Thinking Architecture

Thinking Architecture
by Peter Zumthor

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Book Summary Information

Author: Peter Zumthor
Edition: Hardcover
Published: 2006-06-01
ISBN: 3764374977
Number of pages: 96
Publisher: Birkh?user Basel

Book Reviews of Thinking Architecture

Book Review: clear thinker and builder
Summary: 5 Stars

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"

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Summary of Thinking Architecture

In order to design a building with a sensuous connection to life, one must think in a way that goes far beyond form and construction. In these essays Peter Zumthor expresses his motivation in designing buildings, which speak to our emotions and understanding in so many ways, and possess a powerful and unmistakable presence and personality.

This book, whose first edition has been out of print for years, has been expanded to include three new essays: "Does Beauty Have a Form?,??? "The Magic of the Real,??? and "Light in the Landscape.??? It has been freshly illustrated throughout with new color photographs of Zumthor???s new home and studio in Haldenstein, taken specially for this edition by Laura Padgett, and received a new typography by Hannele Gr?nlund.

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