio n. Th ey do

,.

not try to convin ce and impress like projec t d rawi ngs. They seem to

be sayin g: "This is exactl y how it will look."

WOI-king drawi ngs a rf' like a natomi ca l drawings. Th ey revea l

so nlPlhing o f til(' sec ret inn er tensio n that th e fi nished a rchit ect u­

ra l hody is rf' lucta nt to d ivulge: the art of jo ining, hidde n geo metry,

th e fri ct io n o f mate ri a ls, th e inne r forces o f bear ing a nd ho lding,

the hum an wo rk which is inh erent in ma n- made things.

Per Kirkeby o nee did a brick sculpture in the form of a house

fo r a Oocum enta ex hibition in Kasse l. Th e house had no entra nce.

Its intf' rior was inaccess ible <l nd hidd en. It remain ed a Sf'c ret ,

which added an aura of mysti ca l depth 10 til(' sculpture's oth e r

qu aliti es.

I think that the hidd en stru ctures a nd constructio ns of a house

should be o rgani zed in such a way th at they endow the bod y of the

building with a qua lity of inn er te nsio n and vib ra tion . This is how

violins a re made. They remind us o f the li ving bodies of na ture.

Unexpected truths

In my youth I im agined poe try as a kind of colo red cloud made up

of mo re or less diffusf' meta ph ors a nd a llusions whi ch, a lth ough

th ey might be enjoya ble, we re diffi eult to associate with a rel iahl e

view o f th e world . As an a rchitect, I have Ica rned 10 understa nd

tlr at the opposite of thi s youthful definitio n o f poetry is pro hahl y

closer to the truth .

If a work of a rehitecture consists of fo rm s a nd contf' nts whi ch

co mbin e to c reatc a strong fund ament a l Illood that is powerful

e no ugh to a ileet us, it may possess th e qualiti es o f a work o f a rt.

Th is a rt has, howevc r, nothing to do with inte resting configuratio ns

o r o rigi na li ty. It is conce rn ed wilh insights and understanding, a nd

ahove a ll with truth . Pe rh aps poe try is u nex ]l f'('ted truth . It li ves in

st illness. Archi tec ture's a rli st ic task is to give this still ex pect<l nc)' a

form . Th e building it se lf is npVf' r poet ic. At mos t, it nwy possess

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suhtl f' qllaliti ('S \\ hi c h . ut l:e rt ain 1ll 0 lll enlii,!W rmil li S to unf/{-rstand

::,o lll f' lhi n~ tllUt \\t' \\ere n l~\t~ r a hlf' 10 IIndf'rSland in quite thi ::. \\'u)

befo re.

Desire

The (' II~a r, logical dCH' lopm c nt of 11 \\ork of art' lIit N' lurf' dqu··nds

0 11 nlt iOllal Hnd ohjef'tiw c rite ria . \'('he n I Fwrmit subj (,('li H a nd

un('onsid('f('fl idf'as to inte rve ne in the objecti ve t'OtlrS(' o f th e

dt~s ign I'ro('('ss. I acknowledge the signili cance of 1)l' rSo n ~.r f(' t' lings

in my work.

\X 11t'11 a rc hite(,t s talk about their buildings, \\ hat tllI 'y say is oftl"'n

at odds "ith thc stute lllcnts of Ih e buildings th('rn sl-' I\I~s. This is

probably l'on nccled with th e fa ct thai Ih ey te nd to talk a good <l l"'a l

a boul til(' rati on al , thought-out asp('('ts of Ih f' ir \\ o rk anrllcss ahout

th c s<,c ret pass ion which insl)ircs it.

Thc d('~ i g n pro('ess is basf'd on a consta nt inlf'rpla) o f f('('ling a nd

r('<lso n. 'I'll{' ('clings, pn..~fcrences , longings, and df'si rf's that e lll rrge

and (knHlnd to b(' g ivc ll a form must be (;ontrollf'r! hy criti(,al powers

o f rt~asonin g, hut it is our f(,plings that tell us wlH'tlH'r ahstra('t con­

sideration s rea ll y ring true.

To a large degree, d(,s igning IS based on understanding and

f'sta hli shing syslt' ms of order. Ye t I beli e ve that the essential sub­

stanc(' of thc architecture we seck proceeds from fce lin g and

insight. Prel' ious mom e nts of intuition result from patient work,

\'\ ith Ilw sudd e n e mergence of an inne r image. a ne\\ line in a

drawill~, the \\h ole des ign changes and is new l) formulat ed \\ithin

a fraction of u sccond. It is as if a po\\ c rful drug \H:r(' sudd(' nl y

ta king dfl'l:t. E\l'r)thing I knl'\\ befo re abolltlhl' thing I alll ('r('at­

ing is fl ooded by iI bright ne\\ li ght. I l" pc ri c nc(' jO) and IHlss io n,

a nd somNh ing d('(' p insidc IlI C s('e IllS 10 affirm: " I \\<lnl to huild thi !;

hOll Sl~ !··

20

Composing in space

(;('o l11 f' try is about Ih c hl\\ s of linl 'i'!, plan(' i'!lI rfal:l'~. a nd three­

dinu'nsio na l bodies in span'. Cl'O nlt'l r) ca n Iw lp us understand

11 0\\ to ha ndl f' spacc in arehitcl'ture.

In ar(' hiI C('iU re, thc re <In' 1\\0 basic 1)O ~l'oi hilit if's of Sll<l ti<l1 co m­

posi tio n : tlw doscd a rc hit ct' tura l bod) \\ hi('h iso lat{'s space within

il s{' lf. and thc op('n hod) \\hich em hran.'s an ar('a of spacl' thai is

('onnc('t('d "ith thf' c ndless continuum . Tlw (" t(' nsio n o f space ca n

hc madc visible throu gh bodies such as sla hs or po lf's placed freely

or in rows in the spati a l cx panSt' of a roo rn.

I do not claim to kno w what spacf' r{'all y is. Th(' long{' r I think

ahout it , til(' more mysterious it lJl' co rn cs. Ahout OIl(' thing, how­

e ve r, I am sure: when wc, as architcds, are ('o ll('f'rned with space,

we are co ncern ed with but a tiny pa rI of the infinit y that surrounds

the earth. and yet each a nd l~"Cr) building ma rks a uniqu f' place in

thi s inlinity.

Wilh this idea In mind . I s ta rt by skcl<;hing the first plans and

se l:lions of my des ign. I draw spat ia l diagrams and si ml)le vo lumes,

Ilr) to visualize th e m as prccise bodies in spm;l', and I feel it is im­

port<lnt to sense exactl y how they de fin e and separate an area of

intc rior s lHlce from the spac(' tha t surrounds th e m, or how they con­

lain a p<lrt of the infinite spatial continuum ill a kiJl(I of open vessel.

Buildings that have a strong impact alw<lys cO llv<, y an inte nse

feeling of th e ir spatia l qualit y. They e mbrace the myster ious void

callcd space in a special way a nd make it vibrat e.

Common sense

Dcsigning is inventing. Wh e n I \\as still at nrl l:o nnd nafts SdlOOI , wc

trif'd to follow thi s princi ple. \\ f' looked for a n('w So lulio n to eve ry

proble m, We fe lt it was impo rtant lo h{' <lvant-ga rd f', Not until late r

did I realiz(' that there a re basica ll y oil ly a w ry few a rehitc('lural

proble ms for whieh a valid so lution has not alft'ad)' b{'en found,

"

In rctrospf'ct, my cducation in df' sign see lll s so mew hat a-i1islOri­

ca l. Our role mode ls were the pion eers and inventors of "' Das Nf' lIC

Ihuc n." We rcgardf'd a rchit ectural hi story as a part of gellf' ral ed u­

cat ion , which had liulc influf'nce on our work as dcsigners. Thus,

\\(' frequcntly invented what had already b('e n invf'n ted. and we

trif'd our hand at inventing the uninventahle.

This kind of training in design is not without it s educational

value. Lat e r, howeve r, as practi c ing architects, we do well to get

acquainted with the enormous fund of knowledge and expc ri c ll cf'

con tained in the historv of architccture. I believe that if we intf' ­

grate thi s in our work, we have a Iwltf'r chancc of making a gf'nu­

ine co ntribution of Ollr own.

Architecture is, however, not a linear process that leads more or

less logically and dirf'cti y from architectural hi story to new huild­

ings. On thc search for the architecture that I envisage, I frequ e ntl y

experiencc stifling moments of emptiness. Nothing I ca n think of

see ms to tall y with what I want and ca nnot yet e nvisage. At th ese

moments, I try to shake offthf' academic knowl edge of architecture

I have acquired becausc it has suddenly started to hold me back.

This helps. I find I ca n breathe morc freely. I ca tc h a whiff of the

old familiar mood of thc inventors and pioneers. Dcs ign has once

again bccolllf' invention.

The c reat i\'e act in which a work of arehitccture comes into

being goes beyond all hi storica l and tcchnical knowledge. Its focu s

is on the dialogu e with the issues of 0111' tim e. At the mome nt of it s

c rea l ion , architecture is hound 10 the prf' se nt in a very specia l way.

It rdl f'cts the spirit of its inventor and gives it s own answers to the

question s of our tim e through it s fun ctional form and appearancf",

its rf"lationship with other works of architecture and with thc place

wlwre it stands.

The answers to these questions which I can formulate as all archi­

tect are limit ed. Our tinH.'S of change and transition do not pf"rrnit

big gestllres. Th e re are o nl y a few remaining cOlllmon vaitJf"s le ft

upon which w,-' can build a nd which wt' all share. I thus appeal for

i.I kind of ar('hitecturf' of common sense based on the fundamentals

that we sti ll know, understa nd , and reel. I ca refull y o bs(' rve the

co nf'rt' te a ppeara nce of the world, and in my buildings I try lo

c nhance what seems to bc valuable , to co rr('('t what is di sturhing,

a nd to create anew what W(' feel is mi ss ing.

Melancholy perceptions

Ettore Sco la 's film " I.e ha l" r('('ounts fifty yea rs of European histo ry

with no dialogue and a complf'tf' unit y o f place. It co nsists so le ly of

mu sic and tllf' motion of people movin g and danc ing. We remain in

the sa me room with the sa me peopl e througho ut , while tilTl e goes

by and the da ncers grow older.

'rhe focll s of the film is on it s main characte rs. But it is the ball­

room with its til ed floor <.Ind it s p<.lncling, th e stairs in th e back­

ground and th e lion 's paw at th e sid e which c rea tes the film 's

dense, powe rful at mosphe re. Or is it th c other way round'! Is it tht'

peopl e who e ndow the room with it s particular mood ?

I ask thi s qu estio n because I am convi nced that a good building

must be ca pable o f absorbing the tra('es of human life and thus of

taking o n a specifi c ri chness.

