52-524: 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, he is the winner of the 2009 Pritzker Prize and 2013 RIBA Royal Gold Medal . 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
104-527: A consociational state ), a term coined in conscious contrast to " nation " in the conventional linguistic or ethnic sense. The demonym Swiss (formerly in English also called Switzer ) and the name of Switzerland ultimately derive from the toponym Schwyz . Both have been widely used to refer to the Old Swiss Confederacy since the 16th century. The ethno-linguistic composition of
156-480: A 2018 revision of the law, allowing naturalization after a minimal period of residence of ten years, and in certain cases as little as five years (naturalization of spouses and children of Swiss citizens; years of residence at ages 8 to 18 count double). A further requirement is that the applicant be "well integrated" and "familiar with life in Switzerland", and must have both oral and written competence in one of
208-446: A building, not representing anything, just being. The sense that I try to instil into materials is beyond all rules of composition, and their tangibility, smell, and acoustic qualities are merely elements of the language we are obliged to use. Sense emerges when I succeed in bringing out the specific meanings of certain materials in my buildings, meanings that can only be perceived in just this way in this one building. When I concentrate on
260-673: 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
312-820: A film about Zumthor. Zumthor and his wife, Annalisa Zumthor-Cuorad, have three children. See the German Misplaced Pages for details. Swiss people The Swiss people ( German : die Schweizer , French : les Suisses , Italian : gli Svizzeri , Romansh : ils Svizzers ) are the citizens of the multi-ethnic Swiss Confederation (Switzerland) regardless of ethno-cultural background or people of self-identified Swiss ancestry . The number of Swiss nationals has grown from 1.7 million in 1815 to 8.7 million in 2020. More than 1.5 million Swiss citizens hold multiple citizenship . About 11% of citizens live abroad (0.8 million, of whom 0.6 million hold multiple citizenship). About 60% of those living abroad reside in
364-403: A further understanding of construction and the qualities of different rustic building materials. As his practice developed, Zumthor was able to incorporate his knowledge of materials into Modernist construction and detailing. His buildings explore the tactile and sensory qualities of spaces and materials while retaining a minimalist feel. It has been said that "Zumthor’s key building material
416-515: A milestone event of twentieth-century architectural photography, Danuser photographed, at Zumthor's invitation, two buildings: the protective structure built for archaeological excavations in Chur and St Benedict's Chapel in Sumvitg . When first shown in exhibition, those photos ignited a lively debate that has been revived with a recent exhibition of Danuser's photographs of Zumthor's most famous work,
468-431: A national language or a nationalism based on ethnicity, instead pushing for the creation of a civic nation grounded in democratic ideology, common political institutions, and shared political ritual. Political allegiance and patriotism was directed towards the cantons , not the federal level, where a spirit of rivalry and competition rather than unity prevailed. C. G. Jung advanced the view that this system of social order
520-469: A powerful and unmistakable presence and personality. It is illustrated throughout with color photographs by Laura J. Padgett of Zumthor's new home and studio in Haldenstein. To me, buildings can have a beautiful silence that I associate with attributes such as composure, self-evidence, durability, presence, and integrity, and with warmth and sensuousness as well; a building that is being itself, being
572-676: A rest area/museum on the site of the abandoned Allmannajuvet zinc mines, in operation from 1882 to 1898, in Norway (2016). In November 2009, it was revealed that Zumthor is working on a major redesign for the campus of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art . Recently, he turned down an opportunity to consider a new library for Magdalen College , Oxford. He was selected to design the Serpentine Gallery 's annual summer pavilion with designer Piet Oudolf in 2011. In 2023,
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#1732793826331624-448: A specific site or place for which I am going to design a building, when I try to plumb its depths, its form, its history, and its sensuous qualities, images of other places start to invade this process of precise observation: images of places I know and that once impressed me, images of ordinary or special places places that I carry with me as inner visions of specific moods and qualities; images of architectural situations, which emanate from
676-804: A year. Admission to both galleries is free. The CEO is Bettina Korek , and the artistic director Hans Ulrich Obrist . Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Gallery, was established in 1970 and is housed in a Grade II listed former tea pavilion built in 1933–34 by the architect James Grey West . Notable artists whose works have been exhibited there include Man Ray , Henry Moore , Jean-Michel Basquiat , Andy Warhol , Paula Rego , Sondra Perry , Bridget Riley , Allan McCollum , Anish Kapoor , Christian Boltanski , Philippe Parreno , Richard Prince , Wolfgang Tillmans , Gerhard Richter , Gustav Metzger , Damien Hirst , Maria Lassnig , Adrian Berg , Jeff Koons and Marina Abramović . On
