Peter Zumthor

“I am convinced that a good building must be capable of absorbing the traces of human life and taking on a specific richness... I think of the patina of age on materials, of innumerable small scratches on surfaces, of varnish that has grown dull and brittle, and of edges polished by use.”

“I work a little bit like a sculptor. When I start, my first idea for a building is with the material. I believe architecture is about that. It's not about paper, it's not about forms. It's about space and material.”

“When I concentrate on a specific site or place for which I am going to design a building, I try to plumb its depths, its form, its history and its sensuous qualities.”

“Architecture is exposed to life. If its body is sensitive enough, it can assume a quality that bears witness to past life.”

“My relationship to plants becomes closer and closer. They make me quiet; I like to be in their company.”

“Architecture has its place in the concrete world. This is where it exists. This is where it makes its statement.”

“I think space, architectural space, is my thing. It's not about facade, elevation, making image, making money. My passion is creating space.”

“My first buildings, when I was about 30, were rejected for aesthetic reasons.”

“I work anywhere between three and 10 years on a project, depending on the size. My lifetime is finite. Therefore, I have to look carefully at how many projects I want to put into my lifetime.”

“Normally, architects render a service. They implement what other people want. This is not what I do. I like to develop the use of the building together with the client, in a process, so that as we go along we become more intelligent.”

“In a society that celebrates the inessential, architecture can put up a resistance, counteract the waste of forms and meanings and speak its own language.”

“Architecture to me is whole. I cannot say I only care about this 25% and the other 75% I let go... it's just I want to work the way I want to work. In my shop, you can order certain things and other things you cannot. They are not available.”

“There is still a real need for good quality architecture, not paper architecture, but the real stuff.”