Na turall y, in thi s eo ntf' xt I think of the patina of age on mate ri­

a ls, of innumerable sma ll snatches on surfaces, of varnish that has

grown dull and hrilll e, and of edges poli shed by usc. But wh en I

clost' Ill y t'yes and try to forget both these phys ica l traces and my

own first assoc iation s, what re mains is a diffe rent impression, a

dee per feeling - a consciousness of tim e passing and an awareness

of th e human lives that have been acted out in these places and

rooms and charged them with a special aura . At th ese mome nts,

architecture's <.Icsthetie a nd I}ra eti ca l v<.Ilues, s tyli sti c and histori cal

signifi ca nce a re of secon d<.lry importan ce. What matins now is only

thi s feeling of dee p 1Ilf'la nchol y. Architecture is ex posf'd to life. If

24

it s body is sensiti w f'nough. it ca n assume a qualit y tllat bears wit­

Ilf'S5 to till"' reality of past life.

Steps left behind

When I work 011 a d(,s ign I allow mysf' lf to lw gui d t' d hy images and

moods that I relllcmber and ('a n rf'lat e to thf' kind o f ar('hitef'IIHf'

I am looking for. Most o f thf' imag(,s that ('o me to mind originate

from my subjective ('xperif'nc(' and a re only rare ly accompanied hy

a re membered a rchit ectural cOlllnwntary. While I am design ing

I try to find out \\ hat thf' sf' images mea n so that I can learn how to

!'r('ate a \walth of visual form s and atmospheres .

Aftf'r a cerlain time, the object I am des igning takes on some of

th e qualities of the images I use as modc ls. If I can find a mea ning­

ful way of inte rlock ing and supe rimposing these qualiti es, th e

object will assume a depth and ri chness. If I am to achi('ve this

effect , the qualities I am giving the des ign mu st rnerge and blf'nd

with th e co nst ru ctional and formal structure of the fini shed build­

ing. Form and construction , a ppearunce and fun ct ion a r(' no longe r

se parate. They be long togethe r and form a whole.

When we look at the finished building, our eyf's, guidf'd by our

analytical mind , tend to st ray and look for detail s to hold on to. But

the synthcs is of th e whole docs not beeo nH' ('o mpre hf'nsible

through isolated de tail s. Everything refe rs to f'verything.

At thi s momcnt , the initial imagf's fadf' into tht' background. Th e

models, words, <lnd compariso ns that Wf'rf' necessary for th e c rea­

tion of th e whole di sa ppea r like stf'pS that have been left behind.

The new building <.Issumes tllf' foca l position and is it se lf. Its hi story

begins.

25

Resistance

I bt' lil'\(' that archil(,('lur(' today need s to reflt'l, t on til(' l a~ks and

pos.osi bilitif·$ \\'h;('h arc inherently its 0\\11. An 'hilf'('llIrf' i~ nol a \('hi­

elf' or a ~) lIIhol for things that do not Iwlong to ils esse li ce. In a

SO('j('l) that n' ll'bralt'S tht, incssential. architecture (;iln put lip ....

res iSIaIU 'c. ('ounl cn.lc t til(' \\0.151.(' of form s and IIIl·a nings . • Intl sp<'ak

its 0\\ II language.

I IJcli t,\l' IllUt the language of arc hitec ture is nol a question of a

specific 51) Ie. Every building is built for 11 sl)ceirit, LI St.' ill it 5p('('·i fi(·

place alld for a spc{'ific socif'ty. 1"')' buildings try 10 illl SWN Ih('

qUl' stions that (,1IlC'rg(' from these simple fact s as prt~(' i s(' l y and nil ­

il'ally as Illf' ) ('till.

26

The hard core of beauty 1991

'1'\'0 wn'ks ago I happell ed to Iwar ;'1 radio progra m on the Ameri­

('a n POl'l \\ illiam Carlos Williams, Tht~ program was e nlitled "' I'he

Hard Core of 13ea uI )':' This phrase (,aught Ill )' attention, I like the

idea Ihat bt-'auly has a hard ('orc, and wlien I think of arl.'hitcl.'tlire

thi s assoc iat ion of heauty a nd a hard ('ore has a ('erlain familiarity,

"Th l.' machin e is a thing thai has no slIlH·rfluol.l s part ti," Williams is

supposed to haw' said, And I inllllediatel y think I know what Iw

meant. It 's a thought that Peter Handke allucl('s to , I fef'1. when IH"

sa)s that Iwauty lies in natural , grown Ihings thai do not carry any

signs or messages, and when he adds Ih ;.l1 Iw is UpSN when he can­

not di scover. di s-cover. the mea ning of things for himself.

And then I learned from the radio program that the poetry of

\\ illialll Carlos Williams is based on Ih e ('0 11\ ict ion Ihat there are

no ideas excc pt in the t h i ngs t helll se ives, and thai the pu rpose of hi s

art was to direct hi s sensory perccption to th e world of things in

order to mak(· thelll hi s own.

In William s's \\ork, said th f' speaker, thi s takes placc scemingly

une motion a lly and laconi ca ll y, and it is precise ly for thi s reason

that hi s texts have such a strong ('motional impa t:t.

What I hf'ard appeals to l11e: noL to wish to stir lip emotions \\ ilh

huildings, I think to myself, but 10 allow e molions 10 emerge, to he,

And: 10 re main close to th e thing ilself. (·Iost· 10 the ('~scnc(' of the

thing I have to shape. conlidcnt thai if til(' building is conceived

ac(,urate ly enough for il s place and it s function, it \\ill ci('\'elop its

own strength , \\ith no need for artistic additions.

The hard core of heaut): {'oncC'ntralf'd suhstanc(-',

But where arC' an'hitc('tIHf" S fif·ld s of fOfl'(' that ('ollstitute it s

substarH't" , aho\'f' and Ilf'),ond a ll supt'l'fit 'i alit y and iJrbilrarinesti?

"

Italo Cal\ino 1f'lIs us in hi s "L('zioni alllf'ric<lIU''' ahout th(' Ital ­

ian IlOf'1 Cia(,omo Lcopardi \\ho S<I\\ Ihe heaut) of a \\ork of a rt. in

hi s caSt' Iht' bt.,atlt) of litcraturf'. in its \'agu e lll'ss, OP('I1I1('SS, and

incleH' rlllinaq , I)('('ausf' this lemcs thc form opel1 for Illall~ diff('r-

elrt 1Il{'a llingtl.

L('OI)ardi 's t'l lat{'uH'llt see ms convincillg c llough . \\orh or ohj('l"\l'I

of art that IIIOV{, us arc multi-fa ('c lcti: tilt') haH IlUIll('f"OU~ and

1)(,l"haps f' 1H1I('ss laY('l"s of meaning ,\hich oH'rlap and int{'nH'a\(',

and whi('h dtaug{' as \\t.' I.'hangc our angle of ohservation.

But how is the l.lr<: liit ed to obtain thi s d('pth and Illultiplicity

in a building of hi s making'! Can vagu(,ll(,ss and ope nness 1)('

planlled '! Is tller(' not a ('o ntradietion hf're to th(' l'laim or act.'llracy

thaI Williams':;; argulllf'nt sef'm s to impl y"~

Cahino find s a sllrprising answer to thi s ill a tl'xi b) I.eopardi.

Cal\ino point s Otlt that in Leopanli 's O\\n te"\ls, this lo\('r of thc

indf'l('f"lllinale r('vea ls a Iwinstaking fidelit y 10 the things h{' df'­

sc rih('s and offers 10 our contcmplalion , and he ('onH'~ to Ihe ('on­

clu tl ioll : "This, then , is \\hat Lcopardi dcmands of us so that \\{' c;:tn

e njoy Ih e beaut) of thc indeterminate and ,agut"'! 1I f' ('ails for

highl), alTural(' and p('dantic attcntion in Ill(' composition of ('a('h

pictuf"{'. in lht' lnC'ti culoll s definition of df'laii s. in the' ("hoi('(' of

objl'cls, li ghting and atmospherc with til(' aim of attai lling th ('

dcsircd vag\J('I\{~ss." Ca lvino ciosf' s wit h thf' sec'mingly paradoxi ­

ca l proc-Ialllalion: "'I'll(' POf'1 of the vagu e ca n only be lhe poc t

of pr('cision!"

\\ hat intf'rests lilt' in this story reporlcd by Ca lvino is not thc

('xhortation to prec ision and patient , detail ed \\ork with \\ hi (' h \\C

are a ll fami liar, hUI the implica tion that richncss and multipli(·it )

emanale from the Ihings Ihelllsd \ cs if W(' obs('rve thc m attentive l)

<Inti g iH' lit{'1Il tll{'ir duc. Applied 10 architc('!urf', thi s mf' a ns for 1Il{,

Ihut po\\{'r and Illultiplicil) must he dCHlop('d from th(' assigned

task or, in other "orels, from til(' things that ('onstilutl' it.

28

Joh n Cage sa id in one of hi tl led u (,('S that 11(' is not a ('omposcl' \\ 110

Iwar:, music in his mind ami thel1 attelllpb to \\ritt.' il dO\\n. I-I f' has

anotlwr \\a) of operating. I-If' \\orks out ('ont·t'llIs alHi strudures and

tllf'lI has thcm performed to find out ho,\ tht,) sound.

\\ IH' n I rf'ad Ihis statellH'nt I r(,lll t' rnhe rt'd ho\\ \\1' rcce ntly

d(' \elopt" d a projcd for a thermal bath in liw mountains in Ill) stu­

dio , nol h) forming prt.'lilllinary images of Iht' building in our

minds and suhscquently ad 'lj)ting thrill 10 til{' as..,ignuH·nt, lwt by

('ndcavoring to ,HlS\\Cr basic questions ari sing from thf' lo(,ation of

th e give n sitt' , tht' purpose, and til{' building materials - mountain ,

rock, wat('1" - whi('h at first had no "isua l t'O nlt.'nl in tel" ms of ('xist ­

ing arehitccture.

It was on ly after we had succc('lled in answ('ring, stcp by step, the

qucstions poscd by th e site, purpose and mat e rial Illal structures

and spac('s emerged whic h surpri sed us al1d \\ hich I belit.~\C possess

Ihe potellti <'l l of a primordial forcc thai rc'lch('s dCf'pe r than th e

me re arrangclllcn i of styli sti(,311 ) l}rccoIH.:ciH'd form s.

O('("ul}yi ng onesc lf with the in Iwrcnl la" s of 1..'0n('r('l.(' I h ings s li e h

as mountains, roc k, and water in ('onIH~(" ti on \\ith a building ass ign­

me nl offers a chance of apprehending and c:..pressing so mf'" of the

primal and as it werc '\:uhurally inno('C'nt " aLLributes of these

clcments, and of dcvclol,ing an l.Irl'hit('('tul"l' that scts ou t from a nd

returns 10 real things. Precollct'i"ed imag('s a nd styli sti ca ll y pre­

fabricated form idioms arc qualified o nl ) 10 block the access to

thi s goal.

~1 y 5" iss co ll eagues I-h 'rzog .wd de \1 ('u ron sa) Ilwl a rchitectu re

as a single whole no longer exisls loday, a nd that il accordingly has

to Iw <ll"tificially c reated in the head of the (/ es ig,wr, as an act of

prc(' i st~ thinking. The two architects d e ri\C from this assumption

their tlwory of architecture as a form of thought , all ar('hil('clure

whic h , I SIlPPOSC, should rcflf'c'l its ('('f"(,brally ('o IHx'ived wholeness

in a special "3)'.