728-591: Is invoked alongsides "the Cantons" as sovereign entity, and article 1 reads "The People and the Cantons [...] form the Swiss Confederation." Article 37 still defines Swiss citizenship as inherited from communal and cantonal citizenship: "Any person who is a citizen of a commune and of the Canton to which that commune belongs is a Swiss citizen." As Swiss citizenship is entirely based on jus sanguinis ,
780-612: Is light." 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
832-479: Is the only book-length study of this singular building. It features the architect's original sketches and plans for its design as well as Hélène Binet ’s striking photographs of the structure. Architectural scholar Sigrid Hauser contributes essays on such topics as "Artemis/Diana," "Baptism," "Mikvah," and "Spring"—drawing out the connections between the elemental nature of the spa and mythology, bathing, and purity. Annotations by Peter Zumthor on his design concept and
884-903: 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; the Kolumba Diocesan Museum (2007), in Cologne; and
936-816: 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
988-668: The European Union (0.46 million). The largest groups of Swiss descendants and nationals outside Europe are found in the United States , Brazil , and Canada . Although the modern state of Switzerland originated in 1848, the period of romantic nationalism , Switzerland is not a nation-state and the Swiss are not a single ethnic group . Rather, Switzerland is a confederacy ( Eidgenossenschaft ) or Willensnation ("nation of will", "nation by choice", that is,
1040-548: The Helvetians ) or Gallo-Roman , Alamannic and Rhaetic stock. Their cultural history is dominated by the Alps , and the alpine environment is often cited as an important factor in the formation of the Swiss national character. For example, the "Swiss illness", the condition of Swiss mercenaries pining for their mountainous native home, became prototypical of the medical condition of nostalgia ("homesickness") described in
1092-420: The place of origin rather than the place of birth is recorded in identity documents. As Swiss citizenship is tied to the cantonal citizenship associated with the "place of origin" ( Heimatort or Bürgerort "home commune, commune of citizenship"), a citizen's place of origin is inherited from his or her father (from the mother if born out of wedlock or if the father holds no citizenship). The significance of
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#17327938263311144-763: The 17th century. In early modern Switzerland , the Swiss Confederacy was a pact between independent states within the Holy Roman Empire . The populations of the states of Central Switzerland considered themselves ethnically or even racially separate: Martin Zeiller in Topographia Germaniae (1642) reports a racial division even within the canton of Unterwalden , the population of Obwalden being identified as " Romans ", and that of Nidwalden as " Cimbri " (viz. Germanic ), while
1196-608: The Bruder Klaus Field Chapel, on a farm near Wachendorf. In 1993, Zumthor won the competition for a museum and documentation center on the horrors of Nazism to be built on the site of Gestapo headquarters in Berlin. Zumthor's submission called for an extended three-story building with a framework consisting of concrete rods. The project, called the Topography of Terror , was partly built and then abandoned when
1248-559: The Netherlands ; roughly twice the ratio of Germany ). In 2003, 35,424 residents were naturalized, a number exceeding net population growth. Over the 25-year period of 1983 to 2007, 479,264 resident foreigners were naturalized, yearly numbers rising gradually from below 10,000 (0.1%) in the 1980s to above 40,000 (0.6%) in the 2000s. Compare the figure of 0.2% (140,795) in the United Kingdom (2004). The genetic composition of
1300-618: The Swiss Confederacy, and which were given the status of Swiss cantons only after the end of the Napoleonic era. These specifically include Grisons , Valais , Ticino , Vaud and Geneva . St. Gallen is a special case in a different sense, being a conglomerate of various historical regions created in 1803; in this case, patriotism may attach itself even to sub-cantonal entities, such as the Toggenburg . Similarly, due to
1352-660: The Swiss population is similar to that of Central Europe in general. On the one hand, Switzerland at the crossroads of several prehistoric migrations; on the other hand, the Alps acted as a refuge in some cases. Genetic studies found the following haplogroups to be prevalent: Haplogroup R1b-U152 also known as R1b-S28 is the frequent haplogroup of Swiss people, followed by R1b-U106/R1b-S21. Serpentine Gallery The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens , Westminster , Greater London . Recently rebranded to just Serpentine,
1404-638: The Werkraum Haus – designed 10 years earlier by Zumthor – showed 40 of his architectural models, including some that have never been shown to the public before. Currently, Zumthor works out of his small studio with around 30 employees, in Haldenstein , near the city of Chur , in Switzerland . In 1994, he was elected to the Academy of Arts, Berlin . In 1996, he was made an honorary member of
