llruilm

* d rllel:*llFi

ir.r+nE

Peter Zumthor

Thinking Architecture

Second, expanded edition

Blrl<hdu

Basel

er-Pu

bllsh ers fo r Arch iteccu re

. Boston. Berlln

AWay of Looking atThings

The Hard Core of Beauty

From a Passion forThings to theThingsThemselves

The Body of Architecture

53

Teaching Architecture, Learning Architeciure

65

Does Beauty Have a Form?

7l

The 14agic of the Real

83

The Light in the Landscape

89

A Way of Looking atThings

ln search ofthe lost architecture

when I thin< about architecture,

images

come nto my mind.

these images are connected wlth my training and work

as trn

l"1any

of

architect.

They contain the professlona l<nowledge about architecture that I have

gathered over the years. Some ofthe other images haye to do with my

chlldhood-There was a t me when I experienced architecture withour

.hinl(ing about it. Sometimes I can almost feel a particuLar door hand e
in my hand, a piece of metal shaped like rhe bacl< of a spoon.
I used to tal(e hold
hand e

sti

seems

of

r when I went into my aunt's garden.That door

to me lil(e a special sign of entry into a world of dif-

fcrent moods and snrells. I remember the sound of the grave under
rny feet, lhe soft sleam o{ the waxed on< staircase,I can hear the heavy
n

ont door closing beh nd me as I wa

l<

along the dark corridor and en-

tcr the (itchen. che only really brightly lit room n the house.
Look ng back, it seems

as

ifthis was the only room

in the house in which

thc cciling d d noc d sappear inro twilighqthe small hexagonal tiles of

rl,c {loorrdark red afd firted so tighdy togetherthat the cmcks between
rhcm wcre almost mperceptiblc, were hard and uny elding under my
l, ct. irnd ir smell

ofoi piint

Ivcrytlring iborL th

issucd from dre kitchen cupboard.

s kitchon

wrs typicr of r L,;rditionil <irchen.There

il rboul r lir( tn,rli.rt^ I wrs ir st the fact that ll wns

r() v(,ry fnrc[,50 vcr y mrrr,rlly ,r krll lr,1r .rr h,rs r]rpr intcd i$ memo
yrrlr blyori riy nrri,l llr, .'llf,,\,1!,t,'l rli, (r,,,,i\irrsoLrrby lfkcd

w rr no(liin! spc.

with my idea ol a <itchen. Now I feel lke golng on and cal<ing about
the door

handLes

that came after the hard e on my

aunCs garden gate,

about the ground and the tloors,about the soft asphalt warmed by the
sun, about the flagsrones covered

with chestnut eaves in the autumn,

and about all the doors that c osed in such different ways, one rep ete

and dignlfied, anolher wi!h a thin, cheap c atcer, others hard, imp acnb

e, and intimidating

...

lYemor es like !hese contaln the deepest architectuml experience that

I krrowThey are the reservoirs of the architecrura almospheres and

images tha! I explore in my work as an architect.

When I design a building,l frequenrLy find myself sinl<ing into old, halfforgotten memories, and then I try to recollect what the remembered
architectural situation was really like, what it had meant
time,and

to

me at the

try to think how it cou d help me now ro revive that vibrant

armosphere perv:ded bythe simpLe presence ofthlngs,in which every-

thing had lts own specific place and form.And a rhough I cannot trace
any special forms,there is a h nt of fullness and of richness that makes
me

think:this

have seen before.Ye!,at the same rime,I know that i! is

a I new and dlfferent. and that

there is no direct reference to

former

work of architectlre which migh! divulge the secret of the memory-

Made of materials
To me, there is someching reveal ng abouc che work of joseph Beuys
:rnd sorne ot drc
is rhc prc.isc

16Ls of the

Artc Povcra group.Whrt lnpresscs

me

irid scfsuous wiy d)cy rsc )ritcrii s.lL sccf)s rnclrorcd

ir irr rx , nr., oruriLl()owlc.lgc iboLr rnns

Lrso

offDr.rlr s,irrlir

'Flt

.i

"* r-

.fr-q+Ftr.,,
{: ,,-d,{S

the same time to expose the very essence of these materials, which

is

rhe rules rhrt Bo!ern the

beyond all cu turally conveyed meaning.

I

try to use materials like this ln

rny

worl(.I believe thatthey can assume

a poetic q!allty in the context of an

ifthe archltect

architectur: objecr, a rhough only

is able to generate a meaning{ul situatlon

for them,since

Construccion

is

s|u.trre o[ the

is possible to apprehend

nL5r(

the art of ma<ing a meaningfu wholeoutofmanyparts.

Buidings are witnesses to th

human abilityto consrruct con c rete th ings.

I believe tha! lhe real core of all architectural work lies in the act of
construction.At the point in tlrne when concrete materla

rnaterials in themselves are not poetic.

The sense that I try ro instlll into mater als is beyond

alL

rlles of com-

position, and their mngbility, smell, and acoustic qualities are merely
elemen.s of the language rhat we are obliged

when

the individua threads of the musical fabfic,

to

use. Sense emerges

succeed in bringinS out the speci{ic meanings of certain materi

s are assem-

bled and erected, the architecru.e we have been looking for be.omes
part of the real world.

lfeel respecrfor the art ofjo ning,the abilty ofcftsmen and engineers.
I

am impressed by the knowledge of how to ma<e thlnSs, which ies at

als in my buildlngs, meanings that can only be perceived in iust this way

the bottom of human sl(ill.I try to design buiLdings that are worthy of

in thls one bu lding.

$ls knowledge and merlt the challenge to this skil.

lf we worl< rowards thls goal, we must constandy asl( olrselves what

Pcople often say a

the use of a particu ar material could mean ln a specific architectural

care and skil that its maker has aylshed on a carefu ly constructed ob-

throw new light on both

iecr.The notlon that our work is an integml part ofwhat we accomplish

the way in which the material ls generally used and its own inherent

Lr(es us to the very limits of our muslngs abolt the value of a work of

sensuous qualities.

irr,

lf lve succeed in this, materlak in architecture can be made to shine

rcilly inherent parts of the things we

context.Good answers to these questlons

can

lot of wor< went into this ' when they

sense the

n work of architecture. Are the eftort and sl(il we put into them
make? Somellmes, v/hen I am

nroved by a work of architecturc in the same way as I am moved by

,,rusic, terature, or a painting, i am cempted co think

so.

Worl( within things

It is said that one of the mos!

imprcssive th n8s

abolr che music of

lohann Sebastian Bach is its"architeclLrrel hs consrru.tion seems clear

and transparent.

lt

is possible ro pursue the decails of

h.rmonic, .nd rhyrhmicil

conrposir

or rs r

Thc rnrstr

s(Dr\

who
r()

lr

$e

modic,

For the silence of sleep

{rvc uLrsic.The

'l',,,'

. b..r..d\

ow nrovemcnts of l"lozi ts piifo conccrros,lohn

o,,lc u',,'r Jtl' 1"

,\r'

,"ii,n

org

cmcfts withoLrt los fg tlrc fccling for the

thc

l).rso.l

wlt c rt

nrikcs sc|sc of drc dclriLs

Lrporrr.lcr, ! (r{r(rr',irr(l f wcrrrcc

lli(, lirfrinrbliryro rivLrir rii(,rl(.,,

ir

, r

..

, r

, i

'

Ir

ry |s inrirzcs

But the wor d of sound also embmces the opposite of me ody, harmony,

and rhythm.There is disharmony and broken rhyth m, fragments and

if the promise has the

a longing

for its Presence.

lf .he naturalism and graph c virtuosity of architectura Porcraya s are

our imaginarion and curl-

clusters of soLrnd,and there ls also the purely functionn sound thar we

too great, if they

cal noise. Contemporary music works with these elements.

osity aboutthe reality ofthe draw ng can penetrate the image, rhe Por

Contmporary archkecrure should be just as radical as contempo-

trayal itselfbecomes the object ofour desire,and our longingfor lts re-

mry music. But there are limits.Although awork ofarchilecture based

on disharmony and fragmentation, on bro<en rhythms, clusterlng and

so!ct!rn

disruptions may be able to convey a message, as soon as we

underscand its statement our curiosity dies, and

that k le{t ls the

I a promise. t refers only to itsell

Design drawings thar refer to a reality which

stil

les in the future are

r.rch the delicace point of reprcsentatlon when the Prevailing mood

a symbol, but

see( emerges, and I stoP before inessentials start detracting from jts

for life which goes on in and arolnd t,

mpact.The drawing icself must take on the quality ofthe sought-for ob-

it primarily

as an envelope and backSround

I -polnts to the intended reality beyond ir.The portraya no longer holds

with

has its own realm.lt has a special physical relarionship

ife. I do not think of

iry vvanes because there ls litt e or nothing in the representat on that

imporrant in nry worl( I continue worklng on my drawinSs untll they

question of the building's practical use{ulness.

Architeclure

acl( "oPen Patches" where

as either a message

or

'o| the .l /!hn o'foorsleps o'r rhe

floor.

ror le

lcct.lt

s like a s<etch by a scu

ptor for his sculPture, no. merely an i-

luscmrion of an idea but an lnnate part

c/rcentratlon or woa<.ror the silence of s eep.

ofthe work of creation.which

cnds w th the constructed obiect.

,/'Preliminary promises
ln its fnal, constructed form, architectlre

These sort of drawings enab e us to step back,to ook, and to learn to

has its pace in the con-

crete wor d.This is where it exists.This is where ir makes its statement.

understand that wh ch has not yet come ln!o belrg and which has jusr
smrced ro emer8e.

Portrayals ofas yet unrealized architecturalwor<s represent an atrempt

to give a voice ro something, which has not yet found its place in rhe

Chinks in sealed objects

concrete world for which lt is meant.

Bui d rgs :rre arlific

Architectlra drawings rry !o express as accuratey

as possibl the

aura of the btrilding in its lftendcd p ace. gut precisely the effort of
rhe portrayal oftef serves ro undedine the ibserrce of rhc

rctur

ob

iecr,:r'id whi. rhcf cfrcrges s .f rwircncss of ihc ini.lcqrlircy of iny

<incl

ot portr,ry,rl. r Lr|os ty .rlnn,r I

rc,r ry I t, r,

i !r!. I !l

t{.r hipr

a constr ucrions.They consist of single Pafts which

nNst be ioined togcdrciTo a lirge dcgrcc, the

qu:r icy

of the fnished

,l ry . I,r.,rr,/ J . o,.\
ln sc!lptLrrc, drcrc s r trrrlir rrr r[irrrrrrrii/c!rlrc!]tPrcssionofrhc
.Lt

,, \ anr- ,

l(,1irs
lr

ifd

,,'

ioins bcrw.r,,

rlx \|r)t( trirr!

Ur

(lrir.l Sc,i.,\ !ro(, ol1r', r'.1,,r, r r,,,, l,'

lrv(n (,f rhc

il.

l, I

r"

ovor

fornr

lr),,,,)lt(,,(rr\ irr(l

integralas the stone and wood sculptures ofolder sculpturaltraditions.

l'lany ofthe installations and objects by artisrs of the 1960s and 70s re
ly on the simplestand mostobvious methods ofjoiningand connectinS

.hatwe l(now geuys,

14

erz, and others often used loose settings in spac-

cs. coils,folds, and layers when deve op ng a whole

from rhe individual

p.r$.The direct,seemingy self-evident way in which these objects are

is !nteresting.There is no interruption of the overall im-

fur logether

th:t

prcssion by small parts

have nothing

to do wlth the object! state-

,iient. Our perception of the whole is not distracted by inessential de-

riils. Evcry touch, every join, every joint is there in order to reinforce

lic idea of the quiet presence of the worl(.

..''l
.*,$'t'.*,r;*S&i
" .;;''

Whcn I design buildinSs,I try to give them this kind of presence. How-

|vqt
,tL,

r,

un lke rhe sculptor, I have to start with functional and technical re-

rcmenrs rhat represent the fundamentn tasl( I have to fulfill.Archi'

rrurc is always faced with the challenge of developing n whole out of

,i,i,,nrerib

details,out ofvarious functions nnd forms, materials and di-

,ir( nsiofs.The architect must ook

1,,, (,(lgcs and

joints,for

for rational consrructions and forms

Lhe points where suffaces intersect and differ-

, rrr rrrrrcrirls meet.These formal deta ls derermine the sensitive tran-

.,r, ),i\ within che lirrger proportions of the building.The detai s estab,1,

rlic lornril rhytlrr, the blr ldings f nely fracrionared

I ), r r
,

l\ cxprcs, wha!

v.,,ir lr)int

, , r,,ni,

r)

ir

sca e.

dre b.sic idei of ihc dcsiSn requires

i!

lhe re -

nrc obiccrrbclon8ins or scpilrirtiof. cension or lightness,

.lrry, fr';rl,iliry

l),r,,1. wlidr rlxy ir'1[,m\\1,,1.,ri,]ii,r ,ji{,,( (l{,.orrrion Thcy

'i ! ,lrr'r((
,,r wlu,lr

()r i,r({,r(.rrr l1r,y

rlr{,y.rt,r,r fl,,t'ft

11,.r,1

1,.rtr

t,, ,,r,ixl,,\r,,ri.1in}t

do

of rlrc wlrdc

There is a

mag

ca power in every completed, self-contained creat on.

It is as if we slccumb to the rnagic of the fully deve oped architectural

body.
as

O!r attention is calght,

perhaps for the first time,by a dettrl such

two nais ln the floorthat hold the steelplntes bythe worn-out door

When we loo< at objects or buidings tha! seem ro be at peace within

$emse ves, our perceprion becomes ca rn and du ed.The obiects we
perceive have no message for Lrsithey are simPly there. Our percePtlve
faculries grow qu et,unpr-eiud ced,and unacquisitive.They reach beyond

sigfs nnd symbo sithe/ are open, empty.

step. Emotlons well up. Something moves us.

lt is irs f we cou d

see some-

rhing on whlch we cannot focus our consciousness. Here, in thls per-

ccprra vacuum, a memory may surface, a mernory thac seems to lssue

Beyond the symbols

''Anything goesl' say the doers. l'1aln Street ls almost

rightl'

says

Venruri,rhe architect. Nothing works any morc,' say those who sufiei

from the hosti ty of our day and age.These statements stand for conrradiclory opinions, if not for contradictory frcts.We get !sed
ing

to

iv

with contradictions and rhere are several reason for this:tradltions

nom rhe deprhs oftime. Nowour observation of the object enrbraces

.r

p cscfLlment ofthe world n a I its wholeness beca!se there is noth-

drir cannot be ufderstood.

,+t

llrcrc is a power ln the ord nary things of everyday life, as Edward

lloppcrs pnnrngs seem to

say.

Wc only have to look at chem lonS

crumble, and with chem cu tu.al ideftities. No one seems rer ly to un'

dersrand and control the dynamics developed by economlcs and po itics. Ever),thing merges jnto eve.ything e se, and mass commun cat on

C,'nrpleted landscaps

r,, i!, tlic

creales an artificial world of signs.Arbitmr ness prevails.

