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Peter Zumthor

Thinking Architecture

Second, expanded edition

Blrl<hdu s er-Pu bllsh ers fo r Arch iteccu re

Basel . 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. l"1any of

these images are connected wlth my training and work as trn 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 of r when I went into my aunt's garden.That door

hand e sti seems 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 issucd from dre kitchen cupboard.

Ivcrytlring iborL th s kitchon wrs typicr of r L,;rditionil <irchen.There

w rr no(liin! spc. 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

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 acn-
b 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, half-
forgotten memories, and then I try to recollect what the remembered
architectural situation was really like, what it had meant to me at the

time,and I 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 a 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 i 16Ls of the Artc Povcra group.Whrt lnpresscs me

is rhc prc.isc 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-
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 the same time to expose the very essence of these materials, which is the individua threads of the musical fabfic, t is possible to apprehend

beyond all cu turally conveyed meaning. rhe rules rhrt Bo!ern the s|u.trre o[ the nL5r(

I try to use materials like this ln rny worl(.I believe thatthey can assume Construccion is the art of ma<ing a meaningfu wholeoutofmanyparts.

a poetic q!allty in the context of an architectur: objecr, a rhough only Buidings are witnesses to th e human abilityto consrruct con c rete th ings.

ifthe archltect is able to generate a meaning{ul situatlon for them,since I believe tha! lhe real core of all architectural work lies in the act of

rnaterials in themselves are not poetic. construction.At the point in tlrne when concrete materla s are assem-

The sense that I try ro instlll into mater als is beyond alL rlles of com- bled and erected, the architecru.e we have been looking for be.omes

position, and their mngbility, smell, and acoustic qualities are merely part of the real world.

elemen.s of the language rhat we are obliged to use. Sense emerges lfeel respecrfor the art ofjo ning,the abilty ofc€ftsmen and engineers.

when succeed in bringinS out the speci{ic meanings of certain materi 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 lot of wor< went into this ' when they sense the

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-

context.Good answers to these questlons can 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, n work of architecture. Are the eftort and sl(il we put into them

lf lve succeed in this, materlak in architecture can be made to shine rcilly inherent parts of the things we 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 For the silence of sleep
{rvc uLrsic.The s ow nrovemcnts of l"lozi ts piifo conccrros,lohn
lohann Sebastian Bach is its"architeclLrrel hs consrru.tion seems clear
and transparent. lt is possible ro pursue the decails of $e m€odic, 'l',,,' . b..r..d\ o,,lc u',,'r Jtl' 1" ,\r' ,"ii,n org

h.rmonic, .nd rhyrhmicil e cmcfts withoLrt los fg tlrc fccling for the
conrposir or rs r who c thc wlt c rt nrikcs sc|sc of drc dclriLs lli(, lirfrinrbliryro rivLrir rii(,rl(.,, ir J | , r r , , ..
, , r , i
'
Ir ry |s inrirzcs
Thc rnrstr s(Dr\ r() lr l).rso.l Lrporrr.lcr, ! (r{r(rr',irr(l f wcrrrcc
 But the wor d of sound also embmces the opposite of me ody, harmo- if the promise has the p a longing for its Presence.

ny, and rhythm.There is disharmony and broken rhyth m, fragments and lf .he naturalism and graph c virtuosity of architectura Porcraya s are

clusters of soLrnd,and there ls also the purely functionn sound thar we too great, if they acl( "oPen Patches" where our imaginarion and curl-

cal noise. Contemporary music works with these elements. osity aboutthe reality ofthe draw ng can penetrate the image, rhe Por

Cont€mporary 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 a iry vvanes because there ls litt e or nothing in the representat on that

on disharmony and fragmentation, on bro<en rhythms, clusterlng and I -polnts to the intended reality beyond ir.The portraya no longer holds

so!ct!rn disruptions may be able to convey a message, as soon as we

I a promise. t refers only to itsell

underscand its statement our curiosity dies, and a that k le{t ls the Design drawings thar refer to a reality which stil les in the future are

question of the building's practical use{ulness. imporrant in nry worl( I continue worklng on my drawinSs untll they

Architeclure has its own realm.lt has a special physical relarionship with r.rch the delicace point of reprcsentatlon when the Prevailing mood
ife. I do not think of it primarily as either a message or a symbol, but see( emerges, and I stoP before inessentials start detracting from jts

as an envelope and backSround for life which goes on in and arolnd t, mpact.The drawing icself must take on the quality ofthe sought-for ob-

'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-

c/rcentratlon or woa<.ror the silence of s eep. luscmrion of an idea but an lnnate part ofthe work of creation.which
cnds w th the constructed obiect.

,/'Preliminary promises These sort of drawings enab e us to step back,to ook, and to learn to

ln its fnal, constructed form, architectlre has its pace in the con- understand that wh ch has not yet come ln!o belrg and which has jusr

crete wor d.This is where it exists.This is where ir makes its statement. 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 a constr ucrions.They consist of single Pafts which
Architectlra drawings rry !o express as accuratey as possibl€ the nNst be ioined togcdrciTo a lirge dcgrcc, the qu:r icy of the fnished

aura of the btrilding in its lftendcd p ace. gut precisely the effort of .Lt ,, \ anr- ,,l ry . I,r.,rr,/ J . o,.\
,,'

rhe portrayal oftef serves ro undedine the ibserrce of rhc rctur ob ln sc!lptLrrc, drcrc s r trrrlir rrr r[irrrrrrrii/c!rlrc!]tPrcssionofrhc

iecr,:r'id whi. rhcf cfrcrges s .f rwircncss of ihc ini.lcqrlircy of iny l(,1irs ifd ioins bcrw.r,, rlx \|r)t( trirr! Ur lrv(n (,f rhc ovor fornr

<incl ot portr,ry,rl. r Lr|os ty .rlnn,r I r rc,r ry I t, r, i !r!. I !l t{.r hipr lr (lrir.l Sc,i.,\ !ro(, ol1r', r'.1,,r, r r,,,, l,' il. l, I r" 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

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

prcssion by small parts th:t 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
l lic idea of the quiet presence of the worl(.

.*,$'t'.*,r;*S&i
" .;;''
..''l Whcn I design buildinSs,I try to give them this kind of presence. How-
|vqt un lke rhe sculptor, I have to start with functional and technical re-

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

r, rrurc is always faced with the challenge of developing n whole out of
,i,i,,nrerib e details,out ofvarious functions nnd forms, materials and di-

,ir( nsiofs.The architect must ook for rational consrructions and forms
1,,, (,(lgcs and joints,for 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 sca e.

I ), r r l\ cxprcs, wha! dre b.sic idei of ihc dcsiSn requires i! lhe re -

, v.,,ir lr)int ir nrc obiccrrbclon8ins or scpilrirtiof. cension or lightness,
, , r,,ni, r) .lrry, fr';rl,iliry

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

'i ! ,lrr'r(( t,, ,,r,ixl,,\r,,ri.1in}t

()r i,r({,r(.rrr l1r,y 11,.r,1 of rlrc wlrdc
,,r wlu,lr rlr{,y.rt,r,r fl,,t'ft 1,.rtr
 When we loo< at objects or buidings tha! seem ro be at peace within
There is a mag ca power in every completed, self-contained creat on.
$emse ves, our perceprion becomes ca rn and du ed.The obiects we
It is as if we slccumb to the rnagic of the fully deve oped architectural
perceive have no message for Lrsithey are simPly there. Our percePtlve
body. O!r attention is calght, perhaps for the first time,by a dettrl such
faculries grow qu et,unpr-eiud ced,and unacquisitive.They reach beyond
as two nais ln the floorthat hold the steelplntes bythe worn-out door
sigfs nnd symbo sithe/ are open, empty. lt is irs f we cou d see some-
step. Emotlons well up. Something moves us.
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
nom rhe deprhs oftime. Nowour observation of the object enrbraces
''Anything goesl' say the doers. l'1aln Street ls almost a rightl' says
.r p cscfLlment ofthe world n a I its wholeness beca!se there is noth-
Venruri,rhe architect. Nothing works any morc,' say those who sufiei
,+t drir cannot be ufderstood.
from the hosti ty of our day and age.These statements stand for con-
to llrcrc is a power ln the ord nary things of everyday life, as Edward
rradiclory opinions, if not for contradictory frcts.We get !sed iv
lloppcrs pnnrngs seem to say. Wc only have to look at chem lonS
ing with contradictions and rhere are several reason for this:tradltions
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 i-

