Peter Zumthor

It should come as no surprise to those who know me personally that architecture is one of my favourite design arenas. Since the exterior of a building alters our landscapes and its interior determine how we experience and use the space, architecture is a realm that profoundly influences our way of life. This is why architecture is so fascinating.

Today, I learnt that Peter Zumthor was awarded the 2009 Pritzker Architecture Prize. It is truly well-deserved, particularly for his views and ideas on architecture:

“To me, buildings can have a beautiful silence that I associate with attributes such as composure, self-evidence, durability, presence, and integrity, and with warmth and sensuousness as well; a building that is being itself, being a building, not representing anything, just being.”

“Thinking about daylight and artificial light I have to admit that daylight, the light on things, is so moving to me that I feel almost a spiritual quality. When the sun comes up in the morning - which I always find so marvellous, absolutely fantastic the way it comes back every morning - and casts its light on things, it doesn’t feel as if it quite belongs in this world.”

“The idea of things that have nothing to do with me as an architect taking their place in a building, their rightful place - it’s a thought that gives me an insight into the future of my buildings: a future that happens without me. That does me a lot of good. It’s a great help to me to imagine the future of rooms in a house I am building, to imagine them actually in use.”

Photographs are of Bruder Klaus Chapel, from Danda.