Postmodern ife cou d be described as a srate in which everything beyond our own personal biography seerns vague, blurred, and somehow

unrea.The world is full of signs and info rmarion, which stand for th ngs

that no one fully Lrnderstands becalse they, too. turn out to be mere
slgns

for other rh ngs.Yet the rea thing remains hiddef.No one ever

gets

to

see lr. Neverthe ess, I anr convinced thnt real things do exjst,

however endangered .hey mxy be.There are earlh and water, rhe ight
of the sun,lindscapes and vescr.rlofr rnd rlrere
man, such as machincs, tools,

thcy are,

P-.s.r..

whicl)
ls

for

!( I (.v,l(

rir

fr.i.

or

ire

objecls. mide by

nrusicirl inso.( rIcn15. which

wrrt

v. r clcs for iri ir r s( ic rrcssrgc, rf(l w rose

presence of cerrain buidLngs has something secrec about

ltr./ sccm s mp y to bc there.We do no! pay any special attention

, , ili,.hr Afd ycr . is vircuir ly

,

to lmaSine che pace where

.,r.,,i( wirhour rhem.These buildings ippear ro be anchored firm-

,/

r ' ' rli,, ), ound.They

I r1,,,

,,,,

nrposs ble

l'

1,,v,.,

!i,

i)L,n.lings

g ve rhe impress

on of bcing a self-evident parc

aid $cy sccnr.o be s.ying:

'

:rm as yolr see me

,, r| lio cl'

l,,,ro

r.rteclcs

ictod.srrrsrchb! ldIrts.brildingsrhaq

n rlm,

, w ,.,rnl/ rirol)crrrt)r rolr|.f.rnrir.l lrstoryof tlrcLr plce.

I !, r I w w!, L,n.,, lirr(! rL n rir|r v,,,i,,,i r \lr\ Lf,( l, iroii.il s ri
r I r .i .,,rl .lr(,1ir.,( ily,,l rli,.,,,r,,v, ,r,,i,irr.r1 rli, ricwbL,.l
,,,) i,',, i,,,,r11 ,1,.,1()JlL!
rt ',"1 ,r',I)'.L,t,t .lr,.rli,,,,i,

with the existing sjtuation. For i{the intervention is to llnd lts place, it

materials,the inner forces of bear n8 and ho ding,the human work that

must make us see what already exists in a new iight.We throw a srone

is inherent in man made things.

into the water. Sand swirls up and settles again.The stir was necessary.

Per Kil*eby once dld a brick sculpture in the form ofa house for a Docu-

The stone has found its p ace. But the pond is no longer the same.

menta exhibition in Kassel.The house had no entrance.lts interior was

I belleve those buildings onLy be accepted by their surroundings

have the ability

to

appeal

ifthey

to our emotions and minds in various

ways.

intrccessible and hidden.

lt remaned

a secret, which added an aura of

mystica depth to the sculpt!re's other qualities.

Since our fee ings and understanding are rooted in the past,our sensu-

ous connections with a building must respect the process of remem-

be organized in such a way that they endow the body of the building

bering.

w rh

sut, as John Berger says, what we remember cannot be compared

to

thinl( that the hidden structures and constructions of a house should

quality ofinnertension and vibration.This is howvio lns are made.

They rem nd us of the living bod es of nature.

the end of a line.Various possibilities lead to and meet in the act of remenberi'rg. lnaSes. moods. Io ms. words. sr8n..

or

omDdr

i\or\ opel

Unexpected truths

up possibilities of approach.We must construct a r"dial system of ap-

hr nry yourh I imagined poetry as a kind of co ored cloud made up o{

proach that enables us to see rhe work ofarchitec.ure as a focal point

irorcor

from diffe.ent angles

slnr

ltaneou s ly: hlstorica ly, aesth eticalLy, fu n ction-

ally, person" ly, passionately.

ess diffuse met2phors and alusions,which,a thouSh they mlght

lx {,rjoyrb e,were
n

dlfllcu t to associate with

relable view ofthe world.

! irr rrchitect, I have earned to understand that the oppos te of thls

y{nr lrfrl definition of poetry is probab y c oser

The tension inside the body

Among

al rhe drawings prodrced by architects, my favorites are the

to rhe truth.

work o{ architecture conslsts of forms and contents that conbine

!', ( (,ice r strong fundamentn mood powerfu

enough

working drawings.Worl(ing drawings are detailed and objectve. Cre-

lr,ry t)osscss Lhe qua itles of a work of art.This art

ated for th craftsmen v/ho are to give the imagined object a materla

rrql

form,they are free of assoclative rnanipulation.They do not try to con-

wrrlr inli8hts end understand fg, and ibovc

vince and imprcss like projec! draw ngs.They seem to be saying:"Thls

!.rr y

is exactly how it will lool(l'

r'. r,, f

Working drrw

ngs

rre like anacomical drawings.They revea something

ofrhe secrer inncr tcfsron

luctnn. lo

diyulSc c rIt

t tlrc frnrhcd rrclrirccturil body

,,1 yri r rq,

1r

rlrLcn u(,(rrcrry. (lrc

s re-

f|iction of

has,

to affect us, it

howevet noth'

to do widr inceresr ng confgurations or oriinality. lt is concerned

.ll with truth.

Perhaps po

r\ Uncxpcclcd n udr. l. I ves in sri llress Arch tecture\ arr sric rask

nr

iv. rlris srill cxpccmncy r fotrn Thc br ldirg i6elf is fever poerrii,)!(, r rrry posscss sLrbtk qrrrlrtrcr. wlrrr

' |,rrt rrr to Lrrrlc[sLrrrr] s()r!

,
r ,tL r,.rl) s w.ry Irl,)r'
'i,,1

rlrl,r| rl,.rr w. wt

h,

rt ccrtr

rtr

rr rnorrrcnts,

v,r rb c to rrdcr

Desire
The clear, logical development of a work of architecc!re deperds on
ratlonal and objective criteria.When I permit subjectlve and unconsidered ideas to lntervene in the objectlve course of the design process,

acknowledge rhe siSnificance of personal fee lngs in my

worl.

when architects talk abour their buildings, what they

say is often ar

odds wirh lhe statements of the buildings themse ves.This is probabLy

connected with rhe fact thar they lend to talk a good deal about the

ritional, thought-out aspects of their worl( and less about the secret

pi$ion that inspires t.

Tlrc design prccess is based on a constant interplayoJ feeling and rea
ion.The fee ings, preferences.longings,and desires that emerge:nd de-

rrind ro

irrlfg.

be given a

form mlrst be contro led by critical Powers of rea

buc ir ls our feellngs that

tel

us whether abstract considemtions

i(.rlly r ng rnre.To a large degree, designinS is based on understandlng

.,,,.1
.r

csrib ishlns systems o{ ordenYet I be leve that lhe essential sub-

incc of rhe architectlre we

seel< proceeds

from feeling and insight.

l\,r

i(nrr momenrs of intuition resuk from patient work.With the sud

'l,r

cmcrgcnce ofan inner image,a new lne in a dmwlng, the whole

y fo.mulated within n fract on of a second.

lt

'i,-.,ltr chirnges and is new

,., f i powe{u drug were sudden y r.k ng effecr. Everyth ng I knew

'

1,,l,

),. lhotlt the thing I am creating is f ooded

rt{, iui.c

I', , w

by a brigh! new lighr.

ioy and passiof,:r)d sonrcdring.leep ins de me seems to af-

ir to briikl rhls horrcl'

( ,,'rposing i'r

spncc

,,,,,,,(ry \rlxrI rlr( jw,,,n rj,., t)l,,rj,. ,rlrt,\ r,,l rlrrtrrl

rrcrr

sional bodies in space. Geometry can help us understand how

to

han-

-ecrLre. rhere are lwo basic poss brlitie\ oI \pdfirl ( onpo\ll ro1:

the closed archlrectural body that isolates space within itsell:nd the
open bodythat embrales.!l 1T1 olsfage

,eldless

architecrul probiems for

which a val d solut on has not already been found.

dle space in architecurre.

lrur.h

a ize that lhere are basicaly on y a very few

1!!t r: connected v/ith the

contin!!m.The extension of space can be made visible through

bodies such as slabs or poles placed freely or in rows ln the spatial ex-

n retrospec!, my educarion in desirn seems somewhat a-historical.

roLe models were

our

the pioneers and inventors of Das Neue Bauen.We

regarded architecrural history as part of our genera education, which

had little lnfluence on our work as designers.Thus, we frequenty ln'

vented what had a ready been invented, and we tried our hand at in-

venting.he uninventable.
I do not claim

to know what space really is.The longer I think nbout it,

the nrore mysterious it becomes.About one thing, holvever,I am sure:

when we, as architecB, are concerned with space, we
with but

"re

concerned

tlny paft ofthe infinity that surrounds the earth, and yet each

sl<etchinS the

howeyer,as practicing architects,we do

first plans and sections

of my design.I dmw spatia diagrams and simple volumes.I try to vlsualize them as precise bodies in space, and I feel it is irnportant

to sense

exactly how they define and separate an area of interior space from
rhe space thar surrounds them, or how they contain a part of the infi-

cnormous repository of knowledge and experience contained in the

history of archicecture. I believe that if we integrate this in our wor<,

Architecture

Bu ldings that haye a st.ong impact always convey an intense fee ing

of

rheir spatlaL quality.They embrace the mysterious void ca led space in

ess

sci\rch for the architecture that I envisage,lfrequenty experience sti-

f fg

moments of emptiness. NothinS can thlnl( of seems to ta ly lvith

whir I wnnt and cannot yet env sage.At lhese moments,l try to

shake

li,rs slddenly shrted

,(,rc freely.l carch

to hold me bac(.This helps.l find I

can breathe

whiff of the old fxmiiar mood of the nventors and

act in which

wod< of irchitccrurc conres nto belnggoes

l), yorrd aL hisrorical and tcchnicirl knowcdAe. ks focLrs is on rhe dia

Common sense

lwis stillrt.rtsnnd cr.fts school.we lried

to fo low this plinc ple We Lookcd for

lem Wc

or

logicaly and di.ectly from architectural history to new buildings.On rhe

llr, ( rcitive

lnvenrng.Whcn

not a linear process that leads more

''' ', ' D-renl-' orce r8.,,r be(o.,e irv.r ro'

special way and make i! vibrate.

ls, however,

,,ff rlre academic l<now edge of archltecture I have acquired because ir

nite spatial continuum in a kind of open vessel.

Designing

wellto get acquainted with lhe

wc have a better chance of making a genuine contribution of our own.

and every buid ng marks a lnique place in that infinity.

With this idea in mind,I start by

Thls l(lnd oftraining in design ls not without its educational value. Latei

fclr r wis irnpo|tirir (o

bc

rvlir

fcw sollLiof io cvcry prob

lt,r .lc N()l urul

htcr.li.l I rc-

'llL

(, w rl, rhc i5srcs of

, , r,rc
, r,n r

oor rnr.. At tllc rronrcnt ot its crc.tiof, archi

boonclro ihc prcscrir in.i

iv, nr(n

vi,,y\tn{i., wiylr i(!fc.tsrhcspi

.!rl ttv,\,r\,)w,,,r,w,,, r,' rlr'

(t1

t,\r (, tr of oLrr tirrrc

,,

throlgh its funcciona form

ifd

ation$ p with orher

appearance, ics re

works of aichitecture, and w rh the

p ace where ir stands.

rll

The answers to these quest ofs, which I can forn!la.e as an arch tect,

are imired. Our r mes of change and rransidon do no! permic b g ges,

ory x few

tLres.Trere are

remain ng common va les left upon whlch

w can build and which we all share.lchus appea

forakndof?rchi-

rccturc of common sense based on the fundam6nrals rhat wa still <now.

understand.and

wor d.and

fee.

carefully observe the concrete appearance ofthe

n my buidings

ltry to

enhance what seems to be va Lrable,ro

correct what is d sturbing, and to create anew whar we feel is nrjssing.

Melancholy perceptions
Eftore Scolas

m Lc Bo/ recounts f fty years of European h story wlth

no dialogue and a comp ete unity of place. h consists so ely of music

and the rnorion of peop e nroving and danclng.We r-ernain in the same

room with rhe same people throughout, wh le time goes by afd rhe
dancers grow older.

The focus of the film is

on rs

main characrers. Bu!

with lts tlled floor and its pareling. the stal s

lf

ir s lhe bal room

the brcl<grolnd, and

rhe lions paw at rhe side thar creiles dre film\ defse, powertul atmosphere.

Or

is lt th orher way

aroufd? s r rhe peoplc who endow the

room with its par! cular moodl

I as< this question becalse I am convinced
be capable ofabsorblrg rhe

Natur.lly,
nL

rr

r rs

corilctt

rrorblr rrrr.Ll

1 r

thir

good building mLst

rr.ccrolhuni.rf fc irn(l tliusofr.kfgo|

rik,,l rli.,.rrih r,,l.rrI.
1.,,

,.

,,1 v.L

()

' li ,.,,

rrrrcr r
1.1

s.of

tr

. ,t,,)w,i , L

';r

, ' | f,, ..

and brirtle, and of edges Polished by use. But

when

When we look ar the finished building,our eyes,guided by our anayti-

close my eyes and

try to forget both these physical traces and my own first associatlons,

cal mlnd, tend

what remalns ls a different imPression, a deePer feelng-a conscious-

rhes s

ness of tlme passin and an awareness

ofthe human lives that

to stray and lool( for deta ls to hold on to. But the syn-

ofthewhole does not become comprehenslble through isolated

dctais. Everythlng refers to everything.

have been

Ar chis momen!, the initial images fade into the background.The mod

acted our in these places and rooms and charged them with a sPec al
mornents, a.chitecture\ aesthetic and Practical values

els.words,and comparisons thatwere necessaryforthe creation of the

sty istic and historical slgnificance a.e of secondary imPortance Whar

w ro e disnppear ll(e steps that have been left behlnd.The new bullding

matters now is only this feeling of deeP melancholy.Architecture ls ex

rssumes che foca position and is

aura.