29

I do nol inlf'nd to Il ursuc Ihese architects' t lwor) o r ;:If"( 'hilt'cturf'

as a form or tho ught, but only the assumption on which it is based,

nall1 (' l) that th e wholeness of a building in till: o ld Sl'n8t' of til('

masln builde rs 11 0 lon gl~r f'x ists.

Pe rso ll<" I). I s till ht~ li f'\e in th e se lf-suffi cient. corporf" " \\holf'­

ness of an art.' hit ectural object as the essential , if fl iffieult , aim of

Ill y "ork, if not as a natural or given f.wl.

Yl' t how art~ we 10 achieve thi s "ho le lH"5S in an' hit f'f' turf' at a

tillle wl1('n IIw di vint', whi ch once gave things a meaning, a nd e ve n

realil y it sf' if Sf'f'1II to bt· di sso lving in the f'ndlf' ss flu x of transitory

signs and ima~cs'?

Pt'ln lI a ndk e writes of hi s f' ndf'avors to make tex ts and dest' rip­

lions part of the Cll vironnwnt they re late to . If I und e rsl.lrld him

co rrectly, I alii confronlf'd he re not only by the all -too-fami li ar

aware nt:SS o f tlH" diffi cult y of e liminating artific ialil) in things

c rea ted in an artificial act and of making th e m part of the wor ld of

ordinar) and naluralthings, but al so b) the belie f th at truth lies in

til(' things Ihelll s(' h es.

I be licvf' that if arti sti c proccsses stri v(' for wholent·ss, they al­

wa) s alteml}1 10 g ivc the ir c reations a prf'se nce a kin to that found

in the things of nature or illllH" natural f'nvironmcnl.

Consl'quen tl y, I find Ihal I can understand Handke, \\ho in the

same int e rvie w refers to himself as a wriler about places, when 11('

requires of hi s t('xts that " Ih e rf' should be no <.Idditiv('s in them ,

but a cugni zil ll ct' o f d f' tail s and of their inte rlinking to. form a (. .)

fa c tual eOlllpl f'x.'·

TIl(' \\ord lIandke lISCS to dcs ig ll<.lt t, \\ hat I hil\f' hen' ('ailed iI

fac tual t'ompln, nam e l) "Sachvcrlw!t ," seem s to Ill(' 10 bc llIea n­

ingfu l \\ilh rf'g<.l rtl to the ailll of "hole and unadulterat ed thing:, :

("Hl('t fa(, tual conte nts lIlu st be bro ught logf'tl1('r. buildings IIlU i)t bt~

thought of as l'o llll}l l'Xe~ \\h 05e detail s have heen right I) idelltified

and put illto a f,.It't ua l re lationship to f'Heh ot he r. A fadu a l n' la­

tion bili,, !

30

Th C' IJOi nl Ihal e merges hert' is th e redut.'tion of 111 (' ('o nt e nt s

10 rt'i.d thing:s. Handke also spC'a ks, in thi s co ntext , of fi <k lit y to

things. li e \\ould like h is dcsaiplions, he sa)::., to b(' t~\ lw ri t' n c('d as

faithfullH' s!o! to the place the ) desc ribe and not as sllppit-Ill t'litar)

I:oloring.

SlatPIlJ(' III S o f thi s kind Iwlp me 10 I:O lll e to t(' nns "ith Ih e di s­

s:.lIi sfa etion I o f le n cx pf' rif'n ce whe n I conte mplat C' r('t·t'lll an.: hit cc­

lur('. I frt' qu c llIl ) cO llie across buildings th ai hav ... bet'll dcsigned

with u good deal o f f'Hort and a will to find a spc('iul form, and I

find I am IJUt off by them. Th e arc hitect rf'sponsible for the build­

ing is not prese nl , hilt he lalks to lIle unceas ingl y from eve ry detail ,

In' kt, C' p:s o n say ing th e same thing. and I qui ckly lo:s(' inlerC"st.

Good a re hit f'ct ure should rece ive the hum a n visito r. should ena hlf'

him LO cX I)erience it and li ve in it, but it s ho uld not co nstantl y talk

at him .

,"\ h)', I ofte n "onder, is the obvious but diffi (, ult so lutio n so

rare ly tri ed '? \"\ hy do \\c have so little eonfidenc C' in the bas ic

things archi tec ture is mari t' from : mate ri a l, structure, ('o nstru ctio n,

bearing a nd being borne, ea rth and sky, and confidc nc(' in spaces

that a rc reall y HlIowed to he spaces - sl)aces whost:> endosi ng wall s

and co nstitu c nt mat e rial s, concavity, c mptiness, light , air, odo r,

receptivity and resona nce arc handled with respe('t and care?

I persona ll y like the idea of des igning and building hou:ses from

which I ('Hfl withdraw at the cnd of tht' formin g process, leaving

be hind H building thaI is itse lf, that se rves as a place to li v(' in a nd

a part of the " o rld of things, and tha t ('an malli.lge pe rfcc tl ), we ll

\,ithout Ill )' pe rso llHI rhe tori c.

To Ill C. buildings can h3\ e a beautiful s ill.'!l(·c that I assoc ia te

"it h att rihutes suc h as composure. se lf-evidc lll.'e, durHbili l),. prcs­

(, IW(' an d inlegril ), a nd with warmth and S('IlSUOUSIH'SS as \\ e ll ;

a huilding that is be ing itself, bei ng a building, no t re present ing

anything, ju::. t being.

Say Ihat it is a crude dfnt. hl ;:u.' k r(' d$,

Pink )e llo\\ s. orang(' "hiles, too IlHH·h as thf' )' are

To l>(, <1I1) thillg e lse in the sunlight of the room.

Too muc h as thf'y are to be c ha nged by metaphor,

Too act ll a l, things th at in he ing ITa l

'lake an) imaginings of th e m lesser thing:s.

This is th e beginning of the poe m " Bouquet of Hoses in Sunlight "

by the Ame rican I)' ri c ist or quiet contemplation , Wallace Stcvcns.

Wallace Sle\'e nS, I rpad in th e introducti on to hi s co llection

of poe ms, accepted th e challenge of looking lo ng, pati entl y and

exactl y and of di s-covering and und e rstanding things. His l)Oe ms

arc not a protest or a complaint aga inst a los t hl\\ Hnd order. nor a re

th ey the ex press ion of any sort of co nste rnation , but they seek a

harmony whi ch is possible all th e same and \\hic h - in hi s case ­

can on ly be Ihat of th e poem . (Ca lvin o goes a sle p furth e r along

thi s line of thought in an attempt to de fine hi s lit e ra ry \\ork when

hc says that he has only one de fe nse aga in st til(' loss of form that he

spes a ll around him: an id ea of lit e rature.)

For Steve ns rea lity was th e wishe{l- for goa l. Surreali s m, it

appcars, did not impress him , for it inve nt s without di scovcring. I-Ie

pointed out that to portray a she ll pla ), ing an accordion is to invc nt ,

no t di scover. And so it cro ps lip once again. thi s fundam e nt a l

thought that I seem to find in Williams <.l nd Handke, and th at I al so

sense in til(' pa int ings of Edward Ho ppe r : it is o n I)' bctwepn the

rcalit) of things and the imagination that the sl)ark of the work of

art is kindled .

If I tran ::.late thi s statement into archil ('(:tural te rms, I te ll m),se lf

that th l' spark of th e su ccessful building ('a n onl) hl' kindl(,d be­

tW(,(' 1l tll (' realily oftlw things pertain in g 10 it and till' illli.lg ination .

And thi s is no rcvelation to IIH' , but Ih ... confirmation of sOlliething

33

I ('o nt illua ll y stri H fo r ill Ill ) wo rk . a nd th e confirma tio n o f a \\ ish

\\ho!)(' roo ts SC(' 1Il to 1)(' <1 (' £'1) ins i<i f' m(',

But to rc turn to tilt: qu('s tio n o ne fin a l t im e: \\ iH' re do i find Ih t.'

r('<llil y 011 whi e h i mu sl ('o ll ('(' nlrate my pm\t.' rs o fima g-in al io n whe n

Mt f' IllI, ting to design a building for a partic ular plan' a nd purpu5e'!

OntO k('v to til t.' a nsw(' r lies. I be li (,ve, in th(' words "placc" a nd

" I)ur pos(''' thCIllS(' h ('li .

III a n cssa) t.' nlill ed " Building D\\ l' lI ing Think ing," ~larlin

lI('ideggf' r wrot f': " Li\ ing a mo ng things is Ill{' ha::i i(' prin cipii' of

hum a n f'xi stc nct.' ," whi c h I unde rsta nd to mr an dlat we are neve r in

<Ill abstract world hut a lways in a world of things, e vc n whe n Wl' think .

And. o nce aga in I-Ieid('gge r : "Th e rel alio nship of ma n to pla('('s a nd

thro ugh pl acf's to SP<1('(,8 is based on hi s d\\ e lling in the m."

Th e conce pt o f (" H' lI ing, unde rstood in II c idf'gge r 's wide sc nse

of li ving a nd thinking ill pla t f' s a nd spacrs, contai ns a n ('xact refe r­

e !l ec 10 what rea lit y mean s to /li e as an arc hit ec t.

II is not the rea lit y of th eori es detac hed from things, it is the real ­

it y of th e conc re t(' bllildingass ignm e nt re i:.lIing 10 Ih e aet o r stat c o f

dwe ll ing th at int f' rests me a nd upon which I wish to t.·o nce ntra le my

imaginat ive fac ulti es. It is the rea lity of bu ild ing mate rial s - stone,

d o th , stee l, lea th e r . . - a nd the rea lily of the structures

I use to constru et the Iwilding whose prope rti e s I wish to pe net rat e

with my imaginati on, bringing meaning a nd se nsuousness 1.0 hear

so th at the spa rk o f the successful building may be kindled ,

a huilding tha t ca n servc as a hom e fo r man .

Th e rea lity o f a rc hit cc ture is the conc rete body in whi ch fo rm s,

vo lum es, a nd spa('r s cOlli e into be ing. Th e re a rt' 11 0 id eas exe(, pt

ill things.

34

From passion for things to the things themselves 1994

It is illl po rlanilo 111 (' to rdl (,f'1 a houl a rc hit eC' tli n', 10 :-. t,' p h<l('k fro m

l1'I y cl ai l) \\ o rk and w k(' a loo k at "ha t I a m doing a nd \\ h) I a m

doillg il. I lo\'e doing thi s, and Ithink I Il('ed ii , too. I do not wo rk

lowa rd s <l r(' hil c('llIr(' fro m a tlwo rf'l i{'all y de fin ed po int of dqJar­

tllr(" fo r I a m committ ed to ma kin g: arc hi tecture, to building. to an

id f'al of p{' rfecl io n. just as in Ill y boyh ood I used to ma ke th ings

ac(;ording 10 my ideas. th ings tha t had to be just ri ght, for rt' <l so ns

whi c h I do no t reall y und e rsland . It was a lwa) s th e re, thi .., d ('eply

pe rsonal feeling for th e things I made for myself, a nd I n(' ve r

thought o f it a s be ing anything sp('(' ial. It was just tll t.' rl'.

