The Promise of the Object

Architectural models tend to be the first physical form of a project. This representation provides an opportunity to convey the feeling and essence of a design. Swiss Architect Peter Zumthor would call this the “promise of the object.”¹ In this blog, we delve into three projects designed by Atelier Peter Zumthor & Partner with distinctly different accompanying physical models. Varying in scale, materials, technique, and presentation, a thoughtful and unique perspective is brought to the creation of each model.   

 “We always decide what would be the correct model for this place, and this project and what would be a good material to show what we want to do.”² - Peter Zumthor, 2018

 In the 2018 Venice Biennale, Atelier Peter Zumthor & Partner exhibited a workshop of models, titled Dreams and Promises: Models of Atelier Peter Zumthor. One of the largest models in the gallery consisted of a rocky terrain covered in sooty charcoal. In this 1:100 scale model of the Almannajuvet Zinc Mine, four proposed structures curved along the former transport trail. The model reveals the modesty of the buildings as they blend into the landscape and straddle the cliffs edge on stilts. The material pallet consists of styrofoam, charcoal, modeling clay, and aluminum wire. The charcoal gives the modeled site the feeling of a dusty old mine trail, while the wire trees make the landscape seem sparse, and simultaneously laden with tall spindly trees.

1:100 site model of Zinc Mine Museum, Allmannajuvet, Norway. (Source: https://worldarchitecture.org/architecture-news/ehghz/explore-peter-zumthors-neverbeforeseen-models-at-venice-architecture-biennale.html.)

From 2001 – 2007, Zumthor was commissioned to design a chapel dedicated to the patron saint of Switzerland, in the countryside above a small town in Germany. With freedom over the design, Zumthor took an elemental approach – considering fire, earth, and sky symbolically important. The chapel was constructed out of five rammed earth walls. On the inside, 112 tree trunks were upended to form a twelve-meter-high wooden tent indented into the walls. The timber was then set alight, and a slow fire burned inside the chapel walls for three weeks. When the fire ran out of wood to burn, the scorched tree trunks were removed. This left the impression of the trunks, blackened the walls with ash, and left the smell of smoke lingering in the building. Zumthor confesses it took him a long time of trial and error before he found the right form. The Atelier produced a number of models that reflect this process. In his monologue, he shows working models made of white clay, held together with wire, and raked with concave imprints on the inside.3 He also shares a large-scale model with an imperfect triangular opening, linear imprints on the interior and clay layered on the outside of the structure. Finally, a 1:50 scale model was created that resembles the final building most closely.

Experimental and site models for Bruder Klaus Field Chapel, Mechernich, Germany. (Source: Peter Zumthor and Thomas Durisch, Peter Zumthor 1998 – 2001, Scheidegger and Spiess, Verlag, 2014.)

House of Seven Gardens gives off an overall feeling of elegance that is equaled in its two models. Designed in 2009, Zumthor describes the buildings as a structure that screens off the outside world, creating its own quiet space that explores gradations of light and shade. One model shows the massing of interior spaces, with linear voids cut out within them. Made from cast concrete, the model seems dense and heavy - leaving the courtyard cut-outs feeling light and empty. Another model is made from straw board roofs and thin wooden dowel columns. The absence of solid walls creates a lightness to the model and allows a light source to radiate through the model of the building.

Physical model of House of Seven Gardens, Doha, Qatar. (Source: Peter Zumthor and Thomas Durisch, Peter Zumthor 2008-2013, Scheidegger and Spiess, Verlag, 2014.)

“Our models – structural, sculptural, atmospheric, always different, aim to discover and show the physical presence of building and place.”⁴ - Peter Zumthor, 2018

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References

1.       “Biennale Architettura 2018 - Atelier Peter Zumthor.” Filmed July 2018. YouTube Video, 3:43. Posted by “BiennaleChannel,” July 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEN7LD0KxA8.

2.       “Biennale Architettura 2018 - Atelier Peter Zumthor.” Filmed July 2018. YouTube Video, 3:43. Posted by “BiennaleChannel,” July 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEN7LD0KxA8.

3.       Peter Zumthor and Thomas Durisch, Peter Zumthor 1985 – 2013. 5 vols. Scheidegger and Spiess, Verlag, 2014.

4.       “Biennale Architettura 2018 - Atelier Peter Zumthor.” Filmed July 2018. YouTube Video, 3:43. Posted by “BiennaleChannel,” July 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEN7LD0KxA8.

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