A. these

itsell ts history

begins.

posed to life. lf lts body ls sensitive enough, it can asslrme a quality that
be?rs wltness to the reality of Past ife.
I l)clicve that architecture today needs

il)il

Steps left behind

When I work on a

des

gn I allow myself co be guided by images a'rd

moods that I remember and can relate to the kind of arch .ectLrre I am

_looking

r es which are inherent y its own.Archirecture is not a vehic e or a

.,yrrbolfor rhings that do not be ong to its essence.ln

, ' Ics $e

subiective experience and are only rarely accompanied by a reme'n-

1,,

bered architectural commentary While I am designing I r.v to find out

.,y|, lvoy
..

lvhat these images mean so that I can learn how to cre:re a wealth of
r'

After a certain time, the object I am designing takes on some of the

qua ities of

the

mages I use as models lf I can find a meaningful way of

nterlocl<ing and suPerlmPosing these qualities.the object w llassume

depth and richness. f lam to achieve this effecqrhe qralilies I am gving

the design must merge :rnd blcrrd w rh rhc const|ucr onal and forinal
structure of drc fin shcd bui d rrg. For m
and {( f ctiorr

irr

no lorrltq

i r.l

!cprrrtc llx'y

consn ucl

bclorlll

on iPpcarance

l()ll.rh.r irrdfornrr

inessentia,archltecture can

,.wiste offo.ms and meanings,and

fon Most of the images that come to mlnd orl8inate from my

visual forms and atmospheres.

to reflect on the tasks and pos-

'

|l, vc

!,

p!!

soc ety thar ce -

up a resistan ce,

spea< its

own

co!nteract

anguage.

$:rt the language of arch lecture is no!a question of

a specific

building ls buir for a spccific usc in a speclfic place and for

L( socicl/. My bllldinSs cry to answer the questions thrt emerge

r,i r1irs. s rnple fac$

as precisely and critl.ally as .hey can.

The Hard Core of Beauty

Two weeks ago I hrppened ro heai

rad

o Program or) the Amer

r,.erW lirrn CarlosW lianrs.Tfe Progranr

.l Belruty.Th s phrasc caughr nry atrefrlof.I

, rid

core. afd

when

can

was entited Thc Hdrd Cor

ike rhe ider that be:tuty has

rh nk of arch .ecrlrre this associatlon of beru

ryrrrdr h:r-dcorehasacerta rfamilarty. Thenrachie sathlrrSrr:rr

li r\

.o

srLp!f

!o!s pxr$. Will

ams s suPPosed to have

sn d.

And

,r .llrrcly rhin ( I know what he meant lr's a tholtht rhai Peret Hr

L,,l(,\
,.Li

ro.lfeel,whcn re srys rhat bcauty ies

rd (e

nirLra,grown rhirgs

.lo not c:r.ly irny sigfs or nessages. and whcn he adds thar hc

, , r w ,c. he ca.nor d scover the nrean irg of things for h nsc f.

t*.

1r

A !rl,.n I ei fcd f-om rhe irdio prosram $3t $ poetry ofwi am

I lrWil ams s biscd on lhe.onvicton tlrit lrere n_e no dcas exr rc rh ngs rhemse vcs ifd thir llre PUiPose of hls nrt was to
,, li,i 1.,,1oiy peic.ption r{) 1 re wo! d of fii r8s in order to mal(e
,L/Vt'j\! wo.t.sid rlrcspcrkc:rlris rik.s prcc seenrngyufemo
,,1/ i,,l r(1)icilly..r,i(l ir jprcci!cl/io rlrlq .ir.n rhii hl( reYrs
!r,,,ilt f,ri.r ,rrri

..$"

h
-t,t,r

t'

i I , ',l.,t,ti,.i
,l r(,

'{,
"f

,,i1, ,(

", ,,,

,1r1,,.r, L,).,ir.,rorswthbui.l-

,,,,r!,i r,,, r,, ,|.tol,r Ard to

,,i L, l]rrrt|liivl'
,r1,1.,' r, r,.1,1,.,
',y

",,'l',,.Lrrlir
| ! i,

(,l.liL,r ,) ,1,'w,

rrlf Lr,)ilr

iLL l,L',| i
l, , ,'

,,/r', I

no need for art stic additions.The hard core ol beauty: concenrrated

What inrerests me in this story reporred by Calvino

is

notthe exhorta-

tion to precision and patient, detai ed wor< with which we are allfamllBut where are archltecture's fields of force that constitute lts substance

ar bur the lmplication that richness and multiplicity emanate from the
we observe them aftentivelyand give them thelr due.

above and beyond all superficiality and arbitrariness?

th ings th emselves if

Ita o Calvlro te ls us in his lezionj omericdne about the ltalian poer Gi

App led !o architecrure, this means for me lhat power and multiplicity

acomo Leopardi who saw the beauty of a work of art, in hls case the

musr be developed from the assisned task or in other wol.ds,from the

beauty

of

( rJ\e rl-r\

iterature,

in $

vagueness, oPenness. and indeterminacy, be_

e.rves tl-e form oPen

John Cage said in one of h s lectures rhat he is not a composer who

lor mar/d{erer rrer'rrSs

Leopardls observation seems convinc ng enoush Works or objects of

art thar move

us are mu

th ngs lhat constitute it.

tifaceted;they have numerous and PerhaPs end-

less layers of meaning that overlap and interweave, and that chanSe as

hcars music in h s mind and then attempts to write it down. He has an

olher way o{operating.He works out conceprs and structures and then
rrs rhem performed !o find ou. how they sound.

we change our angle of observation.

when I read this slatement I remembered how we recently deve oped

But how is the architect to obtain this dePth and multiPllcity in a bulld-

rprolcctfor a therma bath

ine of his making? Can vasueness and openness be planned? ls there

,,,11

not a contradiction here to the claim of accuracy thatWilllams's argu-

.L,l.,prifg them

ment seems to imPly?

Calvino {inds a surprising answer to this in a text by LeoPardi Calvino

own texts,this lover of the indeterminate

reveals a palnstal(ing fidelity

to the things he describes and offers to

points out that in Leopard

our

co nte mplatio n, and

prelminary images of the building in our minds and subsequently

to the

,,osrions ar sing from

v ..L,il content in

basic

glven slte, rhe purpose, and

wrsonlyafccrwe had succeeded inanswering,stepbystep,theques-

r
,

{i!

poscd by che site, purpose, and material that structures and spac-

,!

terminate and vaguel He calls for highly rccurate and Pedantic atten-

r.Ll ,,1

rlon ln the composition of each Picture, in the meticulous definlt on of

,,' ,ii ,)l \tylsticilly

details, in the cho ce of obiects, liShting, rnd atmosphere wirh the aim

$e poct

the ocation ofthe

to answer

terms of exisr ng architecture.

Leopardi demands of us so that we can enjoy the beauty of the inde-

paradoxical proclam.tion: The Pocr of tlrc v,tstrc crn orrly be

assignrnenq but by endeavorinS

ili(, blllding materials mountain, rock, warer whlch at first had no

hecomes to the conclusion:"This,rhen is what

of attaining the desired vaguenessl Ca vino closes wlrh rhc seemingly

in the mountalns in mystudio,not byform-

. ,,

,, , ,

Bcd which surprised us .nd wh ch I believe possess the Poten-

prirnord

ir force rhir

ieaches dccper than the mere arrange-

prcconcc vcd fonfs.

t,yifu orcscll wid, rhc inhcrcnt liws of corcrcte rhings such

,, ,r.rr\,r.,.k.ir.lwitcr f

as

conrr{ r,,ni wirl, r lnrikling issi8fmcrt of

1,...1 ,1r.!ricofrpprclicrxl,,,ll.,,i{l (,\t)r(\rrrri!(tricofllicpr'rril ind

. rw, , rLrtLrr.rlyrlrrtru,r",rtll,rr,.,,l r1,,.,, r'rrrlt

,. r

tl

,n tlc

veloping an a.ch tecture lhat sets out from and rerurns

Preconcelved images and stylistcaly Pre-fnbricated
qualified only to block access

to.his

of nature or in the natural envlronment. Consequently,l find

to real things

forma idioms

that

can

unde.stand Hand(e,who in the same interview refers to himself as

are

writer about

goal.

of his texts that there should

p aces, when he requirs

My SwLss colLeagues Herzog and de Melron say that arch tectur as a

be no additlves in lhem, but a cogn zance of detaiLs and of thelr inter-

sing e whole no longer ex sls todry,and tha! it accotuingly has to be ar-

lin(ing to form a factual complexl'

rficia y $eared in the head of.he desigri

as an act

The word Handke uses to designate what I have here ca ed a factu

of precise .h nk-

to

to be meanlngful with re-

ing.The rwo archllects derive f.om th s assumPtlon their rheory of ar-

al comp ex, name y Sdchverho/t, seems

chirectLrre as a form of thought, an architectLrre thac l suPPose. should

gard

reflect lls cerebrally conceived wholeness in a sPecial way

renls must be brcught together, bu ldlngs must be thought of as com-

I do

not ntend to

to the aim of whole and unadukernted things:exact factua con

identfied and Put lnro

p exes whose details have been rlghtly

pursue these architecrs'theory of archltecture as a

me

factual

form of though., but only the assumPtion on whlch lt is based, namely

relirlonship ro each otherA factua relationshipl

that the wholeness of a bujlding ln the old sense of the master build-

Thc point that emerges here is the reduction of the conter.s to real

ers no longer exists.

things. Handl(e aLso speaks, in this contexr, offideLlty to things. He would

Personally,I stlll believe in the self sufficient. corporeaL wholeness of an

li(c his descriptions, he

architecturaL object as the essential. if diffcult,alm of my wod(, if not as

l ice chey des.ribe

says,

to be experlenced

as failhfu ncss

to the

and not as s!Pp ementary colorlng.

SriLcments of dr s kifd he p me to come to terms w th rhe dissatisfac-

a natural or Siven facl.

Yet how are we to ach eve this wholeness ln arch tecture at atime when

ror

the d vine,which once gave .h ngs a meanlng,and even reality iiself seem

,lLcntly come across buildings.hat have been desgned with a good

to

be dissoving in the endless fLrx

oftransitory sgns and

,lo,r of effort and a wil ro find a special forrn, and I find L anr Put otf by

imaSes?

il,. n Thc .rchirect respofs

Peter Handke wrtes of his endeavors to make rexts and descriPtions

part of the envlronment they re ate to. lf I lnderstand him correctly,

ficulty ofeliminating artificiality in things created in an arcifcial acl and

of maklng them part of lhe wor d of ord nary :rfd naruraL rhi'rgs, bur al

I belicvc

thit

rlrlr

es in rh drlr)Bs drcnrsc vcs

if rrtisl c piocesscs st iv.

foi wl(,lqi.rss. rhcy r wiys rt

tcnrplloltvclli(.r.irr.rr1rPr(\(:rx(,rkrr rr,rlrir

{.,11vlrrr rlic rliirrSs

ble for the blrllding ls not Present, but he

L.,l(\ to rre un.easLnsly from eve.y detail, he keePs on saying the same

rjt.ifd I qric(ly ose nrcrcsl.Good irchire.ture should recelvethe

am confronted here no!on y bythe aL-roo-fam iarawarenessofrhedlf-

so by lhe be ef drac

otlen experence when lcontemPate recent architecture.l fre

'1,

rnf viliror

.. r,Lr (l nor

shou d

cofstifr

ciible hinr ro cxPc icrrce it ind live in it, bul it

y ti\ k

ir

fr.

rr (rr o I so IircLy t icdl

Wlit (l() wr lrivc !) |ll(l(,,,ril!l,1i,,, rli1 l).,r ( r r rru! Jrc r l..nrrc i5
,.,,(.ll,,ir rr,,rI(,|.rI.Irri,LIi ,!' .r , ! ) . l ' , , ' , l' 11 [rt r'.

Wy, oftdi

wondc r s lhc ()l)v ()Lr l)rlr .lll1.

L,

, ,

'

'

. ,

, i

earch

ind

si<X

and confidence n spaces thar arc realy a owed

spaccs sPices whose encios n8 wal s and const luenr materia

to
s,

be

con

cavity, emptiness, ight. air, odor. receP!vity, and resonance are hand ed

w!$

respect and carei

I persona

ke the idea of designing and bu d ng houses from wh ch

crn w rhdraw at the end of rhe forming proccss, eaving behind a bui d-

iftrh.rls lsef,draise-vcsasaplacetolive

n and a parr of the wor d

of rlr fgs, afd rhat caf manage perfeccly well without nry personal rhe'

To nre, buidngs can have a beaurfu silence

rhat

associate

wth

at-

rrlb!rcs such as compos!re, self cvidence, durabiLty. presence, and in

tegriry,and

w$

warmth and sens!ousness

as

we lia buid ngthat ls be-

ing lrse f, being a bui d ng, not representing any.hin8, i!sc being.

Say that

it is a c.!de effect, b ack reds.

Pinl( ye lows. orange whites,

too much

as they are

To be anything e se in the sun ight of the room.

Too mlch as they

ire !o

be changed by me.aphor,

Too actua, things tha. in being rea

l4al<e any imag nings of

them esser ihlngs.

This ls the begnning of che poem 8olguer ofRoses in Sunlight by rhe

American poe! of qiJlet contctrrp ation.Wa ace Scevens
Wa Iace Stcvens, I re:rd in the inffodu.r on ro his col ectiof of Poems,
acccpted the chi lenge of look

ft

lofg,

prti.

rt y..i,ra

.xr.r y rnd of d s

rfd rf.lo jti i.l,,t r r ,11 H r 1r,r|,r .,r,r rio( r ProLcsr or ir

.o|it) rrir rrt,,i.r r !rr l.,w.,,ri r,,Il .rr1' .'r, rli,y rlr, (!l,r(,\.r0I
cove_ing

any

sor.ofconsternation,butthey see< a harmonywhich is possible all

thesameandwhic inhlscase-canonlybethatofthepoem.(Calvno
goes
L

cerary wod< when he says tha! he has only one defense against.he oss
he sees allaround himian idea

of

places

afd rhrough places

co

The conceptofdwe ifg,understood n Heideggerk wide sense

ving

and !h nl(ing n p aces and spaces, contains an exact reference to what

rea ity means

icerarure.)

of

to me

as an architecr.

Reality was rhe goal to which Stevens :spired.S!rrealism,ir appears.did

It ls not lhe rea lty of theories detached from things, i. is .he iea lry of

not rnpress him,for itinvents without discovering.He pointed outthat

the concrere buidlng assignmenr relar ng to che acr or slate of dwell-

to porcray

ng that incerests me nnd Lrpon which I wish

a shell playing an

it crops up once

Wi

accordlof

is

to invent, nor discover.And so

again, rhis fundamental thought

that I seem to find

in

iams and Hand<e,and that I aso sense in the paintings of Edward

Hopper:it

s only between the

realty ofthlngs and the imtrginarion tha!

the spark ofthe worl< ofnrt is knd ed.

terms,ltel

myself thar

the spar( ofthe sLrccessf! building can ony be knd ed between the
rea ity of the th ngs pertainlng

to i. and the imaginarion.And this is no

revelatlof to me, but the confirmacion ofsomethinS

for in my work, and the confirnration of

continLra y strive

a wish whose roors seem to

be deep ifside me.

But to return to the qlestion on finaltime:where do lfind lhe reality
on which I must concentrate nry powers of lmagin:ition when artemp!lng

to deslgn a buiding for a particular

p ace and purpose?