Toda y, I am aware that my " o rk as a n a rchitect is la rg(' ly a quest

fo r Ihis e<lrly pass ion , thi s obsess io n, a nd a n att e mpt to unde rstand

il be tl e r a nd to r(,fin e il. And \\h e n I re n ect o n wh(, th e r I ha\(' s ince

add ed ne\\ imag(,s a nd pass ions to the o ld o n('s, a nd wh etl1(' r I have

learned so mething in my tra ining and pract ic(" I r(' ali z(' that in

SOIll (, way I seem al ways to have known th e inluiti ve co re of new

di scov(' ri ('s.

Places

I Ii \'(, a nd work in the Craubtinde ll in a farmin g villagc surrounded

by In ountains. I sometimes wo nd t'r whc th e r thi s has influ e nccd my

wo rk . and th e thought th 'lt it pro ba bl y has is no t unpl easant.

" o uld th (' buildings J d ('s ign look diffe re nt if, ins tead of li\i ng in

C raub i.i nc)(·n, I had spr nt Ih r pHol 25 )ears in Ih e la 'Hlsca p(' o f Ill )

yo uth o n 111(' Il orth e rn foolhill s of th e Jura mount<l ins, with the ir

35

I I I

I

I I I

I

i I

I

roll ing hills and bccch woods and til(' fam iliar, reassuring vici nit)

of tilt' urbane c ity o f Basel ?

As soon as I begin to think abo ut thi ::. qu est io n, I rcali zp tha t Ill y

wo rk has bee n inftu cnc('d by many pIHc('s.

Whe n I con cc nlral (' on a specific sil e or pl ace fo r which I am

going 10 des ign a building, if I try to plumb it s depths, it s fo rm , its

histo ry. a nd ils sensuous qua lities, im ages o f oth e r places sta rt to

invade thi s pro(;ess of I)rcc ise observatio n : images o f I)laees th at

I kn ow and th at o ncc imprt'ssed me, images o f o rdina ry o r specia l

pla ces that I carry with lIl e as inn er visions of spec ifi c moods a nd

qu aliti es; images o f a rchit ectural situati o ns, whi ch e man ate fro m

tllf' world of a rt , of film s, th eate r o r litera ture,

Sometimes thcy co me to me unbidd en. th ese im ages of places

that a re frequ ent I)' a t first ghlllce ina ppro pri at(" or ali e n, images o f

places of ma n)' diffe rcnt o rigins. At othe r times I summo n th em. I

need th em, fo r it is o nl ), wh en I confront and compare th e essentials

o f diffe rent pl aces, when I allow simil a r, re lated , or maybe a lien

el ements to cast the ir light on th e pl ace of my in te rvention that the

focused, multi face ted im age of the loca l csscnce of th t" site enw rges.

a vision tha t revca ls connections, exposes lines of fo rce and creates

exci teme nt. It is now that the fe rtil e, c re<ltivc gro und appea rs, an d

th f' ne twork of poss ible approach es to the spccifi c place e lll f' rge a nd

trigge r the processes and decisions of des ign. So I immerse- mysc lf

in the place and t ry to inh abit it in my im agin atio n, a nd a t the same

t ime I loo k be),o nd it a t th e world of my ot hc r places.

When I CO Ill e- ac ross a building tha t has dc \ e loped a special prcs­

enc(' in co nn ect io n \\ith th e place it st<lIlds in , I sometimes feel tha t

it is imbued with an inn er te nsion that rders to something ove r and

a bovf' th e pl ace it self.

It seems to be pa rt of the- essence o f its pla£'e, and a t the sa lll e

time it spea ks of th e world as a who l l~.

\, hen a n a rch itc('\ ura l des ign d ra \\ s 501f' ly from t radit ion an d

o nl y rc pf'a ts til(' dida t('S o f its sit e, I sellS(' a Im;k o f a ge nuine co n-

36

('c rn \\ith til(' world and tilt' (' manatio ns of cont c lllpOnlr) liff'. I f a

\\o rk of a rch iteeturc speaks 0 111 ) o f eont f' mpo ra r), t r(' nds and

sophisli (,<l tPd visions "itho ut triggcri ng vih ra tions ill it s place, this

\\ o rk is not <l ndlOred ill its si ((', and I miss th e specifi c gravit y o f th e

ground it staru.l s on .

Observations

1 We wl..' re standing arollnd the drawing ta ble t.llking abollt a pro­

ject by an archil f'c t whom w(' a ll hold in high rega rd . I ('onsid f' rf'd

the proj l'd int e resting in Illlllly ways. I mentioned st'vr ral of its spe­

ci fi c qll a lit if's a nd added th at Some tim e prf'violl siy I had la i{1 as ide

Ill )' pos it ive prejudice which spra ng fro m my high estim ati on of th e

a rchit f'c t and taken Hn unbi i.ls('d look at the project. And I had

come to the conclusio n tha i, as a whole, I did not re<llI )' like it. We

di scussed th e poss ible n'asons fo r my impress ion and ca lll c up

with a fcw dCl<lil s witho ut arriving at a valid co nclu sio n. And thf'n

one of lhe youn ge r nw mbe rs of th e group, a t<1 lc I1I ('<I and usually

rat ionall )-thinki ng a rchit f'c t, sa id : "' It is a n int e resting building

for a ll so rts o f lh eorf' ti (;a l and pract ical reasons. Tin' t roubl f' is, it

htls no soul."

5 0111 (' w(' eks late r, I was sitting o utdoors drinking ('o l'l'('e with my

wife <1 nd di s(,uss ing th e iss ll e of buildings with a soul. We talked

.a bo ut sev~ra l works of a rchitecture that Wf" kn f' w and desc ribed

tll('1ll to (,l.I{' h othe r. And whe n \\ c reca lled buildings th at had th e

ch aractf'r isti cs we we re looki ng fo r a nd pinpo int f' cI the ir spcc i<ll

q ua lit ies, we became aware that the re a re buildings th at WI..' love.

And wlH' r{'as we kne w alm osl at o n{' e whi ch OIH'S be lo nged to the

sl)f'f,ia l ('a l q~ory in which Wl' W(' l'e intf'rf'stf'd , we found it diffi cult

to fi nd i.I comm on de no minator fo r tilf'i r qu a liti cs. Our attempt to

generali zt' sce llll'd 10 ro b til{' indi vidu al bu i Idings o f t he i r spl t" ndo r.

Uut tilt.' subjcct ('ontinIl Nllo pn'y on my mind, a nd I r{'so l\ ed to

t ry a nd \\ rit (, SO lll (' bri r-f descr ipt io ns o f a rchit edura l situa tio ns th at

37

I lo\(" fragmf'lItary approaf'ilf'S basc{1 011 I'{'rsonal ('x!H'rij"l("' s that

haH' a ( ' orllH~l'lioll \\ilh til) work. allil in so doing to 1II0H' "itbi"

till' ~allle menIal fralllf'\\ork in \\hirh I think ,\hell I alll "onC" ~ rrwji

\\ith gl'llt' rating Ihf' csscntials of a \\ork of III) 0\\11.

2 Tilt, main 1'00111:, of till' slIIall mountain hotd u\f'rlook"d tllf' ,ai­

ley 011 Ill(' hroad side of thf' long buildin~. It had 1\\0 adjan'nt

\\OOd - piIlH'lj'c! r{'('{'ptioll room s on 111f' ground floor, hOlh of Ihem

at't'f'.'is ihlr from the l.:orridor and ('onllcetcd b) a door. The smaller

of Ihrm loohd like a t'omfortable place in whil'h to s it ant! read ,

and til(' largel' one, with fiw well-plat'ed tabl,'s, was ('I('arly Ihl'

pla('(' ill whic h meals \H'rf' servc{L On tllf' first floor tlH'n,' Wl'I't

bedrooms " ith dl~ep , shady woodcn lJalconif's. on thl' second floor

more b{'druorns opf'ning onto tcrral.:cs.

I \\ould rnjo) looking: at Ihl' ol}en sk) from the upper roo 111 5 .

thought , a ~ \\f' approal.:hed the hotel for the firs t tilll(,. But 1I1f'

thought of M<l)ing in Ollt.' of the first floor room:, and n~ading or

\\ riting in til(' intimale atmosphere of tilt' shad) bakon) in the lal{'

afternoon secllled no less ;Il\iting.

ThNe \\as an opening in thc wall at the foot of til(' stair{'ase lead­

ing from tht' upper floors to Ih(' f'nlralH.'{'. A serving hatch. III tll('

('arly aft"I'IIOOIIS it held fruit flan s and white pi<JI('S for tlie guesls.

Thf' SHIell of the fr(' sh flan s look us hy surpri sl~ as we ('HIIH' do\\ n

tilt' stairs, alld kitchen nois('s issuetl fro III the haif-op<'11 door of thl~

opposite room.

After a da ) or t\\O \\e knew our \\a, around. Thni' \H'I'(' del ·k

dlilir::. !:' tiwk('d ,dong the side of the hotel. \\ hi('h adjoin :, Ihl' rncild-

0\\. A lilll(' \\a) iHHI) , in Ihe half shado\\ at the l'dgl' of til(' \\oml ,

\\l' nOli('f'fi .1 \\Olllan silling in a dl~(' k ('hair. reading. \\e picked lip

t\\o or the t·ha ir:; and looked for a spot of ollr 0\\11. During thl' da)

\\(' muall) drank our eoff{'(' ilt onf" of til{' \\oodell rolding tahlt~s on

thr narrow Hramla at Ihl' fr·ont. Tlw)' \\t' re hiJ1~l'd al r<'gular ililer­

\'al s alollg 111(' fronl parapf't. Lood places to s it , Iht'st' :-.rnalllalJles

3.

clingi ng to the edge of the \eranda; the sill \\as just til{' ri ght IH.'ight

for li se as a n e lbo\\-rcsl.

ConH' rsations \\ilh the other gllests usuall y too k pl<lcc <It dusk at

th e othe r verand;] tabl e's . placed in a row against the f<l ci.HIf' and

protpcled rrom til(' \\'('ather by thc proj(~ding uppcr floors. Th e

frc nch window to the Vl'nllHla was 0lwncd afte r th e even ing meal ;

we all stretched Ollr kgs und looked out over 1he \allf'y, and then

sa t wilh a drink h) th e walilhat was still "arm from the day's sun­

shin e. Once, aftcr th c ev('ning l11('al, we were irwitrd to sit at th e

large corner tablc at th e far end of th e veranda near the entranct.'.

During the day, that spot always secmed to be us{'d by the regulars

o r the house. I neve r sa t in thi s ni che, which (,aught thc morning

SUIl at thc other e nd of th e veranda. On sunny mornings Ih e re was

usua lly someone a lready sittillg the re. reading,

Whe n I think ahout buildings that provid e nr c with natura l spa­

tial conditions apr,ropriate to the place, to th e daily routinc , my

activities and the way I am fee ling, when I co njure up mental pi c­

tures of works of architccture that give me space to live and seem

10 anti cipate and sati sfy Ill) needs, thi s mo untain hote l always co Ill es

to mind . It was des igned by a painter for hims(' lf a nd his guests.

