Project 3.
Therme Vals, Switzerland
Architect: Peter