One key to che answer lies, I believe, in che words pla.e and "purPose" themse ves.

ln an essay encded Buildng Dwellfg Thifkingl

wrote;

Living

imofg drings

narive facuhies.

lt

s the

rei ity of

is the birs c

l.. tif

Hedegger

p inc ple of hunraI cxistcncel'

rhit
but ilwrys ii iw,!l.l (,fr[!rt]!.v( r wlrli

iri rn rbst rcr world

wh ch I llndersl:l,if ro rircirr

w,,

rr )(.nn,l.or.ii rjtirl

to concenrrate my magi-

bui ding mater a s. stone. cloth, stce

eather...,and th reaity ofthe strucrures luse to consrrLct dre building whose propert es I wish

nrcaning and sensuousness

lf I translare this statement nto archtectural

to

spaces is based on his dwe ling ln !hem."

step further a ong thls line ofrhought ln an artemp! to define his

ofform that

Heidegger: 'The re ationsh p of maf

to penetrate with my imaglfation. bringing

to bear so rhar che spark of lhe s!ccessfu

bui d ng may be andled, a bui difg that can serve as a home

The .eeliry ofa.ch lectur-e is lhe concrete body

rfd

for man.

which forms,volumes,

spnces come ln.o belng.There arc no ldeas except in things.

From a Passion forThings to the Things Themselves

It is important to me to reflect about architecture, to step back from

my daily work and take a

lookatwhat lam doing and why Iam doing it.

I love doingthis,and I thinl< I need

tecturefrom

it,too.I do not work towards archi-

theoretically defined point ofdeparture.for lam commit-

td to makinS architecture,to building,to an ideal of perfection,just as

ln my boyhood I used to make things according to my ideas,things that
had to be just right,

for reasons which I do not really understand.lt was

always there,this deeply personaJfeeling

forthe things I made for myself,

and I never thought of h as being anythinS special.lt was iust rhere.

Today,lam aware that my work

as an

architect is largely

questforthis

onrly passion,this obsession,and an attempt to understand it berter and

to rflne it.And when I reflecton whether lhave since added new imag.3 and passions to the old ones,and whether I hav learned something
ln my training and practice,l realize that in some way I seem always ro
havG

l(nown th rntuitive core of new discoveries.

Plnc6s
I llvo and

work in Graub0nden, in a farminSvillage surrounded by moun-

tnlni. I sometimes wonder whether this has influenced my work, and

tlrc thoutht that it probably has is nor unpleasanr.

Wo0ld the buildints I design look dlfferenr if, instead of Iiving in

Grnubunden,l had spent rhe past rwonryjlvo ysars ln rhe landscape of
Iny /outh on th northrn foothllls of tho Jura mountalns, wlrh rhelr

39

rol

ng h lls and beech woods and the familiar, reassuring vicinity of the

urbane city of Baseli

As soon as I begln to think about this question, I reaiize that my lvork

has been influenced by many places.

When I concenlrate on a spec fic site or p ace for which am Solng to

design a building, when

try ro plumb lts depths, its form, its hlstory,and

its sensuous qualities, images of other p aces slart to invade this Proc_
css of precise observation:images of p aces that I know and that once

frpressed me, lrnages of ordinary or

sPec

al Places tha. I carry with

,,,c irs nner vislons of sPeclfic moods and q!aLltiesi images of rrchitec

rurrl siruations. whlch emanate {rom the world of art, of films, the.ter.

to me

sometimes they corne

unbidden, these mages

of places that

,rc frcquent y at firs! glance inapProPriate or alien, images of Places of

,,rlly

origlns.At other ! mes I summon them.I need them, for

only when I confront and comPare the essentials of different

11 s
(,,..

d fferent

whcn I a low sinrilar, re ated, or maybe alien

r)ilir

of

e ements

ac-

to cast their

rhc pl.ce of my intervef. on that the focused, mukifaceted im-

.i|t, of rhe local esscfce of the site emergcs, a vision tha! reveals con-

!,

rnns, cxposes

rl,, l

rilc,

lfes offorce,and

errive groufd :rppears, and the nerwor( of posslble ap-

ro.hc

specific plrcc cmcrgcs afd trgge|s

1,,,

),( lics

,,

, ,.!,nr of dc' gn So

creates excitement.lt is now that

I inrnrcr sc nryrclt

,i ,,/ rrrg ritior. ind

if

$e

processes and

rhc plice and rry to inhib r

irl ([c sr r)c rirr(r I k](t( l).yon.l ir

ir

rhe world

r(f!
Wli,,,l{(),,r1, i.b\s i l)Lr , rr| r,.,r lji.,,v,l,t),,1 ., !tx'( rl ,rcsclrcc
,,,!r,,i," It(I II,I1 rr!l,ri
,,,,,,rtr,ri w,rli rr't,1.,,, 1.r.,'j
'1 ,'y t)rlicr p

bued with an inner tension that refers

to something over and above

other. And when we recalled b!ildings that had the characteristics we

were lookingforand pinpointed the r spec alqualties,we became aware

It seems to be parl of the essence of lts place, and at the same tinre k

that there are buildings that we ove.And whereas we knew almost at

speal(s of the world as a whole.

ofce which ones belonged to the spec

When an architectural design draws solely from tradition and only re'

rerested, we found it diffcult to find a common denomlnator

peats the dlctates of its site,I sense a lack of a genuine concern with

qua i!ies. Our artempt to generalize seemed

the world and the emanations of contemporary life. lf

al cateSory in which we were in-

fo. their

to rob the individual build-

ngs of thelr sp endor.

work of archi-

recture speaks only of contemporary trends and sophisticated visions

But che subjecc continued to prey on my mind,and I resolved to try and

without triggering vibrations in its place, this worl( is not anchored in

write some briefdescriptions oftrrchitectural situations that I love,fraS-

]ls site, and I miss the specific gravlty of the ground it stands on.

mencary approaches based on peroonal experiences tha. have a con

rccrion with my work,and in so doing to move within the same mencal

Observations

fr:rmeworl( in which I think when I am concerned with generating the

We were standlngaround the drawingtab etalkingabout

project by

csenr als of

work of my own.

an architect whom we all hold in high regard. I considered the proiect

and added that some time previously I had laid aslde my positive prej!-

2 The main rooms of the sma I mountain hotel overlooked the va ley
(ri dre broad slde of the lonS bullding. lt had two adjacent wood-pan-

dice, which sprang from my high estimation of the architect, and taken

(,

an unbiased look at the project.And I had come to the conclus on that,

lic corridor and connected by

whole,l did not rea ly like it.We discussed the possible reasons for

(,rrforrable p ace in which to sit and read, and the larger one, with five

interesting in many ways. I mentioned severaL of its specific qualities

as a

my impression and came up wlth

few details wthout arriving at

val-

ld conclusion. And then one of rhe younger members of the group,

cd reception rooms on the sround floor, both ofthem accessible from

w.l
l

lir

p accd tablcs,was

f,,

doorThe smaller of them looked like

clearythe place

in which meak were served.On

rr-lloor chere were bedrooms wich deep,shady wooden balconies,

talented and usually rationa ly minded arch tect, said:"lt is an lnterest-

,ri

ing building for n I sorts of theoretical and pracrical reasons.The rrou-

I wi,Lr

ble is,it has no soull'

.L wr ipproached rhe horcl for drc first irnrc But ihc .houSht of sray'

Some weeks later. I was

tting oucdoors dr fking cotfee wich my wfe

and discussing thc issuc of bu ldings w th

eral works

soul.Wc ril<cd about scv

ofr(luc(r,rc rlnr wc kncw.r,r{l

rlcsrrrl,crl rhcrrr ro crch

rhc sccond floor mo|e bcdrooms open ng onto terraces.

(l cnioy lookin8 irt rhc open sky ffom the upper rooms,l lholght,

, 1i r r o rc of the fir st I oor

rt

knnri\.,,,(i, (,](lirlt or wr I fg n the intimare

rbrln,rrt ol t[c rl'rly lrrkorry

rrr

tl,r, l,rtr, rftrrnn,n rr

rrn

sccnrcd

a. the foot of the staircase eadlng

the way I :m feeling, when I conjure up mental P ctures of works of ar-

from the upperfloorstothe entrance.A servinghatch ln the earyafter-

chltecture thar Sive me space to live and seem ro antlciPate and satis{y

noons it held frtritflans on white p ates for the guests.The smellofthe

my needs, th s mounlain hote always comes

{resh flans tool< us by surprise as we came down the stairs,and kitchen

by a painter

There was an openins in the

noi\es 5 r Fd I om tl e

hd

wn

designed

for himself and his guests.

I ope'r door of the oDDosrre roon-

After a day or two we knew

olr

way around.There were deck chairs

stacl(ed along .he side of che hoteL, wh ch adioins the meadow

cle way away, in

to mnd.ltwas

A lit

the haf shadow at the edge of the wood, we noticed

OLrr

first impression ofthe ou!side ofthe restaurant made

tharwe had foLrnd someth

ng

betterthan

che

other places

us hoPeful

ong the maln

road of.he tourisr village.We were nor dlsapPointed Enterlng thFough

b!iltfrom the nsidebe

woman sitting ln a decl( chalr, readlng.We Picl(ed up rwo of the chairs

dre narrow porch,which,as itturned out,was

and looked for a spot ol our own. During the day we usually dmnk o'rr

coffee at one of the wooden folding tables on the narrow veranda ar

lri8h-ceilinged, hall-Lil(e room, its walls and celling lifed wlth dirk, mat.

the front.They were hinged at .eSular intervals along the front ParaPer.

ltle.nr ng wood:regularly placed frames and pane

Good

p aces

to slr,these small tables clinging to the edge of.he vernn-

daithe sill was iust the rght height for use

as an elbow rest.

Conversarions with the other guests !sually took Place nl dusk at the

other veranda tab

es, placed in a

row against lhe facade and Protected

fd the main door

like a wooden shed, we found ourselves in ;r l:rrge.

s,

waifscoting, conrlc

.s, fdented jois$ resting on brackets with ornamental scro

ls

Ilie .tmosphere of the room seemed dar<, even Sloomy, un!ll our
l',l

eyes

cw accus.omed to the light.The gloom soon Save way to a mood of

lt,,ftleness.The daylight enlering through lhe

ralL,

rhythmicaly placd

lrom rhe weather by rhe projecting upper foors.The Frcnch window

wrndows lit up cerca n sections of the room, while other Parts, which

to the veranda was opened after rhe evening mer iwe al slretched olrr

,l{l not benefr from the retlecllon

legs

and oo<ed out over rhe valley.and then satwith

drjnl( by the wal

rhatwas sti lwarm from the days sunshine.Once,after lhe evening rneal,
we were invited to sit at lhe large corner table at the far end ofthe ve

of

the

A! soon:rs lefre_ed the room my eye was caught by an extension ln

,r ccnrcr of the long outer wnll.:r semi-circular

r,,

used by the regulars ofthe house. never sar nthisniche,whichcaughr

lli(, foor of rhc room-height fichc wirs of

$c vcrafd.. On

rhere was usu.lly somcone ilreidy

rtinS $ere.

sunny mo.nings

rcidifg

When I rh fk rb(,ut buid rgs drit prov dc nrc witli riit,,ml sPrtiil con

drorisrr)t)n)t)rrr.rorli{ |

,(

(. r()

rll (]rly,(nr tr.,,,yr.rrvtcs.rri.

lay

drrwn in half-shadow

randa near the enlrance. D!ring the day, that sPot always seemed to be

the morning sun ar rhe other end oI

sht from the paneling,

bulSe

lirge enough

rcc.,r modire fivc tabes rong the curved wall by.he windows.

rl! ,i,\r

of rh. hill. No douht rbo'rt

slightly h gher evel than

l rl,(nshr.$swrswherel

st.lwo ()l rlr. rrln,! wr, \r,ll I cc.Trc PcoPc slrtnt

ri,,,i..krLrl)1 {,\\ () rIri,ry rt! 1 ,'1 rri li riL,,.,,i1.L.,,I IprvilclcdrI
w.L,ir(tl ro

We hesitated and finally decided on a rable in the almost empty nrair

ered by concrete slabs on steel columns, and the regular arrangement

part of the hal.Yet we hesitated

of the paths and pavilions v/hich appeared to accommodate the class-

went in search of service.Afler

of sitting down we

again, and lnstead

a while a girl appeared through a

door

rooms v/as periodicaily interrupted by buildings with tr specialfunction

n the pane ing of the inner wal and led us to a table in the niche.We

atwhich we could onlyguess.llwas duringthe schoolhoLidays and the

sat down.The s ight feeling

,b.,-ed.we lrr our

',,

of

rr tat on occasion ed by

( Bd,e,re\

rro o,oe,ed

ou

r arrival soon

son-e w re.

complex y/as deserted.The windows were set high up in the wals and

it was hard to see into the

c assrooms.We came across a large meta

Ar the nexr tab e rwo women were ho ding an animated conversation.

door to a side courtyard, which seemed to belong to one of the c ass-

One of them was speal<ingAmerican, the other Sw

rooms. lt was

German. Neither

to catch a glimpse of

of lhem spol(e a word in the other's language.The voices of the peo-

room with desks and a blackboard. lt was plainly furnished.The wa

ls

p e in the group ar the nexr tab e but one sounded pleasantly far away.

and rhe floor showed signs of intensive use, and the daylight encering

I looked around and gradually absorbed the mood.l felt at ease sining

through the hiSh windows lenr the room an atmosphere that was both

in the light of one of the windows, which now seemed taller chan ev-

concentrared and genrle.

ss

ightly open, and we man:ged

and lool(ing into the dar<ened expanse of the ha LThe other guests,

Prorection from the sun,shelter from the wlnd and rain,an inrelllgent ap'

busy with their conversrtions and their meas, also seemed happy ro

proach to the issue of lighting,I thoLrght,and I was aware that I had by no

be sitting therei they behayed naturally, undist!rbed by other peop es

meansSrasped allthe specific qualities

presence,with an unconstralned considerate ness fo r .heir fe owSuests,

forward simplicity ofl!s sr.ucture,fol. example,which was reminlscent of

which lent them an air ofdignity. Occupied as lwas with my own activ-

rndustrial precast concrere co nstructlon

ities, my gaze nevertheless a lghted occasionaly on other faces,and I re-

of rhe pedantic refnements rhat abound ln schools in Switzerland.

er,

a ized

that I lil<ed the feelinS oftheir proximity in this room in which

we all lool(ed our best.

l4y

vkit

with the

ofth s architecture-the srraighr

s,

or its spac;ousness,or its lack

had ben worthwhile. Once aga n,I resolved

to begin my work

s mple, praccical rh ngs, ro make these ihlngs big and Sood and

l)ciurifu, Lo make thcm the star.in8 point of the specific fom, like a

Driving a ong a road on .he coast of Ca fornin,we finally arrved at

rirster bu der who underslands

his metierl

lhe school that was listed in the architectural guide: a spraw ing complex of pavi ions spread out over

a.ge expifse of fl:rc rnd high over

lhe Pacifc. Barely iny crees, k.rsLic rock rlrrusr ng drrough $e rul{, r
fewhouscs in thc inrnrcd rtc vic Iity.Thc rows
ings widr

flir. t,,(,l.,rint

roo15

olrill,s

wcrc corn.(rr.l l)y

rSle srory bu ld

i\|l,rlr

prths cov-

5 Ar thc

itc

r,(slrp

irs

of ci8lrrccn,wli.,,

wis ipprcrclrlfg rhc efd of my appren

i.ibincurri<cr,l r)r,l, ry fir\r \, 1.!csitrc(l

picccs of fur-

rirrrcThcrrislcr(,rl)o{,r,ri.rk|, ,), {lit,(l(,i1 1l(,r( ,,ii,trrl rlrcformof

r,\1 ,)l r1tr 1,,,,,r1,,,,,,,.r1(,,r,'1,,

.1,,

t' , !ll

., ,li)i'

l(,1 rr

,li,l for

:fl

,'..

cvcn

l<e

the wood we used for rhe besr p ecesrwirlnuc. I chose lighr-

di

coored ash for my bed and clpboard,and I made drem so that they

looked good on allsides,with tre sxme wood ard rhe same carefulworl(

bicl( and front.I disregarded the us!al pra.tice of expending ess rlme
and care on rhe bac< becaLse no o1e ever sees it afyway

n
Ffl

ffi

was able

to round off the

edges only s ghdy withouc be ng con ecled,

running the sandpaper swiftly and liShtly

ovo thc cdgcs to sofrcf thc

FI

sharpncss without los ng the elegafce ind fifeness of r

&1

rouched the corners where three edges meer

fr

clpboard into thc franre rt the front w.h

h;

Lratitclosed almosthermellcally,wi$

I fe

BT

,l:

bir.,l/

noc,r ol r r.