3 Our first impress ion o f the outside of til(' r('stmrrant mad e us

hopeful that we had found something better th an the other places

tdong th e main road of the tourist village. W(' wen' not di sa ppointed ,

Entering through Ih e na rrow porch, \\hich , as it turn ed oul , was

built from the inside behilld the main doo r like a \\Oode n shed . \\c

found ourselvf's in a large, high-ceilinged , ha ll-like room , its walls

and ceiling lined with dark , matt, glea ming wood: regularly placed

frames and panels, wain scoting, co rnices, inde nted joists resting on

brae-h iS with ornam ental scrolls.

The atmosphe re o f til<' roo m seemed dark, e \ {'n gloomy, until

our eyes gre \\ accu s t onH~d to the light. TIl(' gloom soon gmt' \\(1 )

to a mood of ge ntl {' lwss. The daylight {'ntning through Ihe tall ,

40

rh ) thmi ea lly placed "indo\\ :) lit up ('(' rtain se('li ons of 111 (' roolll .

\\ hil e ot lil'r parl~ whi t' h did not I}{'nefil from the relll'l'lioll o f Ihe

light fro m the pane ling lay \\illl(:In.l\\n in half-s hado\\ .

As :;oon as I f'ntf'red the 1'00111 Ill y e)'l' was ca ught by a n rx tpn si on

in th e' ('(' nt (> r of the long out e r wall , a s('rni-cireular hulge largc

ellough to accommodate fi\ c ta blr'S along the ellrv('11 \\all by the

\\indo\\s. Th e floor of the roo rn -Iwig ht nich e was o n a slightl y

higher I(' \ e l than the res t of t1w hall. \0 doubt a bout it , I th ought.

thi s \\ as \\here I wallted to sit. '1'\\ 0 of th e tables were still free. Th e

I)f'o pl!~ sitting there . doubtless ordinary gucsts of th e rest aurant ,

had a privileged air about thelll .

We hes itated and finall y d('cided on a t;] l1l e ill Ih e' almost e mpty

main part of til(' hall. Yf't we Ir esitaled again , and inst('ad of silting

d O \\11 \\ (' \\('nt in search of sc n ·icc, Afler a \\hil(' a girl a l)l)e<l re(1

through <.1 door in the pane ling of the inner wall ;:lIId led us to a

tabl!~ in til(> ni che. We sat down , The slight fep ling of irritation

occasiOlH'd by our arrival soon abat(>d, We lit our firsl ciga rettcs

and ordered some win e.

At lil e next table two \\om en W{'fe holding an anirnatNI conver­

sa tion. One of th em was s l)eaki ng AmericHn. th e other S\\i ss Ger­

man , i\eithcr of thelll spoke a \\ o rd in the other's language. The

vo ices of th e peopl e in Ih e grou p aL the nex t table but 011(' sounded

pleasa ntly far awa y, I 100k('(1 around and gradually absorbed th e

mood . I fe lt at case silting in th t' li ght of one of the windows, whi ch

no\\ see med talle r tha n (' \'('r. and looking into til(' dHrke ncd

ex panse o f til(' hall, The other gUl'stS, busy \\ ith thf'ir ('onversa tions

and the ir llIf'als, a lso seemed Iwppy to be sitting there; they be­

haved naturally, undi sturbed by other pf'oplf" s prese nce, with an

uncon strained ('onsidcrate ll l'ss for tllf'ir fellow gUl'sts which le nt

thelll an air or dignity. Oceul,i (' d as I was with my own activiti{'s. my

gau neH'rlhclcss alit occasio nal! ) o n other fan:.s . ~rnd I rf'alized

th aI I liked tire fee ling of tlwir proximity - in thi s roo rn in \\ hi ch

we alllook('d our best.

41

I 1

' I · 1

4 Dri\ i n~ H long a road on the t:oast of Ca Ii forn ia , we fi lIa Il y ani vl'd

at the ~dlOolthat was li ~ted ill tilt:" <lrchite(:turiJl guidt,: a spr.m ling

t'o llll'ln of p~l\ ilions s l}rt~ad 0111 O\t~r a hHgf' ("panoe' of fl at land

high OHr tht' Paf'ific. Barel) any tref' ~, karsti{' rock thrusting

through tilt' turf, a f('\\ hous{'s in th e immediate vi('init~. TIH~ ro\\ :')

of tall. :-. ing l('-sto re y buildings with nat. projc (,ting roofs \\Crl'

co nlll'l'ted b) a:-. phalt paths covc red b) l'OIUTl'tl' ~ Iabs on stet,l

l'OIUIIIIIS, anti Ihe rq;ular arrangelllcnt of tin' paths alld jJa\ilions

which al'l'l'ar('d to accolllmodate the chlssroorns \\<lS IH .. 'riodi(·ally

illtl'rruplt'd by buildings \\ith a spec ial function at which \\ (' could

olily gu('ss .. It \\as during the sc hool holidays, and Iht' ("ompl('x waS

d(' s(' rlt'(1. Thi' windows \\('rf' Sf'! high up in til(' \\alls, and il was

hard to S('i' into the classrooms. We came across a larg.' Ilwtal door

to u side ('o llrlYHrd which seemcd to belong to one of till' classrooms ..

It \\ . IS s li ghtl ) open, and \\c managed to catch a glimpse of iJ roo III

\\ith dl'sks and a blill: kboard. It \\as plainly furui shed . Th c \\alls

and Ill(' iloor sho\\ cd signs of int e ll si \ c usc, ;'lIId tlie (hi) light e nter­

ing through Ihl' high \\illllo\\s knl the room an allllospht'rl' Ihat

\\as hoth (·ollc('nlratcd and genllc.

Prot N·t ion from Ihe sun , shelter from til(' \\ind and rain. Hn

int c lligl'nl approadl 10 the iSSIlf" of lighting, I thought : and I W(I"

aware' Ihal I had hy no Ilwans graspNI all Ill(' Slwfific qu a lities of

this urt'hill'cturf' - thf' st raightforward si mplicity of il s slrIlClurf' ,

for exalllplf', \\ hidl W<lS reminiscen t of industrial prf'( 'a:-. I cont'r('lf"

l'oll!o.tructions, or its spac iousness, or its lack of the pe(iUnlic refine­

IIIcnts thaI ahound in st.: hools in Switzerland.

'I ) \ is il had bec n \\ortll\\ hil c. Onn' again, I rt'SOhl'" to ht'gin

III ) \\ork \\ilh Iht· ~ illlpl e, practica llhings, to lII<1kt' th (.':')(.' things big

and good <lnd \)('autiful. to makc thelll the :; t;'l rtill g l)Uilll of till' SPt'­

cifir forlll. lik,' a ma:-.lf'r builder \\ ho ullderstand ., hi s 1lH'liN.

5 \t tilt' ag(' of ('ightc('n, \dlf'n I \\as approaching Ill<' ,'n(/ of Ill )

apprt'ntin'ship as a cahinf'tmaker. I mad I' my fir1'!t sc lf-df's i~n('fl

42

pit'ces of furniture. The master cahint'llIIakn or th(' dient deter­

milwd the form of mo!'t of the furnitun' madl' in our shop. and I

s(, ldum lik"d it. I did not {,\l'n like Iht' \\ood \\{' used for tilt' besl

pi('("(':o,: \\alnui. I C'ho:.c light-colored ash for 1lI~ Iwd and (· upboard,

and I lIIad f" tlwlll so Ihat thl') looked good on all !'oides. \\ith til{'

l'oa llle \\oocl and the sa llie ('iln:.-ful \\ork hack anll front. I di srf"garded

th(' II sual pract ice of '-"Iwllding I( 's~ linll" and C;.Irf" on the back

hf'Ca ll Sf" no one eve r sees it <l lIy\\<I) . AI long la l'o l I \\ <lio; ahlf' to round

off Ihe edges only slight!) wilhollt being l'(lm~('\ed, running lhc

sa lldllaper swiftly and lighlly ovcr Ih(' Nlg,· ... 10 sofh'n Ih e ir sharp­

ness wilhout losing the elcganr·(, and filH'Ilf"SS of tht' lines. I barely

lout.:hed the corncrs where thr('(' I'dgl's [II('('\. I fiuI-' d thc door of

Ihc c upboi.lrd into Ihe frame allhe frollt with a lIIaximum of prcc i­

sion so Ihat it closed almost lH'rlll (, ti ca ll ), \\ill! a gc ntle frictional

rc~ i !)tanl'e and a han· ly audiblt' sound of e~l'a pillg air.

I ff"1t good working on thi s c upboard . \laking the prnisf" l) fit­

tingjoinls and f"xact shal)CS to form a \\ holc, ;'l cO mplCIl' ohjf"C't that

('or r('sponded to my inner vision. tri gger{'J in IlW ;,l sta lf' of intense

cOIl(,f"ntration. and th e fini shed pi('c(' of furniturf" ad(lt~d a fresh­

Ilf"SS to my environment.

6 The idca is Ihc 1'0110\\ ing: a long, narrow hlock of basalt sto ne

I'rojc(;ting a good tiJrc(' sto r(' ys oul of tllf' ground. The block is

hollowed oul on all s id('s until on I) a long lIIiddl(' rib and a numbe r

of IranSH'rse, horizontal rihs rrmain. SI'(' II ill l.:ross-sl'l'tion.

the imagined block no\\ looks lik" a gl'ol111' lri ca ltree or Ihl' 11'It('rT

\, illl Ilircl' horizontal ~trokes: a ~ ton(' ohjl'ci 011 thl· outskirls of

tilt" Old '1'0\\11 . dark. almo~t hlal'k. lIIatt. gleaming - a nd at Ill('

~a llH' limc tlw load hcaring and :-. pat ial :-.1 ru(·tun' of a thrf"t~ -"Ior)

building -. (·<1::t in dark stained lTlIlt'n\. jointl,,~!,> , \amish('d with

"tOIIf' oil. "ith surfa cc..'s thaI feel lik ... paraffin \\ax. Door-:-. ized

opcnings in the ribs, simple holt, !'> in 1111"' stOlle . npose Ihl' sheer

lIIass of the material.

43

We hal1(II (' thi s Slon e sculpture with th e utmost ('arc. for ,' v,' n at

thi s stage it is alrp,uly almost tlw whole building. \y/p tiesign the

joints of Ih(' bO;.Ifds in \\ hich it is cast like a fine nel\\ork covering

allille surf;:J('cs "ith a rpgular patlt'rn. and W{' ilre l:<J rdulto rnsurp

that the joint s ari sing during Ih e seetion-\\ise casting of tlw ('on­

('fele \\ ill di sapprar into tlw net\\ork. The thin s({'cI franH's Ilroject­

ing frolll til(' slon e like blades in the middl e of th e door arc intt-nd­

cd to hold 111(' wings of the doors, and lightweight glass and slw('t

Ilwtal pancls arp insc rted betwepn the sto ne consoles of till' floor

slahs so tliat th e inlf'rll1 ediate spaces bClwef'n th(' ribs hnollw

rooms likt, glazed verandas.

Our clients arc of til{' opinion Ihat t1w careful way in which we

treal our 1lI3tcrinls, the way wc develop til{' joint s and tr;:nl sitions

from one cie llwnl of th e building to Ihe other, and th e precision of

delailto "hidl Wf' aspire are all too elaborate. Thry want us 10 li se

more ('om mon compon ents and constru ctions. tlwy do nol wanl liS

to make sll ch high demands on the craftsme n and t('c hnic ians who

are co lla borating with us: th ey want us to build more r heapl ),.

