Thinking Architecture [Hardcover]

Princeton Arch Staff (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 3764361018 | ISBN-13: 978-3764361013 | Publication Date: August 1, 2000

Architecture that is meant to have a sensuous connection to life calls for thinking that goes far beyond form and construction. In his texts, Peter Zumthor articulates what motivates him to design his buildings, which appeal to the visitor's heart and mind in so many different ways and possess a compelling and unmistakable presence and aura. Now in its third edition, this book has been expanded to include two new essays: "Architecture and Landscape" deals with the relationship between the structure and its surroundings, with the secret of the successful placement and topographical integration of architecture. In "The Leis Houses" Peter Zumthor describes the genesis of two wooden houses in the town of Leis in the Swiss canton of Graubunden, thus thematizing the special challenge of integrating contemporary architecture into a traditional architectural context.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: German --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Winner of the Pritzker Prize for Architecture 2009, Swiss architect Peter Zumthor is considered to be one of the most extraordinary and controversial architects working today. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press (August 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3764361018
• ISBN-13: 978-3764361013
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,791,890 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars clear thinker and builder, July 14, 2006

By 

Joong Won Lee "Joongwon" (Cambridge, MA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Thinking Architecture (Hardcover)

Reading this book was like reading a long-lost secret manual of
"How to become a 21 century Samurai..." I guess that sense of delusion rises because the content and the tone of book has this (quasi) idea of medieval perfection achieved through a repetition of hands-on practice. "I do not work towards architecture from a theoretically defined point of departure, for I am committed to making architecture,," writes Zumthor.

Moreover, a reader, at the back of her/his head, has those powerful images of Bath House in Vaals (tour de force of phenomenological experience) that intensifies the delusion. One would think, 'Zumthor must be a man from Mars to build architecture like that' and 'his writings must be a strong sleeping pill.' Usual Suspect !

He writes extremely clear with extremely simple terms. This slim book tells us how an architect of such originality thinks and experiences daily life. It's a great pleasure to find out what kind of music (Mozart's piano concertos) zumthor listens; what kind of artists (Beuys and Merz) he likes; what kind of film he watches (Ettore Scola's film Le Bal); what kind of books (Calvino) he reads; and what kind of sayings ("the hard core beauty") in the radio show captivates him. A former cabinet maker, his book is carefully jointed, just like his buildings. Anyone who found this book fun/inspiring to read should also try Alvaro Siza's "Writings on Architecture"

19 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended, April 10, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Thinking architecture (Hardcover)

A thoroughly engaging book about meaningful architecture - it now holds a very special place in my architecture library, right next to Michael Benedikt's For An Architecture of Reality.
Excellent for anyone interested in Peter Zumthor's work.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reaching the Real through the Essential, February 6, 2010

By 

Y. Green "green pegasus" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Thinking Architecture (Hardcover)

This book is an excellent intorduction to Zumthor's architecture. This book makes us think about what is essential in architecture, why and how you go about creating the "real" presence of built environments (at least, we get to appreciate Zumthor's perspective on it). Most importantly why that matters for us as well as for Zumthor. We think we knew and we think we understood. But, reading this book, I realized how much I have forgotten and how important it is to remind ourselves of some of the significant and yet, simple truths in thinking of built environment. He describes these in plain but powerful words. For me, his view on the "real" presence of architecture was very appealing. In seeking 'factual truth' in architecture, Zumthor explains what matters to him in his consideration of "specific" contexts and issues. This book gives us some clues about why his buildings exude such extraordinary aura and how they might have been conceived. It is not about big abstract theories no one understands. It is not about complicated geometry or formal exuberance so many contemporary architects seem to be obsessed with. It is a relatively short but, very powerful book. It's highly recommended. Peter Zumthor, one of the real masters in architecture today talks about his desire to design a building that takes on its own life afterwards. To him, the real presence of architecture doesn't require any rhetoric or any further explanation. His architecture is not about form-making and certainly doesn't stem from digital processes. It is not about rhetorical/ critical diagrams as a point of departure. It is not necessarily about sustainability. His architecture doesn't seek to be showy and spectacular. It seeks to "belong", belong to the context, site, and surroundings, therefore to our presence. Creating the new but only in a way that enhances the existing. From another perspective, it is about "place-making": making a place/ spatial conditions that become part of our physical presence in this world. His pursuit of the real and the essential seems solidly grounded in modernism. And yet, he is capable of going beyond the capacity of modernist architecture the way we are familiar with. It has something to do with his focus on "atmosphere"-making. To him, making spaces always comes with a certain concept related to atmospheres. He explains his understanding of "atmosphere" in architecture in another book. Zumthor may be called one of the pre-eminent architects of the "New Modern", which differs from post-modern. It is unexpectedly refreshing to read his words. Just like anything else in life, doing basic things well is important and if you do, that alone could take you quite far. Such an admirable architect.... He once said 'Life is too short to compromise'...... Good for him. I wish I could be like that.....