BECOMING A DESIGNER: PETER ZUMTHOR - PRITZKER PRIZE WINNER 2009

(I am very late with this, but I will anyway mention it, since it is a happening that inspires me a lot.)

Peter Zumthor is the 2009 Pritzker Arcitecture Prize Winner.

In announcing the jury’s choice, Thomas J. Pritzker, chairman of The Hyatt
Foundation, quoted from the jury citation,

“Peter Zumthor is a master architect admired by
his colleagues around the world for work that is focused, uncompromising and exceptionally
determined.” And he added, “All of Peter Zumthor’s buildings have a strong, timeless
presence. He has a rare talent of combining clear and rigorous thought with a truly poetic
dimension, resulting in works that never cease to inspire.”

His buildings have a commanding presence, yet they prove the power of judicious
intervention, showing us again and again that modesty in approach and boldness in
overall result are not mutually exclusive. Humility resides alongside strength. While
some have called his architecture quiet, his buildings masterfully assert their presence,
engaging many of our senses, not just our sight but also our senses of touch, hearing
and smell.

In Zumthor’s own words as expressed in his book, Thinking Architecture, “I believe
that architecture today needs to reflect on the tasks and possibilities which are inherently its
own. Architecture is not a vehicle or a symbol for things that do not belong to its essence.
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. I believe that the language
of architecture is not a question of a specific style. Every building is built for a specific use
in a specific place and for a specific society. My buildings try to answer the questions that
emerge from these simple facts as precisely and critically as they can.”