C,'nrpleted landscap€s
tics. Ever),thing merges jnto eve.ything e se, and mass commun cat on
r,, i!, tlic presence of cerrain buidLngs has something secrec about
creales an artificial world of signs.Arbitmr ness prevails.
I ltr./ sccm s mp y to bc there.We do no! pay any special attention
Postmodern ife cou d be described as a srate in which everything be-
, , ili,.hr Afd ycr . is vircuir ly nrposs ble to lmaSine che pace where
yond our own personal biography seerns vague, blurred, and somehow
, ,/ .,r.,,i( wirhour rhem.These buildings ippear ro be anchored firm-
unrea.The world is full of signs and info rmarion, which stand for th ngs
r ' ' rli,, ), ound.They g ve rhe impress on of bcing a self-evident parc
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
I r1,,, !i, i)L,n.lings aid $cy sccnr.o be s.ying: ' :rm as yolr see me

gets to see lr. Neverthe ess, I anr convinced thnt real things do exjst,
,,,, I l' ,, r| lio cl'

1,,v,., l,,,ro r.rteclcs ictod.srrrsrchb! ldIrts.brildingsrhaq n rlm€,

however endangered .hey mxy be.There are earlh and water, rhe ight
of the sun,lindscapes and vescr.rlofr rnd rlrere ire objecls. mide by
, 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
man, such as machincs, tools, or nrusicirl inso.( rIcn15. which . c wrrt
thcy are, whicl) c for fr.i. v. r clcs for iri ir r s( ic rrcssrgc, rf(l w rose
r I r .i .,,rl .lr(,1ir.,( ily,,l rli,.,,,r,,v, ,r,,i,irr.r1 rli, ricwbL,.l
ls !( I (.v,l( rt ',"1 ,r',I)'.L,t,t .lr,.rli,,,,i, ,,,) i,',, i,,,,r11 ,1,.,1()JlL!
P-.s.r.. rir
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 ifthey intrccessible and hidden. lt remaned a secret, which added an aura of

have the ability to appeal to our emotions and minds in various ways. mystica depth to the sculpt!re's other qualities.

Since our fee ings and understanding are rooted in the past,our sensu- I thinl( that the hidden structures and constructions of a house should

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

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

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

from diffe.ent angles slnr u ltaneou s ly: hlstorica ly, aesth eticalLy, fu n ction- lx {,rjoyrb e,were dlfllcu t to associate with a relable view ofthe world.

ally, person" ly, passionately. n ! irr rrchitect, I have earned to understand that the oppos te of thls
y{nr lrfrl definition of poetry is probab y c oser to rhe truth.
The tension inside the body I i work o{ architecture conslsts of forms and contents that conbine
Among al rhe drawings prodrced by architects, my favorites are the !', ( (,ice r strong fundamentn mood powerfu enough to affect us, it
working drawings.Worl(ing drawings are detailed and objectve. Cre- lr,ry t)osscss Lhe qua itles of a work of art.This art has, howevet noth'

ated for th€ craftsmen v/ho are to give the imagined object a materla rrql to do widr inceresr ng confgurations or ori€inality. lt is concerned
form,they are free of assoclative rnanipulation.They do not try to con- wrrlr inli8hts end understand fg, and ibovc .ll with truth. Perhaps po

vince and imprcss like projec! draw ngs.They seem to be saying:"Thls !.rr y r\ Uncxpcclcd n udr. l. I ves in sri llress Arch tecture\ arr sric rask
is exactly how it will lool(l' r'. r,, f iv. rlris srill cxpccmncy r fotrn Thc br ldirg i6elf is fever poer-
Working drrw ngs rre like anacomical drawings.They revea something , nr rii,)!(, r rrry posscss sLrbtk qrrrlrtrcr. wlrrr h, rt ccrtr rr rnorrrcnts,

ofrhe secrer inncr tcfsron d t tlrc frnrhcd rrclrirccturil body s re- ' |,rrt rrr to Lrrrlc[sLrrrr] s()r! rlrl,r| rl,.rr w. wt , r rtr v,r rb c to rrdcr
luctnn. lo diyulSc c rIt ,,1 yri r rq, 1r rlrLcn u(,(rrcrry. (lrc f|iction of ,
'i,,1
r ,tL r,.rl) s w.ry Irl,)r'
Desire
The clear, logical development of a work of architecc!re deperds on
ratlonal and objective criteria.When I permit subjectlve and unconsid-
ered ideas to lntervene in the objectlve course of the design process, I

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 be given a form mlrst be contro led by critical Powers of rea

irrlfg. 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 csrib ishlns systems o{ ordenYet I be leve that lhe essential sub-
.r 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 by a brigh! new lighr. I

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

I', , w ir to briikl rhls horrcl'

( ,,'rposing i'r spncc

,,,,,,,(ry \rlxrI rlr( jw,,,n rj,., t)l,,rj,. ,rlrt,\ r,,l rlrrtrrl rrcrr
 a ize that lhere are basicaly on y a very few architecru€l probiems for
sional bodies in space. Geometry can help us understand how to han-
which a val d solut on has not already been found.
dle space in architecurre.
-ecrLre. rhere are lwo basic poss brlitie\ oI \pdfirl ( onpo\ll ro1: n retrospec!, my educarion in desirn seems somewhat a-historical. our
lrur.h
roLe models were the pioneers and inventors of Das Neue Bauen.We
the closed archlrectural body that isolates space within itsell:nd the
regarded architecrural history as part of our genera education, which
open bodythat embrales.!l 1T1 olsfage 1!!t r: connected v/ith the
had little lnfluence on our work as designers.Thus, we frequenty ln'
contin!!m.The extension of space can be made visible through
,eldless
vented what had a ready been invented, and we tried our hand at in-
bodies such as slabs or poles placed freely or in rows ln the spatial ex-
venting.he uninventable.
Thls l(lnd oftraining in design ls not without its educational value. Latei
I do not claim to know what space really is.The longer I think nbout it,
howeyer,as practicing architects,we do wellto get acquainted with lhe
the nrore mysterious it becomes.About one thing, holvever,I am sure:
cnormous repository of knowledge and experience contained in the
when we, as architecB, are concerned with space, we concerned
"re
history of archicecture. I believe that if we integrate this in our wor<,
with but a tlny paft ofthe infinity that surrounds the earth, and yet each
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 sl<etchinS the first plans and sections
Architecture ls, however, not a linear process that leads more or ess

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

of my design.I dmw spatia diagrams and simple volumes.I try to vlsu-
sci\rch for the architecture that I envisage,lfrequenty experience sti-
alize them as precise bodies in space, and I feel it is irnportant to sense
f fg moments of emptiness. NothinS can thlnl( of seems to ta ly lvith
exactly how they define and separate an area of interior space from
whir I wnnt and cannot yet env sage.At lhese moments,l try to shake
rhe space thar surrounds them, or how they contain a part of the infi-
,,ff rlre academic l<now edge of archltecture I have acquired because ir
nite spatial continuum in a kind of open vessel.
li,rs slddenly shrted to hold me bac(.This helps.l find I can breathe
Bu ldings that haye a st.ong impact always convey an intense fee ing of
,(,rc freely.l carch a whiff of the old fxmiiar mood of the nventors and
rheir spatlaL quality.They embrace the mysterious void ca led space in a

special way and make i! vibrate.

''' ', ' D-renl-' orce r8.,,r be(o.,e irv.r ro'
llr, ( rcitive act in which i wod< of irchitccrurc conres nto belnggoes

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

Common sense
, (, w rl, rhc i5srcs of oor rnr.. At tllc rronrcnt ot its crc.tiof, archi
Designing s lnvenrng.Whcn lwis stillrt.rtsnnd cr.fts school.we lried 'llL

to fo low this plinc ple We Lookcd for i fcw sollLiof io cvcry prob
, , r,rc s boonclro ihc prcscrir in.i vi,,y\tn{i., wiylr i(!fc.tsrhcspi
, r,n r iv, nr(n .!rl ttv,\,r\,)w,,,r,w,,, r,' rlr' (t1 t,\r (, tr of oLrr tirrrc
lem Wc fclr r wis irnpo|tirir (o bc rvlir lt,r .lc N()l urul htcr.li.l I rc-
 ,, rll

throlgh its funcciona form

works of aichitecture, and w rh the
ifd appearance, ics re

p ace where ir stands.