Wh en I think of the air of qualit y that til{' building could

evenlually (' Illanate on its appointed site in fi\'e years or five dec­

ades. when I conside r that 10 the people who will eneollntf'r it, the

only thing that will count is what they see, that whi l: h was finally

('o nstrul:led , I do not find it so hard to put up a rcs iSlanC(' to our

ciipnts' wishes.

7 I r(,vi sited Ihe hall "ilh th e niche in the e nd wa ll thut Ilikefl so

lIIuch and \\hi ch I lri,~d to t1 esc rilH' earlier. I was no longer surp

"hether th £' Iloor oflhe niehe was rea lly on a hig her IpH I than til{'

rest of Ih (' hall. It was not. 'Jor was the diffe rence in brightn ess

betwcen Ih(' niche and the hall as great as I re lll cmi>er('d it , and

I was di silpl)oint('d b), Ih e dull light on th e wall panc ling.

Thi s diffcre nc(' be twcen tilf' rcalil y and my memuries did not

surpri s(' Illt'. I havp never been a good obser\'f'r, and I Il<Iv(' lI£'ver

44

rcally wanted to be. I likp absorbing moods, moving in spatial situa­

tions, and I am satisfied wh en I am ablf' to ret a in a feeling, a strong

ge neral impression from whidl I can latN extrac t delail s as from

a painting. and when I ca n wond('r wh,11 il \HI S that trigge red thc

sc nse of prot ection. warmth. lightness or Sl)ac iousness that has

st<lyt'd in my memory. Wh en I look bal: k likc this it scems impos­

sible to di stinguish between a rchil ('(;ture and life. lH'twee n spatial

situ ations and the way I expericn('c Ih em. Even when I concentrate

exclu sively on the architecture and try 10 t1nde r::l land what I have

seen , Illy perception of it resonates in what I havc experienced and

thus colors what I have ohserved. J\1(,llIorips of similar ('X peri­

CIH.:es thrust their way in , too, and thus images of related architec­

tund situation s overlap. Th e diffcrence in the floor levels of the

ni che and th e hall could well have e;\isted . Pcrhar's it c\en did ex ist

once and was hlte r removed? Or. if it was ne \cr therc, perhaps it

should be added. as an improvclll f' nt to th e room ?

No" I have fallen back into my role as ' HI ar('hitect , and I rea lize

onc(' morc how mu eh I enjoy working with myoid pass ions a nd

inwges. and how they he lp me 10 find whal I am looking for.

45

The body of architecture 1996

1 I "as int (' rvi cwec/ by tlw curatoroftlw IllU Sf'IIIll. 1I f' !rird to sOllnd

Ill e oul hy means of clever, un ex pected qu estions. \vh fll did I think

about IJrt' hit('cturc, what was important to IlIf' abollt my work -

,hCSi' W('r(' the things he wanted to know. The tape r('('ordf'1" was

on. I did my 11('51. At til(' f'nd of the int e rview, I rl'i.liiz(·d that I was

not rcally sati s fi ed wilh my answers.

LaIN thut evening, I talked to a friend ubout Aki Kauri smiiki 's

latf'st film . I admire the director's em l)athy and rr s[l('(' t for hi s c har­

acters. lie <lo('s nol kee l} hi s actors on a leash: h(' doC's not ,~ xploit

tlwlIl to ('xprC'ss a conc('pt , but rath e r shows tlwm in a lighllhat IN S

us sense their dignit y, anrl their secrets . Kaurism iiki 's a rt I('neis his

fi llll s a feeling of warmth , I told Illy colleague - and Ihe n I kllf'w

what it was I wou ld have lik('d to have sa id on the tape thi s Illorn­

ing. To build hOll ses like Kauri smaki makes film s - that 's whut I

would l ikt~ 10 do.

2 '1'11(' h01f'1 in which I was staying was remodf'lf'd by a French stur

desiglwr whos(' work I do not know becau se I am not interested

in tr('nd y d C's ign. Bul from thc mom e nt I e nlerf'd Ill(' hOI ('I , the

<'Itrnosplrer(' {' rratC'd by hi s architecture bega n to tak{' (·ffcct. Artifi­

c ial light illIJllIinat t' cI thr hall like a stage. Abundant. Imllt'd light.

Bright acc('llIs on the rt'('eption desks, differl' lIt kinds of natural

ston C' in nidles in the wall. Pf'ople asccnding till' gra(,eful sta if\\HY

to Ihe e ncircling ga ll l'ry stood out against a shining golde n wall.

Ahovc, Olle ('oult! s it in one of the dress circl (' buX('s oVl'rlooking

till' hall and IlI:lv(' a drink or a sna(·k. Tlwn' art' onl) good sea ts

II('fr . Chri slopher Alexander, who speaks in " palt('fn languagt:- of

48

SIHllial situations in whit'h people inSlillcti\t'l) ff't~ 1 good, \\ould

11 ,1\(' been pleast·d. I sat ill a bo'\ oH'rlookin~ til(' hall , a 1) p ('('1310r.

f('ding that I \\3 S part of til(' dt~~ igller's sla~l' St'l. I lih·d looking

d O\\11 on Ih f' aCli\it )' helm\ "hert' propl(' ('<1111{' ilnd "cnt, e nte red

and .,' xilcd. I felt I unde rstood \\ h) til(' iJr('hit f'd i ~:;o ~lJ(:CCSs rlll.

3 She had S,'(,II if small house b) Frallk Lloyd \\ right th at made a

gn'a t impress ioll 011 her. said II . It s rooms "t're so slllall anrl inti-

111<11 (' , th e ir ('(' ilings so 10\\. There W<lS a lill) library with special

I ighl i ng a nd a lot of d('('oral iv(' a rdl il ('('I ural (' Iemellt s, and t h(' whole

11011 5(' Ilwrh' a stro ng horizonta l impress ion which she had never

cxpf'rif'necd befor('. Th(' o ld lady was still living tlH'rc. There was

110 need for me to go and sec the house, I thought. I klww jusl what

she mea nt, and I knew the feel ing of " holllf' '' Ihat sh t' described.

4 Tht~ IlI c mb('rs of the jury wt're shown buildings by architects

co mpe ting for a n architectural a\\ard. studied the docume nts

dcsc ribing a sma ll red house in a rura l se lling, .1 barn converted

inlo a d\\ C' lIing whic h had Iwen c nlarg('d by th e architect and the

inhabitant s. 'I'll(' ex ten sion was a suc('(' ss, I thought. Although yo u

('o uld srt' what had bCC'Il donI' to Ih(' house be nca th th e saddl e

roof, Ihe changl' was w('lI-mode led and integrated. 'I'll(' window

o penings werr s('nsi-tive ly (>Ia('('d. Thf' o ld and the new were bal­

anced and harmonious. Tht' n('w parts of thr hou se did nol see m to

be saying " I am new," but rathe r " I alll pari of Ihe nf'W whole."

J\othing spec tacular or innovativc. nothing strikillg. BasC'd prrhaps

on a so IlI C \\ hat outdate{1 dcs ign prim·iplc. all o ld - fa shioned

approach attuned to crafts llIanship . \\ c agr('('r/ that \\f' could not

a\\;:rrd thi s conversion a pri zl' for tl l's ign - for that its architectural

cl;:rims \\ere too modest. Yet I (' ujoy thinking ba ck on the small re d

hOll !,C'.

49

5 III a book about tilllbN constru ct ion . III ) attention was caught

h) photographs of hugf' areas of close l) pack('d tn'e trunks floatin g

011 \\ide cxpanses o f \\ater. I al so liked th(' picturf' 0 11 tiH' CO\f'r of

till' book, a collage of lengths of wood arranged in laye rs like a cross

scdioll. The nUlllerous photos of woodf'1l iluildings, despite tile fat't

that they \\ere ar('ilitf'dUrally commendable, \\LTe less appealing.

I huH' not hllilt \woelf'1l houses for a long tim e.

A )ollng collf' aguf' askcd me how I \,ould go about building a

how, f' of wood after \\orking for sO lli e )cars \\ ilh stone and con­

nrtf', steel and glass . At once, I had a IlH' ntal image of a hollSf'­

sized block of solid timiJer, a dense VOIUIIII~ llJa<i (' of til(' hiolog ical

substance of wood, hori zo ntall y layf'rNI and prf'('i sely hollowf'd

out. A howl(' like thi s \\0,11<1 changf' its s hapt'. ,\ould swell and

('onLnH't, f'xpand and ck(Tcl]se in he ight, a ph <.'nulll cnon that \\ould

havf' Lo Ilf' an integ ral pari of the design. \1 ) )oung co ll eague lold

Ill f' that in Spanish , hi s mothe r tongue, tll(' words \\Ood , rnotlwr

and mate rial were s imil;H: "madera ," " Illildrf'," " materia." Wf'

started tal ki ng about t he sensuou s qualit ics and ('II it II ra I s igni fi ca ncf'

of tht, clemental mat eria ls of \\ood ami s tOllf'. and about how \\e

t'oultl express the::,c in 0111' huildings.

6 C('nlral Park SOlllh , Nf'\\ 'ork , a hall on Ihe fir~1 floor. It \\as

t' vf'ning. Beforf' 1Ilf' , framed by the soaring, shining. slony city, lay

th e- huge wooded rf'ctang-ie of the park . Creat l: ities are based on

gre-a t. df'ar. well-ord('red concepts, I th ought. Th e r(,ctangular

paltnn of the streets. the tliagonal lint' of Broad\\a) , tllf' coastal

lines of tile peninsula . Tilt, buildings. packed d t'IH,{' I) in their right ­

angled grid, loollling lip in Ihe sky, indi\idualisti(" in love \\ith

Ihl'IIiSelV('S, <lllonyrnolis. r('f'kless, tamf'd hy thf' straitjal'kcl of thf'

g rid .

7 Tlw for mer to\\niloll l':o (' looked somc\\hilt l o~t in the I,ark- likt ,

I~ XpaIl Sf'. It was til{' onl ) huilding in thaI part of til(' to\\11 10 ha\t~

50

survi ved Ihl' d('stru ctioll ofthl' 5 l'('o nd \Xorld \'('ar. Pr(' \iousiy use{1

as an {' Illhassy. it was no\\ hf'ing cnlarged by a third of it s original

siu <It'{'o rding to the plans of a t'o lllpet e nt archit('cl. I-lard and self­

asslIrf'd , til e ex t(' ns ion stood sidl' h) sid(' with the old building; on

th e one hand a Ilf'wn stOIlt.' basI', stu('co facades and lJalustrades, on

the otll{'r <I compressed rno(krn allll('X made of exposNI {'oncrctc ,

a rt'slrain NI. di sciplined \'0111111(' , which alludt~d 10 tIl{' old main

building \\hilf' maintaining a (Ii :o. lin et, dialog i(' di ::, tant ·{' in terms of

it s design.