.8ood worl(ing on this cupboard. l.irk ng rhc pro. lrly f rrir)t

ro my

iffer vislof,tiigSe

who

e, a

t() ril

conrp erc oblc.r drit cor rcspofd.d

cd in nre a state

' fr .,dpe(eof t'. '(r-

lfrrcd th.

ncs I

barely audib e sound of escaping aiL

rnd exacc shapes to form

ic

. nnxinr,rr ol 1,, r,t rhrr r|

r gentlc fr ctlorii .s \r.i n,,ri,l

F,t

ff

At long lxst

rdd-d

ot rrrefse co.cenr_ir on.rnd

rp

lr'

Fl

r
ii'
i
l

6 The der

ig.
,I

rhe

fo owing:a ong,naffow

good drree stories out

sides until on y

(! r geomerr

cirl o ee

bloc< ofbasa r stone project

oftre ground.The block is hol owed orr on

a ong middle

/,lrnlribs cmilf.Sccf lf
l,

-ib and a nunrber of n'ansverse, hor

cross scction.tlre ima8ned bloc( row loo(s

oi dre

errer T wirh three hor zonta srrokes:a

rrori. oblccr of rrc o'rts<lrrs of rhc O nTow r dirk.

r nostbick,

rat.

,( ,).,, h.,r,,)tin.l ipitrr srrr.nrrc

|,,r,,,rt r,,(l rr
,,1 .L rri.. \k),y hrrl,lL 1 ,,
,,1.,.1,i,"1 (,,,i, rr.l,r r',,,,\.v,!
'.1i,!lwr,,r{)! ,,,l.w,rli. l.', ,Lr , 1, ,.,.111 w,! L),,,i, r/1,.
,'jrrirrl", rirli, rli r ',, ,,, ',r,
I
t,'

tl

the material.We hand e th s stone sculpture with the utmost care, for

the ha I ns great as I remembered ir, afd I was disappointed by the dull

ghr on the wall paneling.

even at this stage it is already almost the whole buildinS We design the

joints of the boards in whlch it is cast like a fine network coverlng

al

rhe surfaces wlth a regular pattern,and we are carefLrlto ensure lhat the

ioints arisins duringthe section-wise casting ofthe concrete

wil

dis:P-

pear into the network.The thin steel frames Proiecrlng from the stone
il(e b ades in the middle

ofthe door are intended to hold the wings of

the doors.and lighrwe ight

Slass

and sheet metal Panels are inserted be-

This djfference between the rea ity and my memor es did not surprise
nre. I have never been a good observer, and I have never really wnnted

ro bc.I I ke absorblng moods, moving in sparial

fcd when

which
(

llm

tuarions,and I am satis-

able ro reta n a feeling,a sLrong genera impression from

can later extract detalls as from a palnt n8,and when lcan won-

cr whar t was rh:t triggered rhe sense of prorecrion, warm$, light

rween the stone consoles of the floor slabs so that the intermediate

r.ss,

spaces between the .ibs become rooms !ike glazed verandas

lic

or

spac ousness

thai has stayed in my nremory.when ook back

fiis itseems impossible to dist

nguish becween archilecture and ife,

Our clients are of the oplnion that the careful way in which we treat

licrween spatial siruations and the way I experience them. Even when

our materials, the way we develoP the join.s and trans tions from one

element ofthe building to the orher,and the Precision of detail lo which

I l,.,ve seen, my perception of it resonates in whar I havc cxpcriefccd

we aspireare

Itoo

elabo rate.Th ey want us to

,)hccntra.e exclusive y on the architecture and try to undersrand whar

rl$rs

Lrs

ponents and con struc.ions, they do not want us to make such h gh de-

colors what I have observed. l"lem ories ofsimilar exper ences

r ,,, st the

r way

in, too, and

nate on its appointed site in five yeare o. five decades,whe'r I conslder

)r ,vrrircnt to the room?

l.l,,w

is wha! they see,thal whlch was finally constructed, I do no. find it so

,i

hard to put up a resistance ro our clients' w shes

'

I .evkited

and which I

$e

ha I

wlth the nichc n lhe end wa I thrt I liked so much

t-icd ro describc

c licf I was fo

orrScr nric whcthcr rhe

floor of rhc rii(h. wrs ici ly on r hithcr lcvc rli., r drc icst ot the hrll
It wis ri.n N,,r

wr! rli(

( 1ff(

ui( c

rr

l)r 111,r,,,\( li,

rw{!ri rlir rii.hc rrr(l

)vlrl? Or,lf it was never there, perhaps l. shou d be added, as an im-

Lr

ha

,, ( well hnve existed. Perhaps it even d d exist once and was ater re'

When I !hink o{ the alr ofquality.hat the building cou d eventually cma-

that to the peop e who will encounter lt,the only thlng thal will count

thus mages of related ar.h tectural situa'

,ris ovcr ap.The difierence in the floor leve s of the niche and the

mands on the craftsmen and technicians who are co laborating wlth us:

they want us to bu ld more cheaply.

,,,
,w

lrrvc fallen back into my io c as an architcct, and I reaLlze once

1rcw ,,,uclr I e,rioy working w th my o d passions and rnages, and

r[.y

hc p me ro find

whit I .m looking foi

The Body of Architecture

Obseryations, impressions

was interviewed by the curator

ofthe museum. He tried to sound

me out by means of clevei unexpected questions.What did I think

abour dr(hIecLUre. whar was rrrportanL to rre aboL! .ny

worl-these

wre the thinSs he wanted to know.The tape recorder was on.I did my
best.

At the end of the interview. I realized that I was not really satis-

fied with my answers.

Lnter that evening,l talked to
I

friend aboutAki Kaurismekil latest film.

admire the director's empathy and respect for his chancters. He does

not l(eep his actors on a leashihe does not exploit them to express

concept,but rather shows them in a lightthat lets us sense thir diSnity,

ind their secrets. Kaurismeklk art lends his films

a feeling of warmth,

I cold my colleague and then I knew what it was I would have liked
ro have said on the tape this morning.To buid houses like Kaurismeki
makes

films thatt what I would li<e to do.

2 The hotel in which I was staying was remodeled by a French star deslgner whose work I do not know be.ause

am not interested in trendy

dcslgn. gut from the moment I entered the hotel,the atmosphere cre-

iEed by his architecture began to rake effeci Artlficial ight illuminated

dro halllil(e a siage.Abundanr muted lL8ht.

right accen ts on the recep-

rlon desks, ditferent kinds of naturil slone ln niches n the wall. Peoplo iscending the graceful stairway to tlro orclrclinS gallery stood out
iSnlns! a shinlng golden will. Abov6, ofio corld slt ln one of lhe dress
5l

c rcle boxes ove

look

ng

thc

ha I and havc a

drinl. or r snrc (.There are

only good scats here. ChristopherAlexander,who speaks n Pdft.r,ldn

guo.qe

ofspatialsituarons n whlch p.op c ifsrinctlvcly fce good,wo!d

hrvc bccn p cased.Isxt in a box overoo<ing the hall,a specrator,fcel

l.! rhat

was

pirrtofrhc

designcr

sstagcsct.l

l<ed

loo(jn8 dowf on

rhc .ctiv ry bc ow wlrere people came ind went, entered ind ex red.
Ie r I

(rf.erstood why the aichitecr is so suc.cssful.

She had seen a smallhoL se by

inrpress on on hcr, said H.

cel lngs so LowThere was a

Fian. Lloydwrght drar nrrdc aSrext

lts

sosma and iitimale, the

riny bmry with special

ighr ng and a ot of

.:

de.orarive arch rectLral e cmcfrs.and tlre wro e house nrxde a slfong

horLzonta impress on which she had never exper iefced bcforc.The old

stil lving rhcrc.Thc-c

lady was

was lro need for nre to go and see the

and

knew th fcling of

4 The member of $e jury wc c showf buid fts

by rrch cects com-

housc, I

rhought. (llew lust whft

''home rhat

she mearrt,

she descrLbcd.

peri'rg for an architecrural award. I

srL

d ed the documents dcso lbing

a smalL red house n a rural setting, a barn converted

fto a dwe

ng

which lrad beef en arged by rhe irchire.r and dre ifhab nnts.Thc cx
rens on was a success,l

rho!tht.Akholgh you co!

done ro rhc lrolsc beneath the s..ldle

eled

afd

iool

d see

wh.r ha.l been

rhe .hinge wrs

we

]r.l h nFnoLr.Tlrc

ho!se. . n.n .ee,n fti b. iiyrrt lri i(w

rcw pirrs

of

r .irlif i,i, t,i, t (n rli.

,'rli,,it..,, i,,| llir..l
ncwwlrol, l N,,rl[,r,'"
l)f l,.,t) ,,,,, ,,,i,,\,1,,1 ,,,,r, r,,ii, ,t ,,',' ', "l' l'.',,',.1t,
L,r

i'
l,

i.,

lnod

nregrared.The window opc r fgs wcrc scn!li vcly p icc.l.l-lrc

old and rhc few werr. bi iir(e.l

I
i

proach atluned to crafrsmanship.We agreed that we could not awad

agonal line of Broadway, the coaslal lnes of the perjnsu a.The bu ld-

design forthat,itsarchitecrura cialmslvere

ifgs, pacl(ed densely ln cheir right angled Srid,looming up in rhe sky,ln-

th

conversion

prize for

too modest.Yet I enioy th nl(ing bacl( on the sma red house.

d vidualisric, in love

with themselves, anonymous, ieckless,tamed by the

straltjacl(et of the grid.

ln a boo< about timber construct on, my attention was caught by

photographs of huge areas ofclosely packed tree trunks f oating on wide

expinses of water.I

so li<ed the plcture on the cover of the bool(,

The former townhouse looked somewhat lost in the park- lke ex

panse.lrwas rheonLyblilding n thatpartof thetown co have s!rvved

co lase of lenslhs of wood arransed in layers li(e a cross section.The

rhe destruction of the Second world War Previously used as an em

n!merous photos of wooden buildings, despite the fact that they were

bassy.

architecrurally commendable,were less appea ing. have no. bui rwood-

ro rhc plans of a competent architect. Hard and se f-assured, che exten

en houses for a long time.

A young coleague asked me how I wou d go about bu lding a house of

ir was now being en arged by

third of

ics orlginaL size

according

on stood slde by side with the old buildinS:on lhe one hand a hewn

'rone

base,stucco fatades.and balusrrades,on.he other a comprcssed

wood after wor<ing for some years wlth stone and concrete, steel and

n)ode[n annex made ofexposed concrete,a resn-ained,d sc plined vo -

glass.At once,lhad a menca image of a house-sized block of solid t m-

rnre rhat alLrded to the o d main bullding while maintaining

ber,a dense volume made of the biological subs.ance of wood,ho.izor

(lr

caly layered and precisely hollowed out.A house il(e this would change

its shape, would swel and conrract, expand and decrease n height,

lcrcd and extended many times over the centuries, developing grad!-

phenomenon that would have to be an integral part of the deslgn.lYy

yoLrng

co eag!e told

nre that in Spanish, his mother tongue, rhe words

d scifct,

ogic distance in terms of lts design.

fo!nd myselfthinl(ing about the old castle in my vilage.lt

has been al-

ly fr-om a c uster offree-stand ng bui dings lnro a closed complex wl!h

!, |rrer

courlyard. A new arch tectural whole emeEed at each stage

wood, mother, and materia were simiar: modera, modre, moterio.We

i,frrs dcvc opment. Historlcalincongruities were not architectural y re-

star.ed ta king abolt the sensuous qualities and cultural slgni{icance of

.rdcd.The old was adapred to .he new or the new ro rhe o d, in the

the elemental materials of wood and stone. and abou! how we could
express these ln

o!r

buildings.

rrtrcsr ofthe conrplete,integrared appeamnce ofits latest stage ofevoL

1)f

Central

Pad<

Sorrh, NcwYor

<,

hall

of thc firsr flooi lt was cvcfing.

Before me,framed bythe soarirS,sh r)ir)g,scony c ry,

ed reclinglc of rhc

l hc r ccrrrrJtL rr' t,

lir r

!'"

p rsrr,

("irP

.!

rnd cxflrincs dre

che walls, strips them

i iolfls do drcsc old blildings

reveal

Scncsis

iy.hc l)lgc wood-

pir ( Grcir citics c brsc.l on trcrr. clcir,wcll ord

erc.i cof ccp(r. l rli(nr)t

on On y when ore ifa yzcs thc s!bstance of

It|r r,'1 rlrr !rr cer\ tlic di

llli,,i1i,,{,(!rli{,.xliil)iri,)rl[vrL,,r(),i,, irt i lwi.(,,rfro]rrcdby5oP

,,)l

w.,ll\.|.rrr({l I'Ir rr ,. ,.Lrr II r '. 1,,,, ,,,,1r.r,1 I,

iyfLrly

r,,l}llifrl

battens and ropes hanging,leaning,fl oatinS,or pulling,taut or protecting-

The composition disclaimed the rlght-angle and soughc an informal balance.The architecture made a dynamic impression, symbolizing move'

ment.lts geslures filled the avaiable space,wanting to be looked

mnke their marl.There was hardly any

at,

to

room eft for me.I fo lowed the

wlnding path indicrted by the architecture.

ln the next pavilion I met with the spacious elegance of the

BraziLian

master Niemeyer! sweeplnS lines and forms. Once again, my interest

lyas captured by the large rooms and the emptiness of rhe huge out

door spaces in the photos of his work.