1456-607: The accession of French-speaking Geneva and Neuchâtel and the partly francophone Valais and Bernese Jura (formerly part of the Prince-Bishopric of Basel ) to the Restored Swiss Confederacy in 1815. Romansh was formerly considered a group of Italian dialects , but Switzerland declared Romansh a national language in 1938 in reaction to the fascist Italian irredentism at the time. Switzerland experienced significant immigration from Italy in
1508-496: The addition of an extension designed by Zaha Hadid Architects . Located five minutes' walk from Serpentine South across the Serpentine Bridge, it comprises 900 square metres (9,700 sq ft) of gallery space, restaurant, shop and social space. The Magazine Restaurant adjoins the gallery space. Every year since 2000, Serpentine has commissioned a temporary summer pavilion by a leading architect. The series presents
1560-558: The building process elucidate the structure's symbiotic relationship to its natural surroundings, revealing, for example, why he insisted on using locally quarried stone. Therme Vals's scenic design elements, and Zumthor's contributions to this book, reflect the architect's commitment to the essential and his disdain for needless architectural flourishes. Seeing Zumthor represents a unique collaboration between Zumthor and Swiss photographer Hans Danuser , containing Danuser's images of buildings created by Zumthor. More than twenty years ago, in
1612-535: The cantonal patriotisms. Among the traditions enlisted to this end were federal sharpshooting competitions , or tirs . These competitions were one of the few recognized symbols of pan-Swiss identity prior to the creation of the 1815 Confederation and traditionally involved men from all levels of society, including the peasants, who in Romantic nationalism had become ideologically synonymous with liberty and nationhood. The Swiss national holiday , introduced in 1889,
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1664-409: The case of naturalized citizens after a period of five years). The Swiss Constitution of 1874, which remained in force (with revisions) until 1999, defined Swiss citizenship as inherited from cantonal citizenship: Jeder Kantonsbürger ist Schweizer Bürger ("every citizen of a canton is a Swiss citizen"). In the preamble to the current Swiss Constitution of 1999, a "Swiss People" ( Schweizervolk )
1716-514: The composition and "presence" of the materials to the handling of proportions and the effect of light, this poetics of architecture enables the reader to recapitulate what really matters in the process of house design. In conclusion, Peter Zumthor has described what really constitutes an architectural atmosphere as "this singular density and mood, this feeling of presence, well-being, harmony, beauty...under whose spell I experience what I otherwise would not experience in precisely this way." Therme Vals
1768-472: The core ethno-linguistic groups listed above. As of 2011, 37% of total resident population of Switzerland had immigrant background. As of 2016, the most widely used foreign languages were English, Portuguese , Albanian , Serbo-Croatian and Spanish, all named as a "main language" by more than 2% of total population (respondents could name more than one "main language"). The Swiss populace historically derives from an amalgamation of Gallic (most significant
1820-471: The establishment of the modern Swiss Confederation. Prior to 1915, citizens held passports issued by their cantons, the Confederation being considered as a federation of the cantons, not a state composed of natural persons as its citizens. The Swiss Constitution of 1848 regulated certain rights that the cantons were required to grant to citizens of other cantons, such as the right of residence (in
1872-690: The government decided not to go ahead for financial reasons. The unfinished building was demolished in 2004. In 1999, Zumthor was selected as the only foreign architect to participate in Norway's National Tourist Routes Project, with two projects, the Memorial in Memory of the Victims of the Witch Trials in Varanger, a collaboration with Louise Bourgeois (completed in 2010), and a rest area/museum on
1924-518: The ground at the gallery's entrance is a permanent work made by Ian Hamilton Finlay in collaboration with Peter Coates, and dedicated to Diana, Princess of Wales , the gallery's former patron. In 2013, Serpentine North was opened to the public named as the Serpentine Sackler Gallery, a name changed to Serpentine North in 2021. This gave new life to The Magazine, a Grade II* listed former gunpowder store built in 1805, with
1976-690: The historical imperialism of the canton of Bern , there is considerable irredentism within the Bernese lands, most visibly in the Bernese Jura but to a lesser extent also in parts of the Bernese Oberland such as Hasli . Swiss citizenship is still primarily citizenship in one of the Swiss cantons , and the naturalization of foreign citizens is the privilege of the cantons. No Swiss passports were issued prior to 1915, more than 60 years after
2028-464: The national languages of Switzerland. The federal law just specifies minimal requirements for naturalization, and cantons are free to introduce more stringent requirements. In practice, the cantons delegate the actual procedure of naturalization to the communes . With 25% of the population resident aliens, Switzerland has one of the highest ratios of non-naturalized inhabitants in Europe (comparable to
2080-540: The organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Gallery, and Serpentine North, previously known as the Sackler Gallery. The gallery spaces are within five minutes' walk of each other, linked by the bridge over the Serpentine Lake from which the galleries get their names. Their exhibitions, architecture, education and public programmes attract up to 1.2 million visitors