I found llIy~ clf thillking a hout Ihl' old castif' in my \ ilhlg(" It has

been a!tcrt'd and extended many tillles OVf'r the centuries, df'Vf,lop­

in g gnuJllall y from a clusler of fr('('- standing buildin g:-l into a dosed

cOlnplex \\ith an inne r courtyard . A nl'\' archit('{'tural whole

e merged at {,<14'h stage of it ~ {le't~lopm e nt. Histori('ill incongruities

\\ere not ar(,hitecturally reco rded . Th e old \\as adap(('J to lile lle\\ ,

or the nc w to the old , in tlw intt'rcs t of thc complete. integrated

appearancc of it s latesl stag{' of cvolution. Only whell Olll' anal yzes

Ihe suhstancI' of the \\all s, strips them oftllf'ir plaste r and l~xamines

tllf'ir joi nt s do these old huiltlings r('\('al their eompl(·, g{' IH"sis.

8 I f'ntercd the exhibition pm ilio n. Once again. I \\ a:o. confronted

hy s iopillg \\<ll1s. s lanted plan{'!'), surfa{'cs linked 10010('11' and play­

full y Logethf'r, battens and 1'01)('5 hanging, lealling, floatin g or pull­

ing, taut or project ing. Th e composition di sclaimed tlw right-angle

and sought a n informal balan cf'. Th e art'hil('cIUrf' mad e a d) narnic

illlpr(' l':os ion. symboli zing mO\ f' U1l'lIt. It s gesturf's fill ed the mailable

spa('{'. \\<lnting to be look('d at. to make their mark . Thf'rf' was

hardl y any room left for Illf' . I follo\\l'd Ihe winding path indiealed

hy till' arl'hill'dure.

In tile II t'x l pavilion I IIlt' t with tllf' spaciou s d('g;'IIH'f' of thl' Bra ­

zilian lIliistn's ~weeping lint'S a nd forms. O"('t~ again. III) interesl

\UIS ulpt urNI b) the large room.., and tilt' l'1lI1)tinl'5~ oftbl' hllg.~ out­

dour !:o P,H'{':,> in the photos of hi s \\ork.

51

9 \.Iold lI1e Ihal sllf' had ~t'l' n man) la ll OOt'd '\OO1en o n till' beach

of a small M,.- aside reso rt ill Ihe '"Cinqu(' Terru" region , i.I holida)

dcstination visited mainly hy Ita lian s. TIH' wOlllen underline the

indi, idual;t ) of their hodies. use thelll to F)roclaim thl·ir idt~ntity.

The horl ) as'1 rduge in a "orld ,\ hidt \\ould appear to Iw nooded

b) artificia l signs o f lih~, and in whieh philoso phers pondt'r on virt­

ual realit y.

The human hody as an obj('('t of ('Ollh.'lIlpOrar) a .. t. Su rH'Ys,

di sdo::> un' :o. Ihilt seek kno\\INlg{'. or tlu' human hod) il:o. OJ feli sh of

sdf-assntion which can only slI('('eed wlH'n looked at in the mirror

or Sl'l'll through the cyt's of ot he rs!

This autumn. I visitl'rI thr- roolll wi th th l' f'xhibition of ('ontf' ln­

porary ardtitntural projt.oe ts frolll FralU'(,. 1 saw shining objects

made of glass , gf'nt le sh apes, \\ilhollt l'dgt's, 'Iilut, ('Iegan t ('urves

rounding off the geo ll1 e lril'al vo lum es of the ohjects ilt specific

points. 'l'lwir lines remindC'd n1(' of HOllin's dr;:mings of nullt,s and

endO\\ cd the objects "ith the (Iuality of ~:l(' tdpturf's, Archite('tu .. al

models. Models. Beautiful bodies, celebr;.lIions of surface lexture,

skin , l1('rrll etic and nawlt~ss, embracing tilt' hodies.

10 A glass purtition di\ic/,'d up th e length of thc narro\\ co rridor of

the old hOlel. The wing of a door below. a firm ly fixed PiJlW of glass

above, no fnw1(' , the panes damped and Iwlt! at the conwrs hy t\\O

metal clasps. Norma ll ) tlon('. nothing sl)ecia l. Cl~"liJinl)' nol a

design b) an architect. But I lik{'d the door.

Was it h('eause of Ihe proportions of the two l)al1('s of glass. the

form and position of lite clamps, tht, gleami ng of the glass in th{'

muted ('olors of tile dark ('orridor. or \\a8 il hr-('ause the upper I)an{'

of glass. "hidl \\as lal l.~ r thall tht, .. ,erage-height swing door Iwlow

it, emphasizcd Ih~ hl'ighl of the corridort I did not know.

11 I \\3 :0. ~hown some photographs of a ("o lllplil'at ed huilfling. Dif­

ferl~nl a rt'a ~, planes, <lnd \ollimes seenwd to oH·r lap. slanting: and

52

('recl, ellt'il l,stllaled OIl(' "ithin Ihe oll1('r. Th e building. \\holSe unu­

sual apP(· 'JrHIH.'C gaH' Illi' no ,,\(oar indil:<ttion as to il" funr'tion.

made a .... trangel) o'r'riomll'd and tortured impress ion. SonH'how. it

se('med I\\o-dinl£'nsional. For I mo 1lJ(' lit I thought I \\ a:o. looki ng at

a photognlf)h of a I:ardhoard moJt~ l , ( 'olorfull~ paint l'd. Later.

,,11('n I Il'arllNlthe ltallll' of Iht: archit(,( ,t, I \\as shock.'d . Ilad I

mad e 1.1 Illi ~tak." a pre maturl' , ignorant jlltlgnl('nt'? Thl' ar('hitC'('t's

name has all intl'rnationa l ring. his lilH' a rchit('('tural drawings are

\\ell kilO" 11 . and his \\ .. ill(' n ::> t'lt('I11('nts aboul conlelllpOrHr) an'hi­

lecture, \,hie lt al so d('al "ilh philosophical themes, an~ "idcly

publi shed .

12 ,\ to\,nholise in \tlilhallan \\ilh a good address, just ('om­

piNed. 'I'll(' Il£' \\ fac<I(k in th,' line of til£' street of huildings stood

ou t di stinetly, In the photograph s. tl1(' natural ~tone shit· lr!. sur­

rounded b) glass, looked like a backdrop. In rea lity, the fat'ad~ was

more unifo rm , lIIore integrated in its surroundings. '1 ) instinct to

eriticiz(' vanished wlwn I entered the hOllst'. Thc qualit ) of it s con­

struction (·aptu .. ed my aILcntion. The i1rchil('('t receivt'd li S, look us

into the ,eslibule. and sho\\ ('d us from room to rool11. The rooms

,\ere spac ious, their order logica l. We " c rt:' {'ager to ::>e t~ {'aeh suc­

(;('eding rOOIll . and we "('1'(' not di sa ppointed, The qualit y of the

daylight e llt('ring through the glazed "{'ar fa cade and a skylight

o\{'r the slairs "as pleasant. On all tlw floors. the prf's(' nt·c of the

intimat e back ya rd around \\ hidt til(' Irwin rooms \\cre groul)ed

was pereCI)\ible, even at the heart of tht' building.

The architect spokf' in n' slJ('l'tful , amicabl(' !('rms of tlH' ('Iients,

the nc" I) insta lled re!' ici{,IHS. of their und erstanding of hi s work.

of his dforts to l'omp l)' "itll tlwir requirenwnts. and oftht' ir criti­

cislll or sOlli e impractica l aspects which he subsequently improvcd.

li e 0pf'lwd t"llpboard doors, lowered the large serim hlinds, which

suffused Ihl' li ving room" ith u Inell(1\\ light . sho\\ cd us folding

partitions, and (lemonstr31('d hugl' !ming doo rs Ihat mo\(,,1 noise-

53

less ly l)('t\\ ('c lI 1\\0 pi vots, d osing tightly and prec ise ly. EH· r) now

and tll(.' II , he to ut hed til(' sur faee o f so mc llIaterial. o r ran hi :5 hands

ovcr il ha ndra il , a joi nt in the wood, the (' dg(' 0 1' ;:1 g lass pa ll (·.

13 'I'll<' to \\n I " as visiting had a I)a rti cula rl y att rar li\(' ne ighho r­

hood . Buildi ngs fro m th e 19th ce ntury and til(' turn of t1H' ('(· ntur) .

solid vo lum es 1,lact e! ;:do ng th c slr('f'ts and s(Jl w res, tO Ii Mru Cled of

slonc a lltl bri ck. No thing f'xcf' pti onal. Typicall y urba n. '1'11 (, publi c

premi ses on th e 10wI' r fl oors fac f'd til(' road , th e dw(· llings and o f­

fitT S .. bow' re trf'a ted Iwhind protective facades, hitlillg pri vat (·

sph e l'(,5 hr hind prf's lig ioIJs fa ces, anonymous faccs, clearl y divorc­

('d from tlw puhli c space whi eh began with a hard (' d gl~ al til(' 1'001

of the facades.

I had bee n to ld tha I a numbe r o f architccts li vf'd a nd \\orked in

this ne ighbo rh ood . I re membered th is a few days later whe n I was

looking at .. 1 Il l' \\ neighho rhood nea rhy. design cd hy well-known

architec ts. and I found Ill ) sc lf thinking about the unequi \oca l

backs .. wd fro nts of the urhan stru ctures, the prec isely a rti cul ated

publie s l)ac(,5, til(' g rar iously restra ined facades and exac tl y fittin g

voluInes for th l' hody of the town .

14 WI' spent years de v<.·loping the com:c pt , th e form , and the wo rk­

ing drawings o f Ollr stonc-built thc rn .... I baths. Th cll constructi on

bc~all . I was standing in front of o nc of the first bloeks that th l'

nwso ns had built in sto ne fro m <l nearb) quarry. I \\as suq}ri sed

a nd irrit ated . A It hough (' v(' ryt h i ng co rrespo nd f' d (,xartl ) \\ it h 0 11 I'

pl ans. I had not eX lw t-tf'(1 Ihis con('urrf' nt ha rdncss a nd softn ess,

thi s smooth )<' t rugged qu a lit y, th is iridesce nt gray-gree n prcsc l1(:c

f' mana li ng fro m th e squ a re sto ne blocks. Fo r a moment , I had th e

fc{' li ng Ih at our project had escaped us and be('o nl l' ind (,' pcnd cnt

hcca ust· it had {'\'o l\ ed into a mate rial e nt ity tlwl ol)(' )'cd it s own

la w ~ .

54

15 I \i l'i ited all ('xllibition of \\ork hy i\lf'rf'l OPI)('nlwim at tilt'

Cuggf'nlwirn \lus(' ulll. The techniques she uses an' slrikingl)

\arit'd. Tlwn' is no continuous, consist __ 'nt sl) Ie. \c'Hrtht· lt·ss,

I e)'perit'IH,t'd Iwr \\a) of thinking, lIer \\0.1) uf luoking at till' \\orld

alill of illtt'rHllilig in it through hef \\ork as coh(,rent <Inti illtq~ral.