ation$ p with orher
r
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,
tLres.Trere are ory x few 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 fee. carefully observe the concrete appearance ofthe

wor d.and 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 f 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! ir s lhe bal room
with lts tlled floor and its pareling. the stal s lf the brcl<grolnd, and
rhe lions paw at rhe side thar creiles dre film\ defse, powertul atmos-

phere. 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 thir i good building mLst

be capable ofabsorblrg rhe rr.ccrolhuni.rf fc irn(l tliusofr.kfgo|

Natur.lly, rr r rs corilctt | 1 r rik,,l rli.,.rrih r,,l.rrI. () r rrrrcr r s.of r

tr ';r

nL rrorblr rrrr.Ll 1.,, ,. ,,1 v.L

' li ,.,, 1.1 . ,t,,)w,i , L l

, ' | f,, ..
 when close my eyes and
and brirtle, and of edges Polished by use. But
try to forget both these physical traces and my own first associatlons,
what remalns ls a different imPression, a deePer feelng-a conscious-
When we look ar the finished building,our eyes,guided by our anayti-
cal mlnd, tend to stray and lool( for deta ls to hold on to. But the syn-
rhes s ofthewhole does not become comprehenslble through isolated

ofthe human lives that have been dctais. Everythlng refers to everything.
ness of tlme passin€ and an awareness

acted our in these places and rooms and charged them with a sPec al
Ar chis momen!, the initial images fade into the background.The mod

mornents, a.chitecture\ aesthetic and Practical values els.words,and comparisons thatwere necessaryforthe creation of the
aura. A. these
w ro e disnppear ll(e steps that have been left behlnd.The new bullding
sty istic and historical slgnificance a.e of secondary imPortance Whar

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

rssumes che foca position and is 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 to reflect on the tasks and pos-

Steps left behind

il)il 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 a soc ety thar ce -
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
, ' Ics $e inessentia,archltecture can p!! up a resistan ce, co!nteract

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

,.wiste offo.ms and meanings,and spea< its own anguage.
_looking
1,, |l, vc $:rt the language of arch lecture is no!a question of a specific
subiective experience and are only rarely accompanied by a reme'n-
.,y|, lvoy building ls buir for a spccific usc in a speclfic place and for
bered architectural commentary While I am designing I r.v to find out

lvhat these images mean so that I can learn how to cre:re a wealth of
.. !, L( socicl/. My bllldinSs cry to answer the questions thrt emerge

visual forms and atmospheres.

r'
' r,i r1irs. s rnple fac$ as precisely and critl.ally as .hey can.

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 a

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 i r.l consn ucl on iPpcarance
and {( f ctiorr irr no lorrltq !cprrrtc llx'y bclorlll l()ll.rh.r irrdfornrr
 The Hard Core of Beauty

Two weeks ago I hrppened ro heai r rad o Program or) the Amer can

r,.erW lirrn CarlosW lianrs.Tfe Progranr was entited Thc Hdrd Cor€

.l Belruty.Th s phrasc caughr nry atrefrlof.I ike rhe ider that be:tuty has

, rid core. afd when 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 I n

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

, L,,l(,\ ro.lfeel,whcn re srys rhat bcauty ies I nirLra,grown rhirgs

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

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

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 ex-
r 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

t*. I
1r ,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 ,,i1, ,( 1

..$"
i I , ',l.,t,ti,.i ,1r1,,.r, L,).,ir.,rorswthbui.l-
,l r(, ',y
,,,,r!,i r,,, r,, ,|.tol,r Ard to
(,l.liL,r ,) ,1,'w,
,,i L, l]rrrt|liivl'
h ", ,,, ,r1,1.,' r, r,.1,1,.,
",,'l',,.Lrrlir iLL l,L',| i rrlf Lr,)ilr

| ! i, l, , ,' ,,/r', I I l l
-t,t,r

'{,
"f
t'
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 allfamll-

But where are archltecture's fields of force that constitute lts substance ar bur the lmplication that richness and multiplicity emanate from the

above and beyond all superficiality and arbitrariness? th ings th emselves if we observe them aftentivelyand give them thelr due.

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 iterature, in $ vagueness, oPenness. and indeterminacy, be_ th ngs lhat constitute it.

( rJ\e rl-r\ e.rves tl-e form oPen lor mar/d{erer rrer'rrSs John Cage said in one of h s lectures rhat he is not a composer who

Leopardls observation seems convinc ng enoush Works or objects of hcars music in h s mind and then attempts to write it down. He has an

art thar move us are mu tifaceted;they have numerous and PerhaPs end- olher way o{operating.He works out conceprs and structures and then

less layers of meaning that overlap and interweave, and that chanSe as 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 in the mountalns in mystudio,not byform-

ine of his making? Can vasueness and openness be planned? ls there ,,,11 prelminary images of the building in our minds and subsequently

not a contradiction here to the claim of accuracy thatWilllams's argu- .L,l.,prifg them to the assignrnenq but by endeavorinS to answer basic

ment seems to imPly? 1 ,,osrions ar sing from the ocation ofthe glven slte, rhe purpose, and

Calvino {inds a surprising answer to this in a text by LeoPardi Calvino ili(, blllding materials mountain, rock, warer whlch at first had no

points out that in Leopard t own texts,this lover of the indeterminate v ..L,il content in terms of exisr ng architecture.

reveals a palnstal(ing fidelity to the things he describes and offers to r wrsonlyafccrwe had succeeded inanswering,stepbystep,theques-

our co nte mplatio n, and hecomes to the conclusion:"This,rhen is what , {i! poscd by che site, purpose, and material that structures and spac-

Leopardi demands of us so that we can enjoy the beauty of the inde- , . ,, ,! Bcd which surprised us .nd wh ch I believe possess the Poten-

terminate and vaguel He calls for highly rccurate and Pedantic atten- r.Ll ,,1 r prirnord ir force rhir ieaches dccper than the mere arrange-

rlon ln the composition of each Picture, in the meticulous definlt on of ,,' ,ii ,)l \tylsticilly prcconcc vcd fonfs.

details, in the cho ce of obiects, liShting, rnd atmosphere wirh the aim
, ,, , , t,yifu orcscll wid, rhc inhcrcnt liws of corcrcte rhings such as

of attaining the desired vaguenessl Ca vino closes wlrh rhc seemingly ,, ,r.rr\,r.,.k.ir.lwitcr f conrr{ r,,ni wirl, r lnrikling issi8fmcrt of

paradoxical proclam.tion: The Pocr of tlrc v,tstrc crn orrly be $e poct 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 to real things of nature or in the natural envlronment. Consequently,l find that can

Preconcelved images and stylistcaly Pre-fnbricated forma idioms are unde.stand Hand(e,who in the same interview refers to himself as a

qualified only to block access to.his goal. writer about p aces, when he requir€s of his texts that there should

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 desigr€i as an act of precise .h nk- The word Handke uses to designate what I have here ca ed a factu

ing.The rwo archllects derive f.om th s assumPtlon their rheory of ar- al comp ex, name y Sdchverho/t, seems to me to be meanlngful with re-

chirectLrre as a form of thought, an architectLrre thac l suPPose. should gard to the aim of whole and unadukernted things:exact factua con

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 pursue these architecrs'theory of archltecture as a p exes whose details have been rlghtly identfied and Put lnro i 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 says, to be experlenced as failhfu ncss to the

architecturaL object as the essential. if diffcult,alm of my wod(, if not as l ice chey des.ribe and not as s!Pp ementary colorlng.

a natural or Siven facl. SriLcments of dr s kifd he p me to come to terms w th rhe dissatisfac-

Yet how are we to ach eve this wholeness ln arch tecture at atime when
ror otlen experence when lcontemPate recent architecture.l fre

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

oftransitory sgns and ,lo,r of effort and a wil ro find a special forrn, and I find L anr Put otf by
to be dissoving in the endless fLrx imaSes?