2132-537: The people of Schwyz were identified as of Swedish ancestry , and the people of Uri were identified as " Huns or Goths ". Modern Switzerland is atypical in its successful political integration of a multiethnic and multilingual populace, and is often cited as a model for new efforts at creating unification, as in the European Union's frequent invocation of the Swiss Confederate model. Because
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2184-548: The place of origin outside of the naturalization procedure has been gradually abolished in the early 21st century. Since 2012, the municipality or canton of a citizen's place of origin is no longer responsible for providing social welfare to that citizen. Since 2013, a woman no longer acquires the place of origin of her husband upon marriage. While the cantons are responsible for naturalization, federal Swiss nationality law regulates minimal requirements necessary for naturalization. These requirements were significantly reduced in
2236-950: The program were conversations with philosophers, curators, historians, composers, writers, photographers, collectors, and craftsmen that Zumthor had invited to contribute to the exhibition. His dialogues with them offer insights into the thoughts and practice of fascinating personalities. Together with his counterparts, he explores artistic preferences and practices, reasonings, as well as practical knowledge from artisanal experience. In Dear to Me , Zumthor's equally serious and serene conversations with Anita Albus, Aleida Assmann , Marcel Beyer , Hélène Binet, Hannes Böhringer, Renate Breuss, Claudia Comte , Bice Curiger , Esther Kinsky , Ralf Konersmann, Walter Lietha, Olga Neuwirth, Rebecca Saunders, Karl Schlögel , Martin Seel, Rudolf Walli, and Wim Wenders are collected in seventeen booklets held together in an exquisitely manufactured box. Wim Wenders will also make
2288-598: The site of an abandoned zinc mine. For the Dia Art Foundation in Beacon, New York , Zumthor designed a gallery that was to house the 360° I Ching sculpture by Walter de Maria ; though the project was never completed. Zumthor is the only foreign architect to participate, with two projects, the Memorial in Memory of the Victims of the Witch Trials in Varanger , a collaboration with Louise Bourgeois (2011), and
2340-493: The spa at Therme Vals. Seeing Zumthor collects these three important series of Danuser's pictures and includes essays by leading art historians exploring the relationship between the two seemingly different disciplines or architecture and photography. In summer 2017, Peter Zumthor curated the exhibition Dear to Me at the Kunsthaus Bregenz, marking the twentieth anniversary of one of his most famous designs. Part of
2392-410: The territories of modern Switzerland includes the following components: The core Eight Cantons of the Swiss Confederacy were entirely Alemannic-speaking, and German speakers remain the majority. However, from as early as the 15th century, parts of French-speaking Vaud and Italian-speaking Ticino were acquired as subject territories by Bern and Uri, respectively. The Swiss Romandie was formed by
2444-466: The various populations of Switzerland share language, ethnicity, and religion not with each other but with the major European powers between whom Switzerland during the modern history of Europe found itself positioned, a policy of domestic plurality in conjunction with international neutrality became a matter of self-preservation. Consequently, the Swiss elites during the period of the formation of nation states throughout Europe did not attempt to impose
2496-571: The very late 19th and early 20th century, such that in 1910 that accounted for some 10% of the Swiss population. This immigration was halted by the Great Depression and WWII. It restarted after the war ended. As elsewhere in Western Europe, immigration to Switzerland has increased dramatically since the 1960s, so that a large proportion of the resident population of Switzerland are now not descended or only partially descended from
2548-468: The world of art, or films, theater or literature. 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. From
2600-624: Was another symbol of national identity at the federal level. The bonfires associated with the national holiday have become so customary since then that they have displaced the Funken traditions of greater antiquity. Identification with the national symbolism relating to the Old Swiss Confederacy was especially difficult for the cantons which had been joined to the Helvetic Republic in 1798 without any prior membership in
2652-567: 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." 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 . In Thinking Architecture Peter Zumthor expresses his motivation in designing buildings that have an emotional connection and possess
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#17327938263312704-472: Was one of a "chronic state of mitigated civil war" which put Switzerland ahead of the world in a civilizatory process of "introverting" warlike aggression. A similar view is attributed to Gottfried Keller , who is cited to the effect that the Swiss Confederacy could not exist without the endemic rivalry between cantons. From the 19th century onwards, there were conscious attempts to foster a federal "Pan-Swiss" national identity that would replace or alleviate
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