Architect: Peter Zumthor Geo: Haldenstein, Switzerland
In 2007, in a field near Cologne, a shelter made of 112 tree trunks was constructed, filled with concrete, and then set on fire. The bonfire burned for three weeks, and when the flames died down, charred walls remained inside, along with the smell of smoke and a round opening to the sky. This is how Peter Zumthor built the Bruder Klaus Chapel.
"The era of smooth, polished architecture is over. We have too many corporate buildings that show no human touch," says the architect.
Each of Zumthor’s projects begins with the material and atmosphere of the building; form is secondary. In the Valais thermal baths, he laid slabs of local quartzite in layers so that the building appeared as if it were a rock embedded in the slope, covered with grass on top. At the Kolumba Museum in Cologne, new walls rise from the ruins of a church bombed in 1945: perforated bricks allow daylight to reach the archaeological layers below.
His method stems from his biography. Zumthor’s father was a cabinetmaker, and he studied carpentry for four years before spending 12 years restoring stone and wooden monuments. He established his architectural office in 1979 in Haldenstein and has not moved since; like Alvaro Siza, he designs with a pencil instead of switching to CAD. "Childhood memories contain the deepest architectural experience I know," writes Zumthor. The warmth of stone in the baths, the dimness of the Kolumba ruins, and the smell of soot in the chapel—Zumthor's architecture consists of sensations that cannot be captured in photographs.
The 83-year-old Zumthor is recognized as one of the leading architects of his generation: Pritzker Prize 2009, RIBA Gold Medal 2013. He is selective: he turned down Armani, Audi, and Hugo Boss, considering their requests too commercial. Interestingly, this did not prevent him from agreeing to discuss a house project for actor Tobey Maguire (Spider-Man!), but only on the condition that he first travels around Europe to see all of Zumthor’s buildings. However, the project was not realized.
In April 2026, the office from the Alpine village opened the David Geffen Galleries, a new 270-meter wing of the LACMA museum in Los Angeles. Zumthor called it a concrete sculpture: "I work as an artist in construction. This means I build buildings by hand." He unexpectedly added that Los Angeles changed him.
Zumthor views architecture as a craft rather than an image industry. Yet after LACMA, he brought a new phrase back to Haldenstein: "Let's do it in the style of Los Angeles." It will be interesting to see how this influences his practice.