Peter Handke wrtes of his endeavors to make rexts and descriPtions il,. n Thc .rchirect respofs ble for the blrllding ls not Present, but he

part of the envlronment they re ate to. lf I lnderstand him correctly, I L.,l(\ to rre un.easLnsly from eve.y detail, he keePs on saying the same

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

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

ficulty ofeliminating artificiality in things created in an arcifcial acl and rnf viliror shou d ciible hinr ro cxPc icrrce it ind live in it, bul it
'1,

of maklng them part of lhe wor d of ord nary :rfd naruraL rhi'rgs, bur al
.. r,Lr (l nor cofstifr y ti\ k ir r fr.

so by lhe be ef drac rlrlr es in rh€ drlr)Bs drcnrsc vcs Wy, oftdi rr (rr o I so IircLy t icdl
wondc r s lhc ()l)v ()Lr l)rlr .lll1. L, I

I belicvc thit if rrtisl c piocesscs st iv. foi wl(,lqi.rss. rhcy r wiys rt Wlit (l() wr lrivc !) |ll(l(,,,ril!l,1i,,, rli1 l).,r ( r r rru! Jrc r l..nrrc i5

tcnrplloltvclli(.r.irr.rr1rPr(\(:rx(,rkrr rr,rlrir {.,11vlrrr rlic rliirrSs ,.,,(.ll,,ir rr,,rI(,|.rI.Irri,LIi ,!' .r , ! ) . l ' , , ' , l' 11 [rt r'.
1 , r
'
, ,
'
r
. , , i
earch ind si<X and confidence n spaces thar arc realy a owed to be

spaccs sPices whose encios n8 wal s and const luenr materia s, con

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

w!$ respect and carei

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

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
cove_ing 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
 any sor.ofconsternation,butthey see< a harmonywhich is possible all Heidegger: 'The re ationsh p of maf to places afd rhrough places co

thesameandwhic inhlscase-canonlybethatofthepoem.(Calvno spaces is based on his dwe ling ln !hem."

goes a step further a ong thls line ofrhought ln an artemp! to define his The conceptofdwe ifg,understood n Heideggerk wide sense of ving
L cerary wod< when he says tha! he has only one defense against.he oss and !h nl(ing n p aces and spaces, contains an exact reference to what

ofform that he sees allaround himian idea of icerarure.) rea ity means 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 a shell playing an accordlof is to invent, nor discover.And so ng that incerests me nnd Lrpon which I wish to concenrrate my magi-
it crops up once again, rhis fundamental thought that I seem to find in narive facuhies. lt s the rei ity of bui ding mater a s. stone. cloth, stce ,

Wi iams and Hand<e,and that I aso sense in the paintings of Edward eather...,and th€ reaity ofthe strucrures luse to consrrLct dre build-
Hopper:it s only between the realty ofthlngs and the imtrginarion tha! ing whose propert es I wish to penetrate with my imaglfation. bringing
the spark ofthe worl< ofnrt is knd ed. nrcaning and sensuousness to bear so rhar che spark of lhe s!ccessfu
lf I translare this statement nto archtectural terms,ltel myself thar bui d ng may be andled, a bui difg that can serve as a home for man.
the spar( ofthe sLrccessf! building can ony be knd ed between the The .eeliry ofa.ch lectur-e is lhe concrete body n which forms,volumes,
rea ity of the th ngs pertainlng to i. and the imaginarion.And this is no rfd spnces come ln.o belng.There arc no ldeas except in things.

revelatlof to me, but the confirmacion ofsomethinS I continLra y strive

for in my work, and the confirnration of a wish whose roors seem to

be deep ifside me.

I 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 "pur-

Pose" themse ves.

ln an essay encded Buildng Dwellfg Thifkingl l.. tif Hedegger
wrote; Living imofg drings is the birs c p inc ple of hunraI cxistcncel'
rhit
wh ch I llndersl:l,if ro rircirr iri rn rbst rcr world
but ilwrys ii iw,!l.l (,fr[!rt]!.v( r wlrli w,, rr )(.nn,l.or.ii rjtirl
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 it,too.I do not work towards archi-
tecturefrom a theoretically defined point ofdeparture.for lam commit-
t€d 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 a questforthis

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

to r€flne 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€ north€rn 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 I 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.

sometimes they corne to me unbidden, these mages of places that

,rc frcquent y at firs! glance inapProPriate or alien, images of Places of
,,rlly d fferent origlns.At other ! mes I summon them.I need them, for
11 s only when I confront and comPare the essentials of different P ac-

(,,.. whcn I a low sinrilar, re ated, or maybe alien e ements to cast their
r)ilir of 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 lfes offorce,and creates excitement.lt is now that

rl,, l , rilc, . errive groufd :rppears, and the nerwor( of posslble ap-

1,,, ),( lics ro.hc specific plrcc cmcrgcs afd trgge|s $e processes and

,, , ,.!,nr of dc' gn So I inrnrcr sc nryrclt if rhc plice and rry to inhib r

L ,i ,,/ rrrg ritior. ind irl ([c sr r)c rirr(r I k](t( l).yon.l ir ir rhe world

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

When an architectural design draws solely from tradition and only re' rerested, we found it diffcult to find a common denomlnator fo. their
peats the dlctates of its site,I sense a lack of a genuine concern with qua i!ies. Our artempt to generalize seemed to rob the individual build-
the world and the emanations of contemporary life. lf a work of archi- ngs of thelr sp endor.

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

I We were standlngaround the drawingtab etalkingabout a project by csenr als of a work of my own.
an architect whom we all hold in high regard. I considered the proiect

interesting in many ways. I mentioned severaL of its specific qualities 2 The main rooms of the sma I mountain hotel overlooked the va ley
and added that some time previously I had laid aslde my positive prej!- (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 (, cd reception rooms on the sround floor, both ofthem accessible from

an unbiased look at the project.And I had come to the conclus on that, r lic corridor and connected by a doorThe smaller of them looked like a

as a 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

my impression and came up wlth a few details wthout arriving at a val- w.l p accd tablcs,was clearythe place in which meak were served.On

ld conclusion. And then one of rhe younger members of the group, a l lir f,, rr-lloor chere were bedrooms wich deep,shady wooden balconies,
talented and usually rationa ly minded arch tect, said:"lt is an lnterest- ,ri rhc sccond floor mo|e bcdrooms open ng onto terraces.

ing building for n I sorts of theoretical and pracrical reasons.The rrou- I wi,Lr (l cnioy lookin8 irt rhc open sky ffom the upper rooms,l lholght,

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 s tting oucdoors dr fking cotfee wich my wfe , 1i r r o rc of the fir st I oor knnri\.,,,(i, (,](lirlt or wr I fg n the intimare
and discussing thc issuc of bu ldings w th i soul.Wc ril<cd about scv rt rbrln,rrt ol t[c rl'rly lrrkorry rrr tl,r, l,rtr, rftrrnn,n rr rrn sccnrcd

eral works ofr(luc(r,rc rlnr wc kncw.r,r{l rlcsrrrl,crl rhcrrr ro crch

There was an openins in the wn 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 to mnd.ltwas designed

{resh flans tool< us by surprise as we came down the stairs,and kitchen by a painter for himself and his guests.

noi\es 5 r Fd I om tl e hd I ope'r door of the oDDosrre roon-

After a day or two we knew olr way around.There were deck chairs 3 OLrr first impression ofthe ou!side ofthe restaurant made us hoPeful

A lit tharwe had foLrnd someth ng betterthan che other places a ong the maln
stacl(ed along .he side of che hoteL, wh ch adioins the meadow

cle way away, in the haf shadow at the edge of the wood, we noticed a road of.he tourisr village.We were nor dlsapPointed Enterlng thFough

woman sitting ln a decl( chalr, readlng.We Picl(ed up rwo of the chairs dre narrow porch,which,as itturned out,was b!iltfrom the nsidebe

and looked for a spot ol our own. During the day we usually dmnk o'rr h fd the main door like a wooden shed, we found ourselves in ;r l:rrge.

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 s, waifscoting, conrlc

Good p aces to slr,these small tables clinging to the edge of.he vernn- .s, fdented jois$ resting on brackets with ornamental scro ls

daithe sill was iust the rght height for use as an elbow rest. Ilie .tmosphere of the room seemed dar<, even Sloomy, un!ll our eyes

Conversarions with the other guests !sually took Place nl dusk at the l',l cw accus.omed to the light.The gloom soon Save way to a mood of

other veranda tab es, placed in a row against lhe facade and Protected lt,,ftleness.The daylight enlering through lhe ralL, rhythmicaly plac€d

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 of the sht from the paneling, lay

legs and oo<ed out over rhe valley.and then satwith a drjnl( by the wal w drrwn in half-shadow

rhatwas sti lwarm from the days sunshine.Once,after lhe evening rneal, A! soon:rs lefre_ed the room my eye was caught by an extension ln

we were invited to sit at lhe large corner table at the far end ofthe ve ,r ccnrcr of the long outer wnll.:r semi-circular bulSe lirge enough

randa near the enlrance. D!ring the day, that sPot always seemed to be r,, rcc.,r modire fivc tabes rong the curved wall by.he windows.

used by the regulars ofthe house. never sar nthisniche,whichcaughr lli(, foor of rhc room-height fichc wirs of i slightly h gher evel than

the morning sun ar rhe other end oI $c vcrafd.. On sunny mo.nings rl! ,i,\r of rh. hill. No douht rbo'rt l rl,(nshr.$swrswherel
rhere was usu.lly somcone ilreidy s rtinS $ere. rcidifg w.L,ir(tl ro st.lwo ()l rlr. rrln,! wr, \r,ll I cc.Trc PcoPc slrtnt
When I rh fk rb(,ut buid rgs drit prov dc nrc witli riit,,ml sPrtiil con ri,,,i..krLrl)1 {,\\ () rIri,ry rt! 1 ,'1 rri li riL,,.,,i1.L.,,I IprvilclcdrI

drorisrr)t)n)t)rrr.rorli{ | ,( (. r() rll (]rly,(nr tr.,,,yr.rrvtcs.rri.

