彼得·卒姆托

生平

卒姆托出生于巴塞尔，1958年成为木匠学徒，1960年代在纽约市普拉特学院进修，1968年成为一名建筑师。

其代表作品是瓦尔斯温泉浴场，科隆科伦巴博物馆，克劳斯兄弟田野教堂等。

Peter Zumthor (German pronunciation: [ˈpeːtɐ ˈtsuːmtoːɐ̯]; born 26 April 1943) is a Swiss architect whose work is frequently described as uncompromising and minimalist. Though managing a relatively small firm and not being a prolific architect, he won the 2009 Pritzker Prize and 2013 RIBA Royal Gold Medal.

Early life

Zumthor was born in Basel, Switzerland. His father was a cabinet-maker, which exposed him to design from an early age and led him to become an apprentice for a carpenter later in 1958. He studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule (arts and crafts school) in his native city starting in 1963.

In 1966, Zumthor studied industrial design and architecture as an exchange student at Pratt Institute in New York. In 1968, he became conservationist architect for the Department for the Preservation of Monuments of the canton of Graubünden. This work on historic restoration projects gave him a further understanding of construction and the qualities of different rustic building materials.

Career

Zumthor founded his own firm in 1979. His practice grew quickly and he accepted more international projects.

Zumthor has taught at University of Southern California Institute of Architecture and SCI-ARC in Los Angeles (1988), the Technical University of Munich (1989), Tulane University (1992), and the Harvard Graduate School of Design (1999). Since 1996, he has been a professor at the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio.

His best known projects are the Kunsthaus Bregenz (1997), a shimmering glass and concrete cube that overlooks Lake Constance (Bodensee) in Austria; the cave-like thermal baths in Vals, Switzerland (1999); the Swiss Pavilion for Expo 2000 in Hannover, an all-timber structure intended to be recycled after the event;……

Recognition

In 1994, he was elected to the Academy of Arts, Berlin. In 1996, he was made an honorary member of the Bund Deutscher Architekten (BDA). In 1998, Zumthor received the Carlsberg Architectural Prize for his designs of the Kunsthaus Bregenz in Bregenz, Austria and the Thermal Baths at Vals, Switzerland (see below). He won the Mies van der Rohe Award for European Architecture in 1999. Recently, he was awarded Praemium Imperiale in 2008 and the Pritzker Architecture Prize 2009. In 2012, he was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal. On the occasion of his 80th birthday in 2023, the F.A.Z. called Zumthor "the great magician of minimalism."

Literature

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.

Personal

Zumthor and his wife, Annalisa Zumthor-Cuorad, have three children. Annalisa died in January 2026 at the age of 78.

Principal works

1983 Elementary school Churwalden, Churwalden, Graubünden, Switzerland.

1983 House Räth, Haldenstein, Graubünden, Switzerland.

1986 Shelters for Roman archaeological site, Chur, Graubünden, Switzerland.

1986 Atelier Zumthor, Haldenstein, Graubünden, Switzerland.

1989 Saint Benedict Chapel, Sumvitg, Graubünden, Switzerland.

1990 Art Museum Chur, Graubünden, Switzerland.

1993 Residential home for the elderly, Masans, Chur, Graubünden, Switzerland.

1994 Gugalun House, Versam, Graubünden, Switzerland.

1996 Spittelhof housing, Biel-Benken, Basel, Switzerland.

1996 Therme Vals, Vals, Graubünden, Switzerland.

1997 Kunsthaus Bregenz, Bregenz, Vorarlberg, Austria.

Former co-workers and assistants

• 1981–1987: Jürg Conzett
• 1984–1988: Valentin Bearth
• Andrea Deplazes
• 1985: Conradin Clavuot
• 1990–199?: Donatella Fioretti

1993–1996: Durisch Nolli|Pia Durisch (Assistant)

• 1993–1998: Daniel Bosshard
• 1996–1998: Gordian Blumenthal
• 1997–1998: Bosshard Vaquer|Meritxell Vaquer i Fernàndez
• 2000: Uta Graff
• 2001–2002: Francesca Torzo
• 2003–2006: Clemens Nuyken
• Peter Hutter

See the German Wikipedia for details.