I would describe the distinction between city and landscape like this: cities tend to excite and agitate me; they make me feel big or small, self-confident, proud, curious, excited, tense, annoyed... or they intimidate me. But the landscape, if I give it the chance, offers me freedom and serenity. Nature has a different sense of time. Time is big in the landscape while in the city it is condensed, just like the city's space.
city nature time

About This Quote

About Peter Zumthor

Peter Zumthor was a contemporary Swiss architect. Peter Zumthor is a Swiss architect whose work is frequently described as uncompromising and minimalist. Though managing a relatively small firm and not being a prolific architect, he is the winner of the 2009 Pritzker Prize and 2013 RIBA Royal Gold Medal. Read more on Wikipedia →

Themes

  • Nature — Appreciation for the natural world and our place within it
  • Time — Reflections on the passage of time and how we spend it

More quotes by Peter Zumthor

“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 sp...”
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“My buildings should have an emotional core - a space which, in itself, has an emotional nice feeling.”
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“If you look at the Earth without architecture, it's sometimes a little bit unpleasant. So there is this basic human need to do shelter in the broadest sense of the word, whether it's a movie theate...”
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Architecture Simple

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

“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.”
— Peter Zumthor
Society Language Speak

“Architecture is exposed to life. If its body is sensitive enough, it can assume a quality that bears witness to past life.”
— Peter Zumthor
Life Quality Past
View all quotes by Peter Zumthor →

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