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 again, and lnstead of sitting down we of the paths and pavilions v/hich appeared to accommodate the class-
went in search of service.Afler 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 of rr tat on occasion ed by ou r arrival soon complex y/as deserted.The windows were set high up in the wals and
,b.,-ed.we lrr our f ',, ( Bd,e,re\ rro o,oe,ed son-e w re. 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 ss German. Neither rooms. lt was s ightly open, and we man:ged to catch a glimpse of a

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.
er, 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 ofth s architecture-the srraighr
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 s, or its spac;ousness,or its lack
ities, my gaze nevertheless a lghted occasionaly on other faces,and I re- of rhe pedantic refnements rhat abound ln schools in Switzerland.
a ized that I lil<ed the feelinS oftheir proximity in this room in which l4y vkit had b€en worthwhile. Once aga n,I resolved to begin my work
we all lool(ed our best. with the 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
4 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 com-
plex of pavi ions spread out over a a.ge expifse of fl:rc rnd high over 5 Ar thc itc of ci8lrrccn,wli.,, I wis ipprcrclrlfg rhc efd of my appren
lhe Pacifc. Barely iny crees, k.rsLic rock rlrrusr ng drrough $e rul{, r r,(slrp irs i.ibincurri<cr,l r)r,l, ry fir\r \, 1.!csitrc(l picccs of fur-
fewhouscs in thc inrnrcd rtc vic Iity.Thc rows olrill,s rSle srory bu ld rirrrcThcrrislcr(,rl)o{,r,ri.rk|, ,), {lit,(l(,i1 1l(,r( ,,ii,trrl rlrcformof
ings widr flir. t,,(,l.,rint roo15 wcrc corn.(rr.l l)y i\|l,rlr prths cov- r,\1 ,)l r1tr 1,,,,,r1,,,,,,,.r1(,,r,'1,, .1,, t' , !ll ., ,li)i' l(,1 rr ,li,l for
 :fl
,'..
i

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
I 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 At long lxst
n was able to round off the edges only s ghdy withouc be ng con ecled,
Ffl
running the sandpaper swiftly and liShtly ovo thc cdgcs to sofrcf thc
ffi
FI sharpncss without los ng the elegafce ind fifeness of r ic ncs I bir.,l/
&1
rouched the corners where three edges meer lfrrcd th. noc,r ol r r.
fr
F,t clpboard into thc franre rt the front w.h . nnxinr,rr ol 1,, r,t rhrr r|
h; Lratitclosed almosthermellcally,wi$ r gentlc fr ctlorii .s \r.i n,,ri,l
ff r barely audib e sound of escaping aiL
s
H I fe .8ood worl(ing on this cupboard. l.irk ng rhc pro. lrly f rrir)t t() ril l
t rnd exacc shapes to form a who e, a conrp erc oblc.r drit cor rcspofd.d
BT
,l:
ro my iffer vislof,tiigSe cd in nre a state ot rrrefse co.cenr_ir on.rnd
H
H ' fr .,€dpe(eof t'. '(r- rdd-d I rp lr'
Fl

r 6 The der s rhe fo owing:a ong,naffow bloc< ofbasa r stone project

ii'
ig. good drree stories out oftre ground.The block is hol owed orr on
i ,I sides until on y a ong middle -ib and a nunrber of n'ansverse, hor

l /,lrnlribs cmilf.Sccf lf cross scction.tlre ima8ned bloc( row loo(s

l, (! r geomerr cirl o ee oi dre errer T wirh three hor zonta srrokes:a

I rrori. oblccr of rrc o'rts<lrrs of rhc O nTow r dirk. r nostbick, rat.

|,,r,,,rt r,,(l rr ,( ,).,, h.,r,,)tin.l ipitrr srrr.nrrc

,,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

even at this stage it is already almost the whole buildinS We design the ghr on the wall paneling.

joints of the boards in whlch it is cast like a fine network coverlng al This djfference between the rea ity and my memor es did not surprise

rhe surfaces wlth a regular pattern,and we are carefLrlto ensure lhat the nre. I have never been a good observer, and I have never really wnnted

ioints arisins duringthe section-wise casting ofthe concrete wil dis:P- ro bc.I I ke absorblng moods, moving in sparial s tuarions,and I am satis-

pear into the network.The thin steel frames Proiecrlng from the stone fcd when llm able ro reta n a feeling,a sLrong genera impression from

il(e b ades in the middle ofthe door are intended to hold the wings of which can later extract detalls as from a palnt n8,and when lcan won-

the doors.and lighrwe ight Slass and sheet metal Panels are inserted be- ( 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, or spac ousness thai has stayed in my nremory.when ook back

spaces between the .ibs become rooms !ike glazed verandas lic 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 I

our materials, the way we develoP the join.s and trans tions from one , ,)hccntra.e exclusive y on the architecture and try to undersrand whar

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 a Itoo elabo rate.Th ey want us to Lrs rl$rs colors what I have observed. l"lem ories ofsimilar exper ences

ponents and con struc.ions, they do not want us to make such h gh de- r ,,, st the r way in, too, and thus mages of related ar.h tectural situa'

mands on the craftsmen and technicians who are co laborating wlth us: ,ris ovcr ap.The difierence in the floor leve s of the niche and the ha I

they want us to bu ld more cheaply. , ,, ( 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- Lr )vlrl? Or,lf it was never there, perhaps l. shou d be added, as an im-

nate on its appointed site in five yeare o. five decades,whe'r I conslder )r ,vrrircnt to the room?

that to the peop e who will encounter lt,the only thlng thal will count l.l,,w lrrvc fallen back into my io c as an architcct, and I reaLlze once

is wha! they see,thal whlch was finally constructed, I do no. find it so ,i ,,, 1rcw ,,,uclr I e,rioy working w th my o d passions and rnages, and

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

,w r[.y hc p me ro find whit I .m looking foi

7 I .evkited $e ha I wlth the nichc n lhe end wa I thrt I liked so much

and which I 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
The Body of Architecture

Obseryations, impressions
I I 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
w€re 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 a friend aboutAki Kaurismekil latest film.

I 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 a

concept,but rather shows them in a lightthat lets us sense th€ir 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 de-
slgner whose work I do not know be.ause I 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. B right accen ts on the recep-

rlon desks, ditferent kinds of naturil slone ln niches n the wall. Peo-
plo 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.

3 She had seen a smallhoL se by Fian. Lloydwrght drar nrrdc aSrext

inrpress on on hcr, said H. lts sosma and iitimale, the . - .:
:
cel lngs so LowThere was a 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
lady was stil lving rhcrc.Thc-c was lro need for nre to go and see the

housc, I rhought. (llew lust whft she mearrt, and knew th€ f€cling of
''home rhat she descrLbcd.