9 A.told me she had seen many tattooed women on the beach ofa small
seaside resort in rhe CinqueTerre region, a holiday destination visited
mainly by ltalians.The women underline the individualty of their bodies, use them

to proclaim their ldentlty.The body

as a

refuge in

world

which would appear to be flooded by artificial signs of life.and in which

philosophers ponder on yirtual rea iry.
The human body

as an

object ofcontempomry art.Surveys,disclosures

that seek knowledge, or the human body as a fetlsh of self-assertion

that can only succeed when looked at in the mirror or seen through
the eyes of others?
This autumn lvisited the room with the exhibltlon ofcontemporary ar-

chitectula proiecls from France.l sawshiningobjects made of I ass,gentle shapes without edges.Taut,elegant curves round ng offthe 8eometri-

calvolumes ofthe objects arspecifc poinLs.The I lines reminded me of

Rodln s drawings of nudes :rnd endowed drc oblccis with the

sculpcures.Architecruml nrodc
of s!l.f:rcc

lcxtrrr,

s.

,J<in,lrcr nrct c

q!r l.y of

Modcls BoiLrtihrl bodics,.clcbmr ons

iri(l fl,rwlcs\ cnrl)rr( ru' I lic

bodrcs.

0A

glass

partition divided up rhe length of the rarrow corridor of the

old hotel.The wing ofa door below,

firmly fixed pane ofSlass above, no

holrse.The quality

of

rs construction captured my attention.The archi-

cect received us.took us into rhe vestibu e, and showed us from room

clasps.

ro room.The rooms were spacious,their order ogica.We were eager

Normally done, nothing special- Certain y not a design by an architect.

to see each succeeding room, and we were not disappointed.The qual-

B!!

ity ofrhe day lght enterlng through the glazed rearfagade and a sl(ylight

frame,the panes c amped and held ar the comers by two metal

l(ed the

doorwas it because ofthe proporrions ofthe rwo panes

of glass, the form and position of the clamps, the gleaming of the

che muted co ors of the darl( corr

doi or was it

ass

over the stairs was pleasant. On all the floors, the presence of the lnr -

because the upper

male back yard arolnd which the ma n rooms were grouped was per-

pnne of g ass, which was tal er rhan the average-height s$/ing door be-

ceptible, even at the heart of the blr lding.

ow it, emphaslzed the height ofthe corridor? did notknow.

The architec! spol(e n respectflrl, amicable terms of the clien.s, the

fewly installed resldents, of their understand ng of his work, of h s ef

ll

lwas shown some photographs ofa complicated buidinS. Different

forts to comply with thelr requiremenrs, and o{ their ciitic sm of sornc

to overlap, s anting and erect,encap-

impracLica aspects which he subsequenty improved. He opened c!p-

sulated one wlrh n the orhenThe bullding,whose unusual trppearance

bo?rd doors, owered rhe large scrim blinds, which suffuscd thc livifg

areas, planes,and volumes seemed

Save me no clear indication as

!o

ics function, made a srrangely over-

room wirh a mellow light,showed

us

fo dlng partitions,and demonstrac-

loaded ard torru.ed impresslon. Somehow, it seemed two-dimens ona.

ed huge swing doors tha! moved no se ess y berween rwo pivors, clos

For I moment I thought I was lool(ing at a photograph of a cardboard

fg rlghtly and prclsely. Every now and then, he touched the surface of

model,colo llly painted.Lateiwhen I earnedthe name of thearchi-

some marerial or ran his hands over a handrai , a joint in the wood,

rect,

cdge of a glass pane.

was shoc<ed. Had I made a mista<e, a prematurej ignorant i!dg-

$e

ment? The architecrs name has an international r n8, his fine archtrec-

tlral

draw ngs are we I known, and his wrjtten starements about con-

l3

Thc towr I was vlsitng had a partic! arly attractjve neighbor-

temPorary archirecture,which also deal with ph losophical themes, are

rood. Bu dlngs from lhe l9th cenlury and rhe rurn of the centu

widely pub ished.

ry. so d voumes placed alofS the streets and squares, constructed

,)f srone xnd brick. Nothing excep! onal. Typically urbaf.The public

l2 Atownhouse ir

l,lanhatlan

new faeade in rhe ine of

$e

wi$

sn

Sood addiess,i!st comp ered.The

ccr of build

ngs srood

out disl fctly.

lf

nir! r sroncsliicd,srnoundcd byshss, oo(cd

l<c a brckdrop ln cr iLy.il,chcrdewis lior. ( | i()|ir, irorc iIrcgrircd
in irs sLllrr ,i, |ti, ljy Ii!llrrr l() (l r (r/( v,l,r\1,(!iwlrr,,, l(,,ir{,rc.l lhc

prcnrises on

.i

rhe ow.r floo

s frccd

thc rord, rhc dwe lngs ard offic-

rbove reffeired bch r.l prorccr vc

fi(r.l.s, hidifg

pr vrte spheres

Ir y (lvorccd frorn
\1,,({, wli(li lr!t.,ri wr r lrr ,1 ,,111. ,r rr. Ioot oI tlrc

the phoroSr:rphs, rhc

l{rli nd prcstisious frrg, rr,,ryrr,,r.. lrrr.r r

rl,. l),,lni{

f
I
I had ben told that a number of architects lived and worl(ed ln

chis

nejghborhood. I remembered this a few days later when I was looking

at a new neighborhood nearby.designed by welL <nown archltects,and

found rnyselfthinklng about the unequivocal backs and fronts ofthe urban s!.Lrctures,the precisely art cula!ed public spaces,the graciously re-

srra ned fatades and exactly fittlng volumes for the body of the town.

l4

We spent years developing the concept, the form, and the work

ng drawings

ofour

sto ne-bu ilt thermal baths.Then construction began.

I was standing in front of one of the first b ocl(s that lhe masons had

built in stone from a nearby quarry. I was slrrpr sed and irritated. Although everyth ng corresponded exacry with our plans, I had not ex
pected this conc!rrent hardness and softness, lhls smooth yet rugged

quality,.his ridescent gray-8reen presence emanating from .he sqLare

stone blocks. For a moment, I had the fee ing that our proict had escaped us and become independent because

it had evolved nro a

ma

teria entity that obeyed irs own laws.

l5

vislted an exhibltion

ofwork

by Mere! Oppenheim at the Guggen-

heim MLrse!nr.The techniques she uses are s.rll(ingly varied.There

is

no continuous,consistent style. Neverthe ess, I experienced her way of

thinking,herwayof lool(ngattheworldafd of interveningin !rhrough

her wod(,as coherent and integra. So there is probably no

poift

n won-

derlng iust what it is that slylisr cilly links thc fanro!s fur cup and the
snal(e made up ofpieccs

ofcorl.Dldn r Meretoppenhcim once snythrt

every dea nccds its proper fonn ro bc cffcctivc?

Teaching Architecture, Learning Architecture

Young people go

to

university with the aim

of becoming architects,

of finding out if they have got what it takes.What is the first thing we
should teach them?

First of all, we must explain that the person standing in front of them
is not someone who asks questions whose answers he already knows.

Practiclng architecture is asking oneself questions, findlng ones own

answers with the help of the teacher,whittling down,findinS solutions.

Over and over

The strength
ceive

thewor

again.

of:
d

good design lies in ourselves and in our ability to per-

with both emotion and reason.Agood architect!ralde-

sign is sensuous.A good architectural design ls intelligent.

We all experience architecture before we have even heard the word.

The roots of architectural understanding lie in our architectural exprience: our room, our house, our street, our yillage, our town, our

lafdscape-we experience them all early on, unconsciousLy, and we

subscquently compare them with the countryside, towns, and houses

rhic we experience later on.The roots of our understanding of archirccture lie in our childhood, in our youthrthey lie ln our biography. Stu-

,lcftshrvero

lci

earn !o work conscious y with lheir personal biograph-

cxperlences of archllecture.Their rllotred tasl(s are devised !o set

ltr s process in morion.

Wc nr.y wonder whit

ic

was that wc likcd ibout rhis house, this rown,

wlnr it was thic imprcsscd rn(l l()rr ln,,l

rr\

urr(l wlry.\^r'hir

wis the

room like,the square,what did it realy iook like,what smellw:s in the

The drawing ol scale plans also beg ns with the concrete object, thus

air, what did my footsteps sound like in it, and my voice, how did the

reversing the order

foor feel under

ard practice in professional architecture. First the concrete objects are

my feet,the

door handle in my hand, how did the light

strike the faeades, what was the shine on the walls likel Was there

polshed granite, pllable

masses, soft

texti

es,

Leather, raw steel. polished mahogany, crystal-

llne glass, soft asphalt warmed by the sun... the arch

constructedi then they are drawn to scale.

tect\

materials,

enced around with us.We can re-invoke these images in our mind\ eye
and re-examine them. But this does

notyet make a new design.new ar-

chitecture. Every design needs new images. Our"old" images can only

our materials-We know them all.And yet we do not know them.ln or-

help us to find new ones.

der to design,to invent architecture,we must learn to handle them with

Thinkingin images when designing

awareness.This is researchtthis is the work of remembering.

By its very nature,the image is always the whole of the imagined real-

Architecture

not abstract, but

lry:wal and floor, ceiling and materials, the moods of liSht:nd color of

plan, a project drawn on paper is not architeture but mer-

a room, for example.And we also see all the details of the transltlons

concrete.A
ely a more

ble

is always

concrete mattenArchitecture

or less inadequate representation of

is

arch itectu re, compara-

to sheet muslc.l'1usic needs to be performed.

A rch itectu

re needs

to be executed.Then its body can come into being-And this body ls al

is always

All de\,8n wo l.

\'rfls r'om Lhe o,e-

\e or rl ,\

directedtowards thewhole.

lrom the foor to the wall and from the wall to the window. as if we
were watching a fiLm.

Often however,they are not simply there, these visual elements of the
inrige, when we start on a design rnd

is stand-

We carry imaSes ofworks ofarchitecture by which we have been nflu-

feelng of narrowness or width, of intimacy or vastness?

Wooden floors like light membranes, heavy stone

o{"idea-plan-conc.ete object", which

try to form an

image of the de-

rl. obre( ,ive se, -

sircd object.At the beginning of the design process, the image is usualy

!s naterials.To e/perierce archirecru.e

incomp ete.So we try repeatedly to re-trrticu ate and clarify ourtheme,

ln a concrete way means to touch, see, hear, and smell it.To discoyer

ro idd the missing parts to our imagined picture. Or,to put it another

sJoJsress of architecrLre.

of

D ,ysk

l:nd

consciouslv work

w!n

rre rhe rhemes of

rhese aualicies rhese

Lour teachins.
All the design worl( in the studio is done with materia

wry:we design.The concrete,

Lrs

here.

k helps

sens uou s

quality

ofour inner

image helps

us not to ge! losc n arid, absrract theoretical assump-

lt always alms

rionsiir helps us not to lose rrack oftlre concrete q!allties of architec-

directly at concrete things, obiects, installacions made of real material

rurc.lr hclps us not to fal in love with the gr.phic quality of our draw

(clay, stone, copper, stee , fe t, cloth, wood, plaster,

s.

brick).There are no

cardboard mode s.Accun ly,no models at all in the convenc onal sense,
bur concrctc obiccts, th|cc d mcnsiorrr wor (s oh

spcciflc sca c.

urlts

ird to confuse ! wi$ rcir irch tccturil

r rrrtLrtrl Ptotrsrr<,trrrontocveryone.lris
tlrrikidt.A\!o.iiriv., wi(l fi (\ , r r ! L I \ysrcnrirc thinking

I'rrxhr. rg inncr intgcs

1,,r 1

of

qui ily.

{ ,

,
I (

, r r i

in images. in architectural, spat

a ,

s my favorlrc definlt on of des gn.

,@'

;r -i i4I

colorfrl, and sensuoLs p ct!res rhis

I
Does Beauty Have a Form?
I

Apricottrees exist.ferns exist,and blackberries, too. But beauty?

ls

beau-

ty a concrete property of a thing or an object that can be described

or

named,

or is it a state of

mind, a human sensation? ls beauty a spe-

cial fee ing inspired by our perception of a specia form, shape,

sign?What is lhe nature of

thing

th:t

or de-

sparl(s a sensatlon of beaLrty, that

gives us a feelinS at a certaln moment of experiencing beauty, of seeing

beauty? Does beauty have a form?

Music interrupts my writing. Peter Conradin is istening to a Char es

Mingus recordlng of the 50s.

A particular passage

has caught my a!-

.ention, a passage of great intensity and freedom in the calm, almost

earthy sweep of its slow rhythm. ln the pulse of that rhythm, the ten-

or saxophone

spea<s in warm and rough and leisurey tones

that

xlmost understand-word by word. Booker Erwin, the sound of his

horn hard and compressed, shrill but not brittle, porous despite the
densityi dry pizzlcatos in Mingus's bass; no erotic, greasy groove"

rhrt seeks to disarm and conquer.The music, thus heard, might

rhe mpression of sounding stift But it isn't.

give

lCs wonderful. lncredibly

bcilriful, my son and I s.y, almost in unison, as we ook at each oth-

ci I liscen.Themusic

k is r spice. Colorfu and senslrI inr irNidc r For r rnoment, nothing

dmws me in.

r . w rh depih rnd movcrncnL

2A

painring by Rothko,vibrant fields of color, pure abstraction.To me

And :ter, the villa on the hill: She wa

l<s

through the countryside and

The building is ra-

suddenly sees a jewel that tal<es her breath

away.

diant.As if it belonged to the

LandscaPe and

the landscaPe belonged

dlration, but not with an empty mind.You're fully aleft and aware. Con-

5 The beauty ofnaturetouches

us as

centration on the picture sets you free,she says.You reach another lev-

us. Man

it's only a question ofseeinS,a pure y visual experience,she says.

