Peter Zumthor (born 26 April 1943) is a Swiss architect and winner of the 2009 Pritzker Prize and 2013 RIBA Royal Gold Medal. Zumthor was born in Basel, the son of a cabinet-maker. He apprenticed to a carpenter in 1958 and studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule in his native city starting in 1963.
Zumthor always emphasises the sensory aspects of the architectural experience. To him, the physicality of materials can involve an individual with the world, evoking experiences and texturing horizons of place through memory.
Zumthor's work is largely unpublished in part because of his philosophical belief that architecture must be experienced first hand. His published written work is mostly narrative and phenomenological.
Recommended Texts:
Thinking Architecture
In Thinking Architecture Peter Zumthor expresses his motivation in designing buildings that speak to our feelings and understanding in so many ways and that possess a powerful and unmistakable presence and personality. It is illustrated throughout with color photographs by Laura Padgett of Zumthor's new home and studio in Haldenstein.
Atmospheres
Atmospheres is a poetics of architecture and a window into Zumthor's personal sources of inspiration. In nine short, illustrated chapters framed as a process of self-observation, Zumthor describes what he has on his mind as he sets about creating the atmosphere of his houses: Images of spaces and buildings that affect him are every bit as important as particular pieces of music or books that inspire him.