4 The member of $e jury wc c showf buid fts by rrch cects com-

peri'rg for an architecrural award. I srL d ed the documents dcso lbing

t
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
i'
l,
rens on was a success,l rho!tht.Akholgh you co! d see wh.r ha.l been
i.,
done ro rhc lrolsc beneath the s..ldle iool rhe .hinge wrs we lnod I

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

old and rhc few werr. bi iir(e.l ]r.l h nFnoLr.Tlrc rcw pirrs of c

ho!se. . n.n .ee,n fti b. iiyrrt lri i(w r .irlif i,i, t,i, t (n rli.
L,r

ncwwlrol, l N,,rl[,r,'" ,'rli,,it..,, i,,| llir..l

l)f l,.,t) ,,,,, ,,,i,,\,1,,1 ,,,,r, r,,ii, ,t ,,',' ', "l' l'.',,',.1t,
proach atluned to crafrsmanship.We agreed that we could not awad
th s conversion a prize for design forthat,itsarchitecrura cialmslvere
too modest.Yet I enioy th nl(ing bacl( on the sma red house.
5 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(,
co lase of lenslhs of wood arransed in layers li(e a cross section.The
n!merous photos of wooden buildings, despite the fact that they were
architecrurally commendable,were less appea ing. have no. bui rwood-
en houses for a long time.
A young coleague asked me how I wou d go about bu lding a house of
wood after wor<ing for some years wlth stone and concrete, steel and
glass.At once,lhad a menca image of a house-sized block of solid t m-
agonal line of Broadway, the coaslal lnes of the perjnsu a.The bu ld-
ifgs, pacl(ed densely ln cheir right angled Srid,looming up in rhe sky,ln-
d vidualisric, in love with themselves, anonymous, ieckless,tamed by the
straltjacl(et of the grid.
7 The former townhouse looked somewhat lost in the park- lke ex
a panse.lrwas rheonLyblilding n thatpartof thetown co have s!rvved
rhe destruction of the Second world War Previously used as an em
bassy. ir was now being en arged by a third of ics orlginaL size according
ro rhc plans of a competent architect. Hard and se f-assured, che exten
s on stood slde by side with the old buildinS:on lhe one hand a hewn
base,stucco fatades.and balusrrades,on.he other a comprcssed
'rone
n)ode[n annex made ofexposed concrete,a resn-ained,d sc plined vo -
rnre rhat alLrded to the o d main bullding while maintaining i d scifct,

ber,a dense volume made of the biological subs.ance of wood,ho.izor (lr ogic distance in terms of lts design.
caly layered and precisely hollowed out.A house il(e this would change I fo!nd myselfthinl(ing about the old castle in my vilage.lt has been al-

its shape, would swel and conrract, expand and decrease n height, a lcrcd and extended many times over the centuries, developing grad!-
phenomenon that would have to be an integral part of the deslgn.lYy r ly fr-om a c uster offree-stand ng bui dings lnro a closed complex wl!h

yoLrng co eag!e told nre that in Spanish, his mother tongue, rhe words !, |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 rrtrcsr ofthe conrplete,integrared appeamnce ofits latest stage ofevo-
express these ln o!r buildings. L r on On y when ore ifa yzcs thc s!bstance of che walls, strips them

1)f r lir r p rsr€r, rnd cxflrincs dre i iolfls do drcsc old blildings reveal

5 Central Pad< Sorrh, NcwYor <, r hall of thc firsr flooi lt was cvcfing. L !'" ( ("irP .! Scncsis
Before me,framed bythe soarirS,sh r)ir)g,scony c ry, iy.hc l)lgc wood-
ed reclinglc of rhc pir ( Grcir citics c brsc.l on trcrr. clcir,wcll ord llli,,i1i,,{,(!rli{,.xliil)iri,)rl[vrL,,r(),i,, irt i lwi.(,,rfro]rrcdby5oP
erc.i cof ccp(r. l rli(nr)t I l hc r ccrrrrJtL rr' t, It|r r,'1 rlrr !rr cer\ tlic di ,,)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 bal-

ance.The architecture made a dynamic impression, symbolizing move'
ment.lts geslures filled the avaiable space,wanting to be looked at, to
mnke their marl.There was hardly any 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 bod-

ies, use them to proclaim their ldentlty.The body as a refuge in a 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,gen-

tle 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 q!r l.y of
sculpcures.Architecruml nrodc s. Modcls BoiLrtihrl bodics,.clcbmr ons
of s!l.f:rcc lcxtrrr, ,J<in,lrcr nrct c iri(l fl,rwlcs\ cnrl)rr( ru' I lic bodrcs.
I 0A glass partition divided up rhe length of the rarrow corridor of the holrse.The quality of rs construction captured my attention.The archi-

old hotel.The wing ofa door below, a firmly fixed pane ofSlass above, no cect received us.took us into rhe vestibu e, and showed us from room

frame,the panes c amped and held ar the comers by two metal 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!! l(ed the doorwas it because ofthe proporrions ofthe rwo panes ity ofrhe day lght enterlng through the glazed rearfagade and a sl(ylight

of glass, the form and position of the clamps, the gleaming of the I ass over the stairs was pleasant. On all the floors, the presence of the lnr -
I che muted co ors of the darl( corr doi or was it 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.
ll lwas shown some photographs ofa complicated buidinS. Different
areas, planes,and volumes seemed to overlap, s anting and erect,encap-
sulated one wlrh n the orhenThe bullding,whose unusual trppearance
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
forts to comply with thelr requiremenrs, and o{ their ciitic sm of sornc
impracLica aspects which he subsequenty improved. He opened c!p-
bo?rd doors, owered rhe large scrim blinds, which suffuscd thc livifg

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 pr€clsely. 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, $e
rect, was shoc<ed. Had I made a mista<e, a prematurej ignorant i!dg- cdge of a glass pane.

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 wi$ a Sood addiess,i!st comp ered.The prcnrises on rhe ow.r floo s frccd thc rord, rhc dwe lngs ard offic-
new faeade in rhe ine of $e sn ccr of build ngs srood out disl fctly. lf .i rbove reffeired bch r.l prorccr vc fi(r.l.s, hidifg pr vrte spheres

the phoroSr:rphs, rhc nir! r sroncsliicd,srnoundcd byshss, oo(cd l{rli nd prcstisious frrg, rr,,ryrr,,r.. lrrr.r r Ir y (lvorccd frorn
Ll<c a brckdrop ln cr iLy.il,chcrdewis lior. ( | i()|ir, irorc iIrcgrircd rl,. l),,lni{ \1,,({, wli(li lr!t.,ri wr r lrr ,1 ,,111. ,r rr. Ioot oI tlrc
in irs sLllrr ,i, |ti, ljy Ii!llrrr l() (l r (r/( v,l,r\1,(!iwlrr,,, l(,,ir{,rc.l lhc
 f
I
I had be€n told that a number of architects lived and worl(ed ln chis

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

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

found rnyselfthinklng about the unequivocal backs and fronts ofthe ur-
ban 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. Al-
though 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 proi€ct had es-
caped us and become independent because it had evolved nro a ma

teria entity that obeyed irs own laws.

l5 I 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 again.

The strength of: good design lies in ourselves and in our ability to per-

ceive thewor d 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 ex-
p€rience: 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 archi-

rccture lie in our childhood, in our youthrthey lie ln our biography. Stu-
,lcftshrvero earn !o work conscious y with lheir personal biograph-

lci 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
 I

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

foor feel under my feet,the door handle in my hand, how did the light ard practice in professional architecture. First the concrete objects are

strike the faeades, what was the shine on the walls likel Was there a constructedi then they are drawn to scale.

feelng of narrowness or width, of intimacy or vastness? We carry imaSes ofworks ofarchitecture by which we have been nflu-
Wooden floors like light membranes, heavy stone masses, soft texti es, enced around with us.We can re-invoke these images in our mind\ eye

polshed granite, pllable Leather, raw steel. polished mahogany, crystal- and re-examine them. But this does notyet make a new design.new ar-
llne glass, soft asphalt warmed by the sun... the arch tect\ materials, 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 is always directedtowards thewhole.
awareness.This is researchtthis is the work of remembering. By its very nature,the image is always the whole of the imagined real-

Architecture is always concrete mattenArchitecture is not abstract, but lry:wal and floor, ceiling and materials, the moods of liSht:nd color of
concrete.A plan, a project drawn on paper is not archite€ture but mer- a room, for example.And we also see all the details of the transltlons

ely a more or less inadequate representation of arch itectu re, compara- lrom the foor to the wall and from the wall to the window. as if we
ble to sheet muslc.l'1usic needs to be performed. A rch itectu re needs were watching a fiLm.

to be executed.Then its body can come into being-And this body ls al Often however,they are not simply there, these visual elements of the
inrige, when we start on a design rnd try to form an image of the de-

]
All de\,8n wo l. \'rfls r'om Lhe o,e- \e or rl ,\ D ,ysk rl. obre( ,ive se, - sircd object.At the beginning of the design process, the image is usualy

sJoJsress of architecrLre. of !s naterials.To e/perierce archirecru.e incomp ete.So we try repeatedly to re-trrticu ate and clarify ourtheme,
l
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
I
l:nd consciouslv work w!n rhese aualicies rhese rre rhe rhemes of wry:we design.The concrete, sens uou s quality ofour inner image helps

Lour teachins. Lrs here. k helps us not to ge! losc n arid, absrract theoretical assump-

All the design worl( in the studio is done with materia s. 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, brick).There are no urlts ird to confuse ! wi$ rcir irch tccturil qui ily.
cardboard mode s.Accun ly,no models at all in the convenc onal sense, I'rrxhr. rg inncr intgcs sr rrrtLrtrl Ptotrsrr<,trrrontocveryone.lris
bur concrctc obiccts, th|cc d mcnsiorrr wor (s oh i spcciflc sca c. 1,,r 1 of tlrrikidt.A\!o.iiriv., wi(l fi (\ , r r ! L I \ysrcnrirc thinking
{ , , I (
, ( , r r i (
 in images. in architectural, spat a , colorfrl, and sensuoLs p ct!res rhis
s my favorlrc definlt on of des gn.

,@'

;r -i i4I
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, or de-
sign?What is lhe nature of a thing th:t 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?

I 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 I

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 give

rhe mpression of sounding stift But it isn't. lCs wonderful. lncredibly

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

ci I liscen.Themusic dmws me in. k is r spice. Colorfu and senslr-
r . w rh depih rnd movcrncnL I inr irNidc r For r rnoment, nothing
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

it's only a question ofseeinS,a pure y visual experience,she says. Other suddenly sees a jewel that tal<es her breath away. The building is ra-

sensualimpressions like smellor so!nd,materials or the sense oftouch diant.As if it belonged to the LandscaPe and the landscaPe belonged
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 me-
dlration, but not with an empty mind.You're fully aleft and aware. Con- 5 The beauty ofnaturetouches us as something gr€at that Soes beyond

centration on the picture sets you free,she says.You reach another lev- us. Man 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 suspend- and carved down to hurnan scale.We feel sh e ltered, humble and proud

ed in time,beyond past and future this belongs to many, perhaps even at once.\ /e are in nature. in this immeasurable form that we will never

to all sensations of beauty. Something that has the radiation of beauty understand and now, in a moment of heiShtened experien.e, no onger
srrikes a chord in me, and later, when lt is over, I say: I was completely need to because we sense that we ourselYes are Part of 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

m:gic of the appearance that has struck me. Feelings of joy. Happiness. She ls bathing in the Sicilian sea and dives under water Her heart miss-

The countenance of a sleepinS child, unaware of being watched. Serene, es a beal.A huge fish passes close by, silent and infinltely slow lts move-

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.

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

inkling ofthe essence ofthings,oftheir most univeEa prcperties.lnow 5 Sh e loves beautifu shoes. S he adm ires th e craftsmansh iP the material

suspect that these lie beyond any categorles of chought. and above al the r shape,thelr lines.She lil(es lookingalshoes,notwhen

people wear them but is obiec$ whose shaPe is strictly defined by use

4 The Renaissance theater inV cenza. Sleep rows.The wood worn and and whose beaury tmnsccnds pricricil dcminds unti they conre full cir-

aged, great intimacy. A powerfu s€nse o{ spacc, iftcrsity. Everything is cle and say to her: Usc rnc,wcir nrc. Thc bcarrty of r utilitirian obiect
ri8ht, she srys, so :rmizin8, so nirurnl, I kc i hirnd. is thc hishcst foor of borrty, slx rrklt
 7 As long as I can remember. I have a ways experiefced thc bcauty of

in 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 gener-
irtes 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 irrficii

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

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

{l 5 re is shnding with a group of younger people, mosty architects.

lr's dr zz ngi rhe a r is warm.The men and women are standing in che
!.
E , ,rl tyard ofa vi i.Theiropen Lrmbrellas and sweeping, un bu lro ned €in

I /
*.I
,,,,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 into particles of ght.The lindscape is f lled with

I i,. 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

meadow glisten.The meandering gaze seeks the way to theVilla Roton- of porous stone and glass and fine-ringed wood and the way ir forms a

da ofAndrea Palladio,wh ch is supposed to be nearby.The sce're has be- arge courtyard with its older neighbors the new body set down with
come a Lasting image in her memory. She has written about it. non-geometrical precision in the ba ance ofthe masses and materials of
the place imparts fee ings of attraction and aura. of enersy and pres-

9 I remember the experience othouses,villages,cities,and Landscapes, ence.lt seemed as ifeverything l saw was in a state of balanced suspen-

abolt whlch I now say they lent me an impression of beauty. Did these sion.And the body o{the new building seemed to vibrate,she said.

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

quite sure.The impression came {irst,l suppose,and retlection fo lowed. I I He ls standing in the porral ofSanAndrea in lYantua.A tall portico of
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 impuls€s, 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

I can also respond to beauty that others 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,

my mind ofthe beauty others tell me about. almost tactile- t seems as if the thinSs under the portico in which I am

Beauty aLways appea.s to me in settings,ln clearly delimited pieces of sranding, things more sensed than seen, have energized each other, as if
reality, objectl ike or in the manner of a still ife or like a self"contained rhey were in a unlque state of mutuality, he says.

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

tificiality. Everything is as it should be;everything is in its place. Norhing l2 Our perception is visceral. Reason plays a secondary ro e.I think
jars, no overs.ated arranSement, no crt que, no accusation, no alien ln- we mmediarely recognize beauty tha! is a product of our culture and

tentions; no commentary, no meanlng.The experience is unintentional. cor csponds to our education.We see a form framed and condensed
What I see is the thing itself.lt captivates me.The pict!re that I see has inro an emblem, r shnpe or a design, which touches 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 for ropcrly iudgcd by thc form 15c f bccirsc thc dcpth of fcclinS thac be-

the firsr time. She comes ro a halci rscon shed, electrificd. Something r) ,ll\ ro thc scfsir on ol bci'rry i! rr,r iltrilrr.l by rlrc fofln is slrch but
about.he wiy drc pilared bLilding is stin.ling tlrcrc, the wiy ir is mide r,rr icr by rhc spirk rhir irrrt,\ fi,nri I r,, rI

I
Blt beauty cxis6 a rlrouglr it mnkcs rc irivcly rare xppeiraices xnd

freq!entyinunexpecredpaces.Wh e i orher places where we woLrld

exPec! r, rh stoaPPean

Can bcaury b€ designed a rd mxde?Whit are the ftr es rhar gu 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 a rhose wonderiu lnsn !menls are no substi

nrr. fo cofr.ni noi do thcy gLamntc. rhc inaglc of a beautifu wltole.

l3 lYy las< as a design€r is diff.ult bydcfinron lt srclatcdroa_r

stry afd nchieve nent, intu tion and craf.rmanship. B!t a so ro commit'

men., authentic ty, ind a deep nrerest in s!bjec! nrarrer

To ach cvc bcalry I rnusr be ar one wirh rnyse f.l mlst do m/ own thlrg
n rd fo otrer because rhe parr cular subsnnce thir recognizes beaL ry

andcan.wi.h rck, create it lies withif me. On thc orher hrnd,rhcthings

I wa rr to crexte r:\ble. house, br dge musr be a owed ro come in.o

rherown.lbe eve every we made rh ng has an lfhe.ent y appr opriatc

order rhat dcrcrnrincs its form.Tlris essence s whit I want to discover

and thereforestic.f flnlyrothematrerathand n thep ocessof de I

signifg. I b. l.vc in an accuracy of olt oo < and n trrrr cortent in rea . i

sens!a experience, wh ch irre beyond irbsrra.t opinions or de3s

Whardoes this horsc waft ro bccomc.as if obiccrof!sc,is a p rys cn

body, irs riri.e ials f rrnly 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 4 "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 stensen, whose poem 'Alphabet" begins with these linesi become that which we have to mobilize ln order to endure absen.el'
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 ex-

perience, 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 iwirc of ibscf .e.Whar

I experiefcc,whic touchcs nrc. cntiils bodr ioy an.l pirin Pi r)ful is rhc
 The Magic of the Real

..ryl :: There s the maglc of music.The sonata begins wth the first des.end-
ingmeodic ineof thevola,theplano sets in,andthereltisaLready,the
,.:j q! rismntaneo!s presence of a dlstinct emotionithe atrnosPhere of sound
f ,-'
{ 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 i! has materia ized like the measured growth of che soul,

Lr \ lY;rrndyThursday. l'm sitting n the long loggia of the c oth ha l. Fac

rr,1 rhc panorama of 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 flagston€s

' 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
has its bac< 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
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 that kindle o!r emotions.
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 sPace, can truly
Everything!Everything the things.the people,the quality of the air,the be emotionally appropriated or assimilated.
ight,the noises,the sounds and the colors. Material prese nce, tex.u res As an architect, I can construct worl<able ho iday homes, commercir
and shapes as wel. Forms that I can understand. Contigurations rhat I buildings,or airportsil can buid flats with good lloor p ans rt affordable
can try to read. Physiognomies that strike me as beautifut. p.ices: I can design theaters,trrt museums, or show rooms thar make an
But apart from : I the physica materials, apart from the things and the impacti I can app y forms to my buildings that satisfy the need for lnno-
peop e, there was something else that touched me was it something vatlon or novelty, sratus or lifestyle.
related to me alone, to my rnood, my feelings, nry expectations as I sat It is not easy .o do those things- lt takes worl( And talent. And more
lhere watching and lisreningl 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 l, as an architect, invest what
primarily the expression and the oucflow of my srace of mind, of the I design wlrh whatever it is that actually constltutes the essence of an
mood that I happened to be in at rhe moment? Did the experjence ut- architectura atmosphere? Can I create that unique feeLlng of intensi!y

timate y have little to do with the square and rs acmosphere? and mood, of prescnce, well-be ng, righl|ess and beauryl ls it Possible
ln order to answer .hat quest of, conduct a simp c experimenr I dis- ro glve concre.e shape to dlt which .lcfincs rhe nrig c of the real at a

miss the square from mind afd che nomenr I do so. a curious thinS specifc lnomcnq ro drc spcll 1li.,r I cists on nry cxpc-iefce of it, con
'ny
happens: che fcclinSs evokcd by rhc sillririon trcltii ro f,r.tc ird cven i(lring i .tLrility thir I w,,Lr,l rnv, (n!iw1, (iln,ri(irrcc?
There are small and large. impressive:nd important buildings or com- and discovering a path of our own,wandering, strolling, being seduced.

plexes that dwarf me,that oppress me, that exclude or reb!ff me. But I give thought to careful and conscious staging of tension between in-
there also buidings orensembles ofbuildings.both smallones and mo- 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 a 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. I ove p acing materials, surtaces, and

So e/hen l'rn working,lkeep remindinS rnyselfthat my buildings are bod- edges, shiny and mat, in the light of the sun, and generating deep so ids

ies and need to be built accordingly: as anatomy and sl<in, as mass and and gradations of shadinS and darkness for the magic of light fal lng on

membrane, as fab ric, shell, velvet, silk.and glossy steel. !h ngs. Unti everything is right.

Itry to mal<e sure 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 ofsilv€r or a handle that

turns or maybe surfaces of gleaming glass, so that every combination of

marerials yields a uni!ue composition, becomes an origin"l.

I 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 p€op e surround them-
selves with in order to work.ln order to feel at home and tor which I

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 let us go
and seduce !s. Architecrurc s Lhc art of sp:rce :rnd it is the nrt of
rme as well bcrwcen ordcr and f|ccdorr, bcrwccn followifg. pa$

06
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 im-
perceptibly 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 pro-

duced 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 ar rlficial ght n nry b!ildin8s, in our cities and
in ot]r lifdsc.pes, ind citch nrysc f forcvcr retlr r fg,like a lover !o
rhc obicct of nry idrriritior:tlrc itlir ilrit nrccts tlrc crrdr f om a{ii
thc !rrLokl nLIrbcr5 ()f ll!lr\ \rrL ( 1, or, rrrtt 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 radi-
ate or reflect.The glass beads in a ch:ndelier, for example.
The lighr ofthe sun, rhe day, that reaches the sufface o{the eafth from

Seen from a great height outer space,ls big and strong and directed. lt is one light.
Seen from a great helght, the 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 lheA pine
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 has

we have accumulated around us. fallen, as if the flowers had stored the light and now have to release lr,
Sensing,smellinS,touching,tasting,dreaming in the dark-thatt 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 il lke a

.o live?And how much darknessl strong breath, I read in Andrzel Stasiu<'s Duklo.

ls there a spiritua conditlon or a life conditlon so sensitive that tiny The older I get,the mo.e inrense is my interest in the var ous ways and

amounts of llght would be enough to ensure a good life? Or,to go even forms in which light appears in nature.lam amazed,l learn from that,
further:Are there some thlngs we can experience only in dark, shaded and I am aware that it is the light of the sln that il uminates the build-
places, in the darl<ness of night? ings I envision. I hold spaces, materials, textures, colors, sur{aces, and

Two hunters from San Bernardino,who spent a few days and nights in an shapes up to the lSht of the sun: I capture this ight, refect it,filter it,
uncivilzed mountaln valley. describe coming home at n ght and oo<ing screen it offi I thin it out to create a usterintherghtspot.Lightasan
down on their illuminated viLlage-the tunne entrance,the gas station, agent, L'm familiar with it. But when L really starr thinking about it,I un-
the cal.s and how the familnr village suddenly seemed pol uted. derstand hardly anything.

Tanizaki Jun'ichiro, the author of ln Pro,se of Shodows, once decided

to watch the full moon at the lshiyama Temp e, bur changed his mlnd The light in the landscape
when he learned lhat rhey wolld p ay a record ng of rhe Mooniight So- fte Lrghr in e Ld,)ds.ope. Fr ederike lYiyroc<er uses dris imrge to title
notd for the enter.ainmenr of the vis Lors .nd insrill irri{ic rl ghts ro i text that secms cxr-cnrcy rr iobiogriplricrl to nrc. lts rn:rny shades
in.l shidows kccp brcrkrrll ,nr rirl u,'(, ||lir i\ slrc pilcs rp rhc
'lru
materi:l of her words layer upon layer, describing and creating inner LosAngeles by night
and outer landscapes. 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 to me,

fion. ln my meno y Lhe/ all have a li8hc of cheir own. an unnaturalbrightness in which the green lawns and bushes in thefront
ls it even possib e to imagine thinSs without light? yards ofthe houses lool( as if they 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 ourselv€s 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,

Shadowl€ss modernism as accentuated night,as intimate illuminated cLearings thatwe carve out

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 a

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 landscapes?

door view the sensation of liv'ng in the landscape, of having the land- How and for how long?

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 mag-
niflcent 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.
I

Awny of Looking atThingt Peter Zumthor

Le.ture, written November 1933, SC ARC Southern Ca lo nlr nnnute ofArchtectore.

The Hard Core ofB€auty

Lecture.wrtten December 99,s/mposum P ran,Sovenia

I

I
From a Passion ro.Things to th€ThingsThemselves
Born ln Baselin l943,trained as a cabinetmal(ei designer,and architect
Lecture,wi.tenAuBu$!994,AvarAatoSymposium,A'rhite.tureoftheEssentirl,'
at the Kunstgewerbeschule Basel :nd Pratt lnstitute, NewYork. Since

1979 own practice in Haldenstein, Switzerland. Professor at the Ac-

The Body ofAr.hitecture cademia di arch;tettura, UniversitA della Svizzera italiana.

Lecture,writren Ocrober 996,Symposium FomFollowsAn/lhlnsl'Siockholm,sweden

Chur, I 986i Sogn Benedetg Chopel, Su rnvitg, I 988; Ho rf,es for Senior Atizens,
Teachina Archite.ture, LearningArchite.ture
Chur-Masans, 1993i fhermai Boths yojs, 1996i KunsthdLrs Bregenz, 1997:
wrten September l995.Accademxd archilettura,l'lendrsio.Swee.and
Swiss Povilion Expo 2040, Hannaver Documentotian Centet "Topography

Does Beauty Have a Form? oflerror", Berlin, constructed parts of 1997 demolished 2004 by Ber-

Slghty revked venion otrhe edureon thesublectot venu*asl'Eiven atthe D€parrment lin StateiArt ,Museum Ko/Lrmbd, Cologne, 2007i Sdjnt Eruder Klous Fie/d

ofA..h te.ture ofthe Federd lnntuteofTechnoogrZu ich.November 1998 Chdpei, Scheidtweiler farm, Mechernich, Germany, 2007.
Thequo.edpa$a8esarefromthepoen Alphabef'n nger Christensen.En.henis.hes 6+
dl.ht zu Ehrcn det Etde,Auswahl oh,e Anfong ohne E de,ednen b/ P€rerwate' rouie {sa zburg

andV enia: Res donzVelag, 1997)

The Masic of the R€al

Le.toDdctonls,de veren lODecember2O0lontheoccasonoltheLaurcaHonoft cau-

sa inArchnetiura awa.d ofthe Univehiti degiStud d Ferara. Frco tI diArchitertura

The Light in the Landscap€

Le.ture,wlitren as plrtofrre Nrtiona Rese .rProrc.r'FarLux_fori cidn8ittheBa'
Faena in Chii$o lA!s!*200,1
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Qr ex6:Percr ZL,m$o: Hatdenstein

T anslir.ion:f1a!rcci Oberti turfcr (ess:rys t988 996),

Car|criie Schclbert (cssays t998 2004)

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