Other

sensualimpressions like smellor so!nd,materials or the sense oftouch

don't play a role.You enter the picture you're looking at.The process
has something

to do with concentration and medihtion. lt is ike mesomething grat that Soes beyond

comes from nature and returns to it.An inkling of the rneasure

ofhuman life within the immensity ofnature wells uP inside

us

when we

come upon the beauty of a landscaPe that has not been domesticated
3 The intenslty ofa briefexperience,the feelingofbeing utterly suspended in time,beyond past and

to all sensations of

future

this belongs to many, perhaps even

beauty. Something that has the radiation of beauty

srrikes a chord in me, and later, when lt is over, I

say: I

was completely

and carved down

to hurnan scale.We feel

sh e

ltered, humble and proud

at once.\ /e are in nature. in this immeasurable form that we will never

understand and now, in a moment of heiShtened experien.e,
need

to

because we sense that we ourselYes are Part of

no onger

it

at one with myself and the wor d, at first ho ding my breath for a brief

I look out into the landscapei I gaze at the sea on the horlzon,look ar

moment,then utterly absorbed and immersed,filled with wonder,fee -

the masses ofwateril walk across the fields to th acaciasil look at the

ingthe vibrations. effo ftlessly excited and calm

as

we l,enthralled bythe

elder blossoms,trt the juniper tree and become still

water Her heart miss-

m:gic of the appearance that has struck me. Feelings of joy. Happiness.

She ls bathing in the Sicilian sea and dives under

The countenance of a sleepinS child, unaware of being watched. Serene,

es a

undisturbed beauty. Nothing is mediated. Everything is itselt

ments are untroubled and powerful and elegant.They have the self-evi-

The flow of time has been halted, experien ce cryst: ized lnto an image

dence of miLlennia.

beal.A huge fish

passes close by, silent and infinltely slow lts move-

whose beauty seems to indicate depth.While the feellng lasts,I have an

inkling ofthe essence ofthings,oftheir most univeEa prcperties.lnow

suspect that these lie beyond any categorles of chought.

and above al the r shape,thelr lines.She lil(es lookingalshoes,notwhen

Sh

e loves beautifu shoes.

people wear them but

4 The Renaissance theater inV

aged, great intimacy.

cenza. Sleep rows.The

wood worn and

A powerfu snse o{ spacc, iftcrsity. Everything

ri8ht, she srys, so :rmizin8, so nirurnl, I kc

hirnd.

is

he adm ires th e craftsmansh iP the material

is obiec$ whose shaPe

and whose beaury tmnsccnds

is strictly defined by use

pricricil dcminds unti they

conre full cir-

cle and say to

her: Usc rnc,wcir nrc. Thc bcarrty of r utilitirian obiect

is thc hishcst

foor of borrty, slx rrklt

7 As
in

long as I can remember. I have

ways experiefced thc bcauty of

artifacr, an obiect created by maf as a special presence of form, as

r self'evident and self-confident hereness that

is intr nsic

to rhe obje.t.

Sometimes when such an object asserts itself in nature, I see beauty.

Thc building, city, house, or street seems consc ously placed. lt generirtes a place.Where ir stands, there is a bacl< and a fron., there is a left

ind a rlghr,there is closeness and distance.an inside and outslde.there

d e lorms that focus and condense or modify the landscape.The result

Tlrc obiect and its environmen!:r consonance of nature and

y .ieaced work that ls dlfferenr from the pure bea ty of

irrficii

natrre

irnd

.l ffcrcnt fiom the pure beauty of an object. Architeclure, the nrorhcr

{l

*.I

!.

5 re is

shnding with a group of younger people, mosty architects.

lr's dr zz ngi rhe a

,

,rl

tyard ofa

is warm.The men and women are standing in che

vi i.Theiropen

Lrmbrellas and sweeping,

un bu

lro ned

in

,,,,rs lend rhem an ai. of cosmopo iran e egance.The daylight arolnd

r rc 11orp is mild. Lighc from above shines through a sofr gray ce ing of
, l,,Lras

drat co! d be interpreled as a thic< ayer of fog. l. transforms

,',. ir frrc riifdrops

I

i,.

into particles

of

ght.The lindscape is f lled with

lri cs of thc nrcf rnd wonren standinB I rcre scenr serene.With un-

,1,,,(!1..r1,,,(xt

cir!,il ..,n.lrr rn.c, rhcy lrkc

rrr

drc statey manor, the

, '1,'iy,rl rlrco'rtlro(scs,tlr.(J]r,,,w,,|,,,)lr,i,w,oL,ltlir rongitr.O., ,.,)

r r l,llt (,i,,ir I,,,1(, l'1,,,1 ,1.,!.,Tlir.ob
'.,llyr(!rr.{, ! |1,!,,(,!.,r
,..r,,,it,, llrt,,,r,,1y,,1.r1,,.,..-,,,t1,',.
t rr.'!r,\t),,rr'

I
of porous stone and glass and fine-ringed wood and the way ir forms

meadow glisten.The meandering gaze seeks the way to theVilla Rotonda ofAndrea Palladio,wh ch is supposed

to be nearby.The sce're

arge courtyard with its older

has be-

the

place

imparts fee ings of attraction and aura. of enersy and pres-

ence.lt seemed as ifeverything l saw was in a state of balanced suspen-

I remember the experience othouses,villages,cities,and Landscapes,

abolt whlch I now

neighbors the new body set down with

non-geometrical precision in the ba ance ofthe masses and materials of

come a Lasting image in her memory. She has written about it.

sion.And the body o{the new building seemed to vibrate,she said.

say they lent me an impression of beauty. Did these

slruations also seem beautiful to me at the tlme? I think so. but l'm not

He ls standing in the porral ofSanAndrea in lYantua.A tall portico

of

quite sure.The impression came {irst,l suppose,and retlection fo lowed.

And I l(now that certain things were not invested with beauty until af-

light and shadow, single rays of sun on the pilasters.A world of its own,

terwards, through sLrbsequent impulss, conversations with friends, or

no longer city but not yet the lnterior otthe church. Pigeons are flying

conscious exploration ofmy stillaesthetically unclassified recollections.

high up in shadowy regions where the carved figures and moldings fade

have experienced. I assimilate

out of si8ht.I hear but do not see them. Darkness abounds.The light

the impression it has made on them if I am ab e to create an image in

thar penetrates reveals fine particles of dust in the airThe air is thick,

I can also respond

my mind

to beauty that others

almost tactile- t seems as if the thinSs under the portico in which I am

ofthe beauty others tell me about.

Beauty aLways appea.s

to me in settings,ln clearly delimited pieces of

still

reality, objectl ike

or in the manner of

scene, composed

to perfection without the least tr:ce of effort or ar-

ife

sranding, things more sensed than seen, have energized each other, as

rhey were in a unlque state of mutuality, he says.

or like a self"contained

l2

tificiality. Everything is as it should be;everything is in its place. Norhing

jars, no overs.ated arranSement, no

crt

is the thing

itself.lt captivates me.The pict!re that I see

Our perception is visceral. Reason plays a secondary ro e.I think

we mmediarely recognize beauty tha! is a product of our culture

que, no accusation, no alien ln-

and

cor csponds to our education.We see a form framed and condensed

tentions; no commentary, no meanlng.The experience is unintentional.

What I see

if

inro an emblem, r shnpe or a design, which touches

has

us,

which

has

the

the effect of a composition that appears extreme y nacunl to me and

(tuility of beinga grear dealand possibly everything in one:self evident,

at the same t me extreme y artful in its naturalness.

tn

ofound, myster o!s, stimulating, exciting, suspenseful...

Wlrcdrer the ippearance th.r touches nre iea ly is beaurifu cannot be

l0

Sheturnsthecornerofasmal shed rnd

sces the new bui ding

ropcrly iudgcd by thc form

for

f bccirsc thc dcpth of fcclinS thac be-

,ll\ ro thc scfsir on ol bci'rry i! rr,r iltrilrr.l by rlrc fofln is slrch but

the firsr time. She comes ro a halci rscon shed, electrificd. Something

r)

about.he wiy drc pilared bLilding is stin.ling tlrcrc, the wiy ir is mide

r,rr icr by rhc spirk

15c

rhir irrrt,\ fi,nri

r,,

rI

Blt

beauty

cxis6

a rlrouglr

it

mnkcs rc irivcly rare xppeiraices xnd

freq!entyinunexpecredpaces.Wh e
exPec! r,

rh

orher places where we woLrld

stoaPPean

Can bcaury b designed

gu

rd mxde?Whit are the ftr es rhar

antee dre

beiruty ofour prodL ctsi l(nowlng iboL r coLfterpoint,harmon cs,the thc

oiy ofcolo rthc Go dcf Sccrion a!rd formfolowsfLrnctior'isiotenolgh.

McLho.s irnd devices

rhose wonderiu lnsn

nrr.

fo cofr.ni

l3

lYy las< as a designr is

!menls

noi do thcy gLamntc. rhc inaglc of a beautifu wltole.

diff.ult bydcfinron lt srclatcdroa_r

stry afd nchieve nent, intu tion and craf.rmanship. B!t

men., authentic ty,

ind

fo otrer

wa rr to

crexte

rherown.lbe

so ro commit'

f.l mlst do m/ own thlrg

thir

because rhe parr cular subsnnce

andcan.wi.h rck, create it

I

a deep nrerest in s!bjec! nrarrer

To ach cvc bcalry I rnusr be ar one wirh rnyse

n rd

are no substi

lies

withif

r:\ble. house, br

eve every

we

recognizes beaL ry

me. On thc orher

dge

hrnd,rhcthings

musr be a owed ro come in.o

made rh ng has an

order rhat dcrcrnrincs its form.Tlris essence

lfhe.ent

y appr opriatc

whit I want to discover

and thereforestic.f flnlyrothematrerathand n thep ocessof de

signifg. I b.

l.vc in an accuracy of olt oo < and n trrrr cortent in rea .

sens!a experience, wh ch irre beyond irbsrra.t opinions

Whardoes this horsc waft ro bccomc.as
body, irs

riri.e

ials f rrnly

or

if obiccrof!sc,is

de3s
a p rys cn

consrrrcted.'r.llo re.. ts lhirpe fro ded nto

aform rharserves f/Iis< nyscf rrdrsl.sorr.fro cWlritdocsthis

ho!s.wirriobclo L!b(rtbr,)r1r!,riy,r !,. ,r r',,r,1 1,.,, rLrr:

barrerc| rnrlrlt,(,.(n, rli( 1, ,,i 1,(f L,n ,.,r i rl,n '(,l,r,w'riflht
prthov. 1,,,1. ,,, 'il ,,r , i, L'rl,1 r,i,r

I
I

"Ap ricot trees exist, apricot rrees exist/ Ferns exisq

an

d b lacl<ber,

exper ence ofabsence and pure bliss the experjence of a beautifulform

that has been lsnited by the feelins of absence. in the words of

wrter

The beginning ofthis essay as wel as the lines that fol ow are indebted

Maftin Walser:"The more we mlss sonrething, the more beautiful may

!o lnger Chr

become that which we have to mobilize ln order

stensen, whose poem 'Alphabet" begins

with these linesi

her poem builds on the infinitely increas ng rhythm of the Fibonacci

numbers, a condensation of words in which she securcs the world and

Ih^r"by ei"r\es

parL cles rl-at

,parJe ana rricrre.

The lune night exisrs.The lune night exists

...

in this flying summer, no one understands that autumn exis.s,

the aftertaste and the alterthouSht,

too, onLy the dizzying series ofthis
restless ukra-sound exists and the jade ear

ofthe

bat turned toward the ticl<ing haze;

never has the earths inclination been so splendid,
never the zinc-white nights so white

...

Beauty,l think as I read these lines, is at its most intense when lr is born
of absence. l fi nd something missing,a compell nS expression,an empa-

thy,which lnstant y affects me when I experlence beauty. Before the experience, I did not realize

or perhaps no longer knew that I missed t,

bul now I am persuaded by knowledge renewed rhrt I wi I a wrys miss

it. Lonsins.The exper ence of beir!ty makes me
I

iwirc

of ibscf .e.Whar

experiefcc,whic touchcs nrc. cntiils bodr ioy an.l pirin Pi r)ful is rhc

to endure absen.el'

The Magic of the Real

..ryl

,.:j

There s the maglc of music.The sonata begins wth the first des.end-

::

ingmeodic ineof thevola,theplano sets in,andthereltisaLready,the

q!
f ,-'

rismntaneo!s presence of a dlstinct emotionithe atrnosPhere of sound

rhir envelops and touches me,that plts nie in a special mood.

lhere is the magic ol paintlng and poetry, of words and images, there
,\ dre magic of radiant thoughts.And there is the magic of the rea, of
rhe physical.of substance, ofthe things around me thar l see and rouch.

rli,rr

smell and hear. Sometlmes, at certain moments, the magc

cof

v.ycd by a specific archilecture or landscape. a specific milieu. is sud,l(,nly rherei

Lr

i!

has materia ized like the measured growth of che soul,

\ lY;rrndyThursday. l'm sitting

rr,1 rhc panorama of

n the long loggia of the c oth ha l. Fac

the square, its row of bui d ngs, ts chlrch and its

,ii,rrunients. lYy back to the wall of the cafe.just the rlght amount of
ti,1)l)lc.A fowcr mar(et.ln lhe sun.lts

ll

a.nr.The wall on the oppo-

.,r( srdc of rhe squrre lies in shadow, bnthed ln a p easant bluish li8ht.

W,ir.lo{ul

sounds: convers.tions close by,footsteps on the flagstons

' l 1 ic squ c, fie murnrlrinr< ofthe crowd (no cars, no engine noise),
,{r,,. ri i whilcdstantsorfdsof .onslrucLiof.Birds.blacl(dots nflight,
,

r,,.y

l1)(,1<

ciscr flrf .hccdrl,i fist ind irssc.l pitrern of lnes lf the air

llr,. r(, ( ,ryi hivc jrst bcSun irxl \.rrr r(, lnvc slowcd .lowrr $e wil<
,,rl t, i, ( ,)l rlic pc()tn, . lw(, ,r ,i\, l, ,tlrly )t( \r ( rrl,r( rU. rrrikc rhc t wiy

',',r.

rlr'(,,i1 ,rrtLL,,(i Jlir

l,r,r,, L,,,

1,,

',

),1, l)11)wrrrlt

nrli(

w,,rl

Each carryinga plastic bag.The rem perature is pleasantly invigoraringand

thr&ten to disappearWithout the atmosPhere of the square, I real-

warm at once.I am sltting on a couch upholstered in pate,faded green

ze I would never have experienced those feelings. Now lt comes bac<

velvet.The bronze statue on a high p inth on the square jn front of me

to me:there is an intimate re ationship between our emotions and the

to me and joins me in ookingatthe twin{pired church.The

things around us.Thatthought is related to my job as an archhect.lwork

spires each have different pinnaclesj they are identicat when $ey srart

at the forms, the physiognomies, at the physlcal Presence of the thlngs

out at the bottom and become increasing y distinct toward the top.One

that constitute the spaces n which we live.ln my worl(, I contribute to

has its bac<

is

taler than

che

other and

has a gold croe/n.Soon B. is goinS

to appear

rhe existing physlcal framewor (, to the atmosphere of Places and sPac-

to the right, wall<ing toward me diaSonally across the square.

es

At the time that I wro.e these comments about the atmosphere ofthe

The maglc of the real: that to me is the "alchemy' of rransforming re-

square. I was urterly enchanted with everythinS I saw Rereading my

al substances into human sensations, of creating that sPecial moment

notes now I wonder v/hat it was that moved me so much.

when matler, the substance and form of architecrural

Everything!Everything the things.the people,the quality of the air,the

be emotionally appropriated

ight,the noises,the sounds and the colors. Material

As an architect, I can construct worl<able ho iday homes, commercir

prese nce, tex.u res

and shapes as wel. Forms that I can understand. Contigurations rhat

can

try to

read. Physiognomies that strike me as beautifut.

But apart from

: I the physica

to me

alone,

me

o!r

emotions.

sPace, can

was it something

to my rnood, my feelings, nry expectations as I sat

lhere watching and lisreningl

or assimilated.

buildings,or airportsil can buid flats with good lloor p ans rt affordable

impacti I can app y forms to my buildings that satisfy the need for lnno-

vatlon or novelty, sratus or lifestyle.

It is not easy .o do those things- lt takes worl( And talent. And more
work. But thatalone is not enough to come up with comPelling,success-

"Beauty is in the eyes of the beho

der"-this

sentence comes to mind

fularchirecture bornofthosespecia momentsof Persona architectural

as I write. Does it mean that everyrhing I experienced at the time was

experience. and it makes me wonder:can

primarily the expression and the oucflow of my srace of mind, of the

I design wlrh whatever

mood that I happened to be in at rhe moment? Did the experjence ut-

architectura atmosphere? Can I create that unique

timate y have little to do with the square and rs acmosphere?

and mood, of prescnce, well-be ng, righl|ess and beauryl ls

ln order to answer .hat quest

miss the square from

'ny

truly

p.ices: I can design theaters,trrt museums, or show rooms thar make an

materials, apart from the things and the

peop e, there was something else that touched

related

that kindle

of,

conduct a simp c experimenr I dis-

mind afd che nomenr I do so. a curious thinS

happens: che fcclinSs evokcd by rhc

sillririon trcltii ro f,r.tc

ird

cven

it

ro glve concre.e shape to

l, as

an architect, invest what

is that actually constltutes the essence of an

dlt

feeLlng of intensi!y

it

Possible

which .lcfincs rhe nrig c of the real at

specifc lnomcnq ro drc spcll 1li.,r I cists on nry cxpc-iefce of it, con
i(lring

.tLrility

thir I w,,Lr,l rnv,

(n!iw1,

(iln,ri(irrcc?

and discovering a path of our own,wandering, strolling, being seduced.

There are small and large. impressive:nd important buildings or complexes that dwarf me,that oppress me, that exclude

or reb!ff

me. But

there also buidings orensembles ofbuildings.both smallones and mo-

I give thought

to careful and conscious staging of tension between in-

side and outside,public and intimate,and to rh res holds, transitions, and

numental ones,that make mefee good,thar make me look good, that

give me

sense ofdignity and freedom,that ma<e me want to st:y awh le

And to the play of

sca e

in architecrure. l"ly dedication to finding the

and that I enjoy using.

right size of thlngs is motivated by the deslre to create degrees of in-

These are the works I feel passion for.

timacy, of closeness and distance.

So

e/hen l'rn working,lkeep remindinS rnyselfthat my buildings are bod-

ies and need

to be built accordingly:

membrane, as

Itry to

fab

mal<e sure

as anatomy and sl<in, as mass and

thatthe materials are attuned to each othetthat they

radiatei I take a cerrain amo!nr of oak and a different amount of pietrd

serend and add something to them:three Srams

turns or maybe surfaces of gleaming

glass, so

ofsilvr or

a handle

that

that every combination of

marerials yields a uni!ue composition, becomes an origin"l.

isten to the sound ofthe space,to the way materlals and surfaces re-

spond

to touching

and tapping, and

to the silence that is a prerequi-

site of hearing.
The temperature of rooms is very important to me.how coolthey are,

how refreshing, the chiaroscuro of warmth that caresses our bodies.

I love thinking about the personal thlngs that pop e surround themselves

with in order to work.ln order to feel at home and tor which

create room, sPace, and Place.

I like the idea of arranginS the inner structures of my buildings in se'
quences of rooms char Suide us, cake us places, but also
and seduce !s. Architecrurc s Lhc art of sp:rce :rnd

rme

06

as

well

bcrwcen ordcr and f|ccdorr, bcrwccn

let us go

it is the nrt of

followifg. pa$

ove p acing materials, surtaces, and

edges, shiny and mat, in the light of the sun, and generating deep so ids

and gradations of shadinS and darkness for the magic of light fal lng on

!h ngs.

ric, shell, velvet, silk.and glossy steel.

Unti everything

is right.

The Light in the Landscape

The light of the moon

The llght of the moon is a quiet reflection,large, even, and rnild.The
light of the moon comes from far away.That makes l! quiet. I imagine

the shadows that things cast on the earth in the light of the moon imperceptibly seeking

se

paration. Though I cant te I with my bare eyes.

l'm too small or too close to make out the cosmic ang e between the
source of light and the things

lt illuminates on earth.

When I start studying light and shadow, the light and shadow of the
moon, the light and shadow of the sun, the light and the shadows produced by the larnp in my living room, I acquire a sense of scale and di

I have always wanted to write a book

about lght. can think of nothing

thar reminds me more of eternity,says Andrzej Stasiu< in his bool( The

World behind Dukla.Events or objects stop

or djsappear or colapse un'

der their own weight and when I lool< at them and describe them, he
says,

it is only because they refract lght, because they shape it and give

r a form thar we are capable of understand ng.

The light that meets the earth from afar

I

wrnL

Lo

tlrink about .he

in ot]r lifdsc.pes,
rhc obicct of nry

ind

ar

rlficial ght n nry b!ildin8s, in our cities and

citch nrysc f forcvcr retlr r fg,like a lover !o

idrriritior:tlrc itlir ilrit

thc !rrLokl nLIrbcr5 ()f

ll!lr\

\rrL ( 1, or,

nrccts tlrc crrdr f om

rrrtt

a{ii

i,rls lr(tLr.ls. srrfi.cs,

colol.s, and shapes that radiate in the light.The light that cornes from

The light of the sun

ollside the earth makes the air visib e,l can see it.ln the Upper

Enga-

Myriad small dots of light the stars in the sky,llre{lies in the woods, the

dine in autumn,for example,where the sl(ies are aready southern but

rrtificial lights of nightscapes on earth. Small objects of liSht that radiate

or reflect.The

glass beads in a ch:ndelier,

The lighr ofthe sun, rhe

Seen from a great height

Seen from a great helght, the

day,

for example.

that reaches the sufface o{the eafth from

outer space,ls big and strong and directed. lt is one light.

artlficia lights with which people illlrmi-

nate the night have a soothing effect.We ilLuminate our buildings and

Darkness lives in the earth

streets,we illuminate our planet, ward off litt e pieces of darkness and

Recently, on a mountain hil(e,A. observed that the co ors of

create is ands

of ight on whlch we can see ourselves

and the things that

flowers

a on8

the path are stil aglow for a little bit after twiliSht

fallen, as if the flowers had stored the light and now have

we have accumulated around us.

Sensing,smellinS,touching,tasting,dreaming

in the

dark-thatt

lheA pine

to release lr,

just not

enough.We want to see. But how much lght do people need in order

Darkness lives in the earth.lt rises up out of it and returns !o

.o live?And how much darknessl

strong breath, I read in Andrzel Stasiu<'s Duklo.

ls there a spiritua conditlon

good life? Or,to go even

forms in which light appears in nature.lam amazed,l learn from that,

and I am aware that it is the light of the

sln that il uminates the build-

ings I envision. I hold spaces, materials, textures, colors, sur{aces, and

the darl<ness of night?

Two hunters from San Bernardino,who spent

few days and nights in an

uncivilzed mountaln valley. describe coming home at

ght and oo<ing

down on their illuminated viLlage-the tunne entrance,the gas station,

cal.s

The older I get,the mo.e inrense is my interest in the var ous ways and

further:Are there some thlngs we can experience only in dark, shaded

the

il lke

or a life conditlon so sensitive that tiny

amounts of llght would be enough to ensure

places, in

has

and how the familnr village suddenly seemed pol uted.

shapes up

to the lSht of the

sun: I capture

screen it offi I thin it out to create a

agent, L'm familiar

this ight, refect it,filter it,

usterintherghtspot.Lightasan

with it. But when L really starr thinking about it,I un-

derstand hardly anything.

Tanizaki Jun'ichiro, the author

of ln

to watch the full moon at the

lshiyama Temp e, bur changed his mlnd

Pro,se of Shodows, once decided

when he learned lhat rhey wolld p ay a record ng of rhe Mooniight

notd for the enter.ainmenr of the vis Lors .nd insrill irri{ic

rl

So-

ghts ro

The light in the landscape

fte

Lrghr

in

e Ld,)ds.ope. Fr ederike

lYiyroc<er uses dris imrge to title

text that secms cxr-cnrcy rr iobiogriplricrl to nrc. lts rn:rny shades

in.l shidows kccp brcrkrrll ,nr rirl u,'(,

'lru

||lir i\

slrc pilcs

rp

rhc

materi:l of her words layer upon layer, describing and creating inner
and

outer landscapes.

LosAngeles by night
Seen {rom an approachinS aircraft

that is gradually losing altitude, the

Personal landscapes. lmaSes and landscapes of longing, mourning, tran-

nighttime illumination of Los Angeles looks like a magical image. Later,

quility, joy,lone iness, sanctuary, ugliness,the pretension of pride, seduc-

on the streets of the city,that same light seems pal id and sickly

fion. ln my meno y Lhe/ all have a li8hc of cheir own.

an unnaturalbrightness in which the green lawns and bushes in

ls it even possib e to imagine thinSs without light?

yards

ofthe houses lool(

as if they

to

me,

thefront

were rnade o{ plastic.

Tanizal(iJun'ichiro praises shadows.ln the dark deprhs ofthe traditional

Japanese home.where shadows crouch in all the corners.the gold of a

Between sunset and sunrise

lacquer painting glearns,and gentle lighr is diffused through translucent

Between sunset and sunrise. we furnish ourselvs with illumination of

paper stretched over the delicate wooden frame of a sliding door so

our own making,lights that we can switch on at will.These lights ctrn-

that one can hardly distinguish the source of the daylight that captures

not be compared to daylight;they are too weak and too breathless with

and reflects the objects so beautifully in the half light.

thelr flickering intensities and swiftly spreading shado!vs.

Jun

ichiro praises shadows.And shadows praise light.

But when I do not thinl< ofthese lights

th:t we mal<e ourselves

as an

at-

tempt to eliminate darkness, when I think of them as nighFtime lights,

accentuated night,as intimate illuminated cLearings thatwe carve out

Shadowlss modernism

as

lf I remember righty,l h:ve seen buildings of classical modernism that

of the darkness. then they can become beautiful, then they can haye

celebrate the light and the landscape. Richard Neutra's houses in Cali-

magic all their own.

fornia,for example.Shadows do not seem to loom large in these archi-

Which lights do we want to switch on between sunset and sunrisel

tectural compositions. But brightness does.light and air and the out-

What do v/e v/ant to iLluminate in our buildings, cities. and

door view the sensation of liv'ng in the landscape, of having the land-

How and for how

scape

flow into or through the rooms inside the landscape with all of

its llShts trnd shadows.Watching the sun set in these houses is a magniflcent experience. Later,when the house is no longer illuminated from

outside, it has to generate its own liShting, its own illuminated atmo$

phere.With human light.

long?

landscapes?

Awny of Looking atThingt

Peter Zumthor

Le.ture, written November 1933, SC ARC Southern Ca

lo nlr nnnute ofArchtectore.

The Hard Core ofBauty

Lecture.wrtten December 99,s/mposum

P ran,Sovenia

From a Passion ro.Things to thThingsThemselves

Born ln Baselin l943,trained

Lecture,wi.tenAuBu$!994,AvarAatoSymposium,A'rhite.tureoftheEssentirl,'

as a

at the Kunstgewerbeschule Basel

cabinetmal(ei designer,and architect

:nd Pratt lnstitute, NewYork.

Since

1979 own practice in Haldenstein, Switzerland. Professor at the Accademia di arch;tettura, UniversitA della Svizzera italiana.

The Body ofAr.hitecture

Lecture,writren Ocrober 996,Symposium FomFollowsAn/lhlnsl'Siockholm,sweden

Chur, I 986i Sogn Benedetg Chopel,

Teachina

wrten

Archite.ture, LearningArchite.ture

Su

rnvitg, I 988; Ho rf,es for Senior Atizens,

Chur-Masans, 1993i fhermai Boths yojs, 1996i KunsthdLrs Bregenz, 1997:

September l995.Accademxd archilettura,l'lendrsio.Swee.and

Swiss Povilion Expo 2040,

Hannaver Documentotian Centet "Topography

of

Does Beauty Have a Form?

oflerror", Berlin, constructed parts

Slghty revked venion otrhe edureon thesublectot venu*asl'Eiven atthe Dparrment

lin StateiArt ,Museum

ofA..h te.ture ofthe Federd lnntuteofTechnoogrZu ich.November

Chdpei, Scheidtweiler farm, Mechernich, Germany, 2007.

Thequo.edpa$a8esarefromthepoen

Alphabef'n

1998

nger Christensen.En.henis.hes

6+

dl.ht zu Ehrcn det Etde,Auswahl oh,e Anfong ohne E de,ednen b/ Prerwate' rouie {sa zburg
andV enia: Res donzVelag, 1997)

The Masic of the Ral

Le.toDdctonls,de veren lODecember2O0lontheoccasonoltheLaurcaHonoft
sa

inArchnetiura awa.d ofthe Univehiti degiStud

d Ferara.

Frco

tI

cau-

diArchitertura

The Light in the Landscap

Le.ture,wlitren
Faena in

as

plrtofrre Nrtiona Rese .rProrc.r'FarLux_fori cidn8ittheBa'

Chii$o lA!s!*200,1

1997 demolished 2004 by Ber-

Ko/Lrmbd, Cologne, 2007i Sdjnt Eruder Klous Fie/d

Liuia

C) Phoros.aphsr

mkeri in rhe

Z!nr$or

P3d8eft

<f!rr/rhin.

Fli)n

rcs de.ce,luly 2005

Lryour rnd Cover:Hifrcte cront!nd, Hc

nt

Qr ex6:Percr ZL,m$o: Hatdenstein

T anslir.ion:f1a!rcci Oberti

turfcr

(ess:rys

t988

996),

Car|criie Schclbert (cssays t998 2004)

:r lfl:i

A r-

P.rhl.Er o rc..ra lff tris h.o. : rvi rL. t oir rt[ L b irr ot Ccrgt5j.

Bb.! iph.

nlo m .n prb sh.d bt De DoLE.re Bb othei

B b .iheti n: ih s pubt. .r n tre DeLG.he Niro Ibb
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i.d r.r 1993. LJ s Mr . pnr trc 5 B:..n S{,.,

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