50 1I1t'n' i.-: probably no point in \\ondefingju iil what it is Ihat ~ t y li 1)­

ti('all~ l illk~ 11](, famou s fur ('UP and the snake mad(' up of pit'c '('~ of

coal. Didn 't i\!.'fl't 0PIH'lIheim OIH'C say thaI ('\('ry idt'a llC'cfi:-. its

proper 1'01'111 to lit' (,ffnliv(,'!

56

Teaching architecture, learning architecture 1996

'oung pt'ople go 10 lIni\l'rs il~ with tlH' aim of hecoming ardlil('cls.

of finding oul if Ih(') h<l\e gol \\ hal it li.lkt'~. \\ hal ii'! the first thing

\\1' should teach th{,Ill'~

First of all. w(' Illust f'xplain 111<11 the person stant/ing- in front of

!lwIII is not somf'OIH' "ho asks fI"f' Slion s whOSt' an"'w('rs he already

knows, Practicing architecturf' is asf...ing OIWSt· It' qUf'stion.\', finding

olle's 0\\11 answers wi th the heir' of tlie ({,;.!Chcr, \\hiltling down ,

finding solutions. O\('r <Hal ovcr again.

The strength of a good design licl:'l ill ourl:'leht's and in our ability

10 pf'rcei\e the \\orld" ilh both elllotion <lnd f('a~o n, '\ good architec­

tural dcsign is Sf'nsuous. A good architectural dCl:oign is intelligent.

\X'f' all cxperience ar('hit('('turf' heforr \,(' hil\(' l'\('11 heard the

\\onl. Thc roots of architf'('tural undf'rstanciing lir in our art'hitec­

tural ex pericnce: our room , our hou !'('. our sl rcet , our village, our

tOWII, our landscar}C - we exp('rie IH'e them all earl) OIL un('on­

sc iollsl) , alld wc subsequenliy compar(' thelll wilh the (,ountrysidc,

towns and houses that we l''''perielll'l' lat ef on, Thc roots of our

understanding of archit(,(,turc lie in our ehi ltJhood, in our youth;

thcy li c in OlJr biograph), 5tudcnt~ have 10 Itarn 10 \\ork con­

sciously with their personal hiographical e:\. I)('riellccs uf arehit('c­

tur('. Thcir allotted tasks are dc\ised to s('( this pro('('55 in motion.

\\ e ma) wonder what it was that \\(' likNI about thi s hOllse, thi s

10"11. \\hilt it \\as that impressed and lotwlwd liS - ami \\h), What

\\as til(' roolll like, the square. \\h al did it r('all ) look like. "hal

smcll was in the air. \\ hat did TI'l) foot steps sound likf' in it, and my

\oif'c, how did thc noor fee l under Ill y ft,(,t, lite door handle in my

hand , hm\ did tlw li ghl strike til(' fal"-ttll's, "hal \UIS the shinc on

57

1I1l' \\<1115 likf" ! Was tllNt:' a fecling of narro\HI CSS or \\idth. of inti­

lIl :'u') or \'ast lU'ss?

\\oocien floors like lighl IIlcmbranes, hem ) l'o lon e mass('s, soft

li'xtilt's , polishcd granite, pliable leal her, ruw i:i t ecl , poli shf'd

mahogu ny, {'I'),s tallillt.: glafoos, so ft asphalt wal'nl{'t! by Ihc sun ... the

:'1I'4..'hiICC" S materials. our materials. W(' know 111('111 all. And yt"

\\e do not kno\\ th e l11 . In order to dcsign. to 111\('111 architecture, \\{'

IllU ~t learn to handle thel1l \\ith a\\arf'ness. This is r('search; thi :,

is the work of n ·llIcmlwrilig.

Architecturc is always con{'l'('te matter. Ardlitecturc is 1101

abst ract , but com;rcte. A plan , a project drawn on (laper is 1101 al'('hi­

I{'cturc hut merely a ilion,' or less inadequate rcpfl'scntation of

arthit('cture. comparablc to sheet music. ~Iusie necds to be pe r­

fOl'llwd. Architt·ctll"t.~ IW('cls to bc cxecuted. The n it s hody ca n CO Ill L'

into being. And thi s body is ah\ays se nsuous.

All dt'sign work start s fromllw premise of thi s physica l, ohjecli"f'

se ll suou sness of architeclur{', of its matNials. To ('xpericnce al'('hi­

t('cturc in a concrete wa) Ill('an s to touch , sec, hear, and slllcli it.

To di scO\er and conscio tl sl) work with Ihesf' qllalities - tlwse are

the th e lllf's of our tcaching.

All the design \\ork in the st udio is don e \\ith materials. It always

aims direct l), at co ncr('t c things, objf'('ls, installations made of real

matcrial (clay, stonc, ('opp1.'r. stf'pl , fe lt , doth. wood, plaster,

bri( ·k ... ). Tht'r(' are no 1;<'lf(lboard models. Adually, no --models" al

all in Ihc t'oll\pntional s('nSf·. but connett' ohjccts. thrcc-diml~ n­

siollal \\orks 011 a spct: ifie scalf'.

Thc drawing of st:alc plans a lso bcgins \\ith the t:H Ilt:ff'te objet:! ,

tllll s r(,vcrsing th e onlcr of " id ea - plun - (,OI1('rl.'le object " which is

:sta ndard pradiec in professio llal archilf'('!lIrl'. Firii t th e concrcte

objccls are cons truC1f'd: thclI th c-) arc drawn 10 S(·a lf'.

\\ e carr~' imagf's of \\orks of architpcturt' b) "hich we have becn

influenced arollnd "ith us. Wf' can re-ilHokt' lIwse illlugc-s in our

mind 's c)e and re -exa mill(' th(,lll. But thi s tlOt~S not )'I't makc a ne\\

58

design , n('" a rchitecture. EH'r) design needs 11('\\ illliJg:es. Our

-'old" imag('s can on ly hell) us to filld new ones.

Thinking in images \\hcll des igning is alw<.1Ys dir('(:tNI towards

the who le. By it s very nature, thc imagc is always the whole of the

imagin ed realit),: wall and floor, (·riling and materials, til(' moods of

light and color of a room, for (·x<.ul1p lf'. And we also sec all the

detail s of Ih e transitions frolll the floor to the \\all and from the

wall 10 the window, as if " c \\crc "at(' hing a film.

Often however, they are nol si mpl y there, these visual el('ments

of th e image, when we start on <I df'sign and try to form an image of

th e des i rctl ohject. At the hegi nn ing of t he design prot:l'ss, I hc i muge

is usuall y inco mpl ete. So w(' try repeatedly to re-articulate and

clarify our themc, to add th e miss ing parts to our imagined piclUre.

Or, to pUI it another way: \\e design. The concrete, sc nsuous qual­

ity of Ollr inne r image hell}:;; li S he re . It helps li S not to get lost in

arid , ahstract th eo retical assumptions; it heil}S li S not to lose track

of thc cOllcretc qualities of art:hitecture. It he lps us not to fall in

love with the graphit: quality of our drawings and to con fu se it with

rea l architectural quality.

Produc ing inn e r images is a natural process co mmon to t'veryone.

It is part of thinking. Associativc, wild , free , ordered a nd systematic

thinking in images, in archikclura l, spatial, colorful and scnsuous

pictures - thi s is Ill)' favorit(' cldinition of design.

59

A way of looking at things

lecture, written November 1988, SCI-ARC Southern California Institute

of Architecture, Santa Monica

The hard core of beauty

lecture, written December 1991, Symposium Pi ran, Slovenia

From passion for things to the things themselves

lecture, written August 1994, Alvar Aalta Symposium, ~Architecture

of the Essential," Jyv8skylii, Finland

The body of architecture

lecture, written October 1996, Symposium "Form Follows Anything,"

Stockholm

Teaching architecture, learning architecture

Written September 1996, Accademia di afchitettura, Mendrisio, Switzerland

6'

Peter Zumthor

1913 Born in Base l

19SH Train ed as a cabinf'tmak(,f

196 :~ KUllstgewerbeschulc Bas('l , trainrd a!'l a de::o iglll'l"

1966 Prall In stitute , New York , \isiting slufi(,l1t in ar(' iJit('Clure

and design

196M

1970

Architect in the 1)('1'<11"11111'111 for till' Pn'sl'natioll of

MOllulllellt s, Canlon of Gn.lllbiindt'n , 5w il,wrland

L('('t U 1'('1', liniv('rsity of Zurich , on Ih(' ~ lIrvt' yi ng and

maintenance of vernacular townSf'apl'S

1979 Own pradit.:e, I-Ialdenstein . Crallhiind('n

1988 \ ' isiting professo r, SC I-AIl C Southern C.diforni a

Instill/It' of Art·hiled ure , 5.1 111 .1 \loni('a

1989 Vis iting: professo r, TcdHlisl·he L niH' rs il iit , \lunidl

\'\'orkshop, Graz SUlllm er School , \lI stria

199 t Fello\\. Akadt'llli (' df'r Kiinslt', Bnlin

1996 HonoraI') memher, Buml 1)(, 1I1 5t'iwr Ar('hilt'kl(,ll , BDA ,

Cermany

1996 - Professor at the Accacif'mia di archil/,tlllra , lInivers il u

della Svizzl'ra Italiana, Mt' n<lri sio

1999 Kenzo 'range Visiting Professor of Archih'cllirr. (;ra duatf'

SdlOOI of Des ign . llarvard Lniwrsit)

63

Peter Zumthor

Thinking Architecture

Translation : Maureen Oberli-Turner

Editorial assistance: Catherine Schelbert

Design : lars Muller

after a concept by Hannele Gronlund

Typography: Atelier lars Muller

Typefaces: Berthold Bodoni and Berthold Akzidenz Grotesk

Photographs: Helene Binet

Photolithos: Ast & Jakob AG, Koniz

Printing : Konkordia Druck GmbH, Buhl

Binding : Buchbinderei Spinner, Ottersweier

Paper: Z- Opak W, 100 g/m2

This book is also available in a german language edition (ISBN 3-7643-6100-X).

By the same publisher:

Peter Zumthor Works. Buildings and Projects 1979-1997 (ISBN 3-7643-6099-2),

Peter Zumthor Hauser. 1979-1997 (ISBN 3·7643·6098·4).

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the library of Congress,

Washington D.C., USA.

Deutsche Bibliothek Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Zumthor, Peter:

Thinking architecture I Peter Zumthor. [Trans!.: Maureen Oberli·Turner.

Photogr.: Helene Binetl - Basel ; Boston : Berlin : Birkhauser, 1999

Ot. Ausg. u.d.T.: Zumthor, Peter: Architektur denken

ISBN 3-7643·6101 ·8 (Basel .. .)

ISBN 0-8176-6101 -8 (Boston)

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of

the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, re-use of

illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in other ways,

and storage in data banks.

For any kind of use, permission of the copyright owner must be obtained .

licence edition with the kind permission of lars Muller Publishers, P.O. Box 912,

CH·5401 Baden

c 1998 Peter Zumthor and lars Muller Publishers

C for the licence edition 1999 Birkhauser - Publishers for Architecture,

P.O. Box 133, CH -4010 Basel , Switzerland

Printed on acid -free paper produced from chlorine-free pulp. TCF r

Printed in Germany

ISBN 3-7643·6101 ·8

ISBN 0-8176-6101 -8

987654321

64