“It’s All About Emotion”: A Conversation With Peter Zumthor

The Swiss architect discusses his design for a British vacation retreat and his notoriously contemplative working process.
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Peter Zumthor is undoubtedly one of the world’s leading architects, having been awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2009. But despite the admiration of his peers, Zumthor, 75, is hardly a household name. This may be because his work often reflects his quiet, considered nature. His designs, including museums, memorials, pavilions, and a spa-hotel in his native Switzerland—the 1996 Therme Vals—are contemplative rather than brash. Most recently, Zumthor ventured to England for his first permanent project in the country: a holiday rental in Devon called Secular Retreat, part of a series of ultra-high-design getaways commissioned by Living Architecture.

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Iain Aitch
Author, journalist and Dwell contributor. London, England.

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