Home and Office of Peter Zumthor

This is the home and office of Swiss architect, Peter Zumthor. His most famous design is the Therme Vals spa in Switzerland, where the baths all appear around the corner or down some steps.

His works are subtle, elegant and loaded with integrity. He usually designs from the inside out, therefore the exteriors are unassuming and sometimes do not grab you (The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011 is a good example). However, it is in the interiors that the details become prevalent and senses of the occupants are realised.

It was great to come by these images of his home and office as Zumthor tends to fly under the radar and has managed to keep his successful career and office in the Swiss town of Haldenstein.

Photographs from ArchiSquare.

Last week, I was kindly featured as a 'Designer Spotlight' on Christine Martin's Somebody's Home blog. I have happily asked people to participate in my Inspiration Profile, so it was interesting to have the tables turned on to me. Read it here.

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011 by Peter Zumthor



The entrance to the mysterious pavilion.

The surrounding corridor.

First glimpse of the contemplative garden and courtyard.

This year's Serpentine Gallery Pavilion at Kensington Gardens, London has been designed by Swiss architect, Peter Zumthor with Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf. At first impression, the lightweight black timber structure seems unassuming. However, as you walk into the perimeter of the building, a surrounding corridor, you get a glimpse of a 'secret' contemplative garden.
"The concept", says Zumthor, "is the hortus conclusus, a contemplative room, a garden within a garden. The building acts as a stage, a backdrop for the interior garden of flowers and light. Through blackness and shadow one enters the building from the lawn and begins the transition into the central garden, a place abstracted from the world of noise and traffic and the smells of London – an interior space within which to sit, to walk, to observe the flowers. This experience will be intense and memorable, as will the materials themselves – full of memory and time." - The Guardian.
The Pavilion is open from July through to October 2011.
Photographs by Julian Lanoo via Dezeen.