Architect of Vals Hot Springs in Switzerland

Peter Zumthor, a Swiss architect, was born in Basel, Switzerland, 1943. His father is a carpenter who specializes in making furniture. 1958, Zumthor once worked as an apprentice beside a carpenter, learning carpentry related techniques. Because of this relationship, it is generally believed that Zumthor learned a lot from his father. Zumthor himself realized that he was not afraid of difficulties, and believed that craftsmen should overcome technical problems and then present their works in the most perfect form. From 65438 to 0963, Zumthor entered Kunstgewerbeschule-Basel Institute of Arts and Crafts to study design, and then went to Pratt College in new york, USA, where strict craft training made him clearly understand the thoughts and feelings of modernism.

Peter Zumthor's works are small in scale, but each of his buildings takes into account the base and overall planning, reflecting different feelings. Every work reflects people's feelings about the basic elements, location, materials, space and light of the building. In his early works, most of his works are located in the easternmost part of Switzerland, a state called "Graubenden", where the environment and culture present a mixed culture of many nationalities. Latin and Teutonic cultures are mixed together, and it is also close to the border between Romanche and Germany, and Graubenden is adjacent to Italy, so it presents a very diverse culture in this area. Peter Zumthor also worked in the memorial building maintenance department of the state government here for 12 years, so he knows the town squares and arcades in the whole Graubenden area, as well as the rural houses and granaries with big gables. Zumthor himself is a localist, but he also fully understands that the old buildings in the past are very good, and we should not just imitate or copy them, but learn from them the concepts of materials, climate and configuration. At the age of 24, he went to many natural places to study.

Peter Zumthor, winner of the 2009 Pritzker Prize, said:

"I think modern architecture must reflect the additional tasks and its own essence. Architecture is not a car or a symbol, but its essence can be clearly expressed. In society, architecture resists waste and praises simplicity in its own language.

In my opinion, the structural problem of architectural language is not a specific style. Every building is built for a special purpose under specific social conditions. My architecture tries to answer this question from simple facts and express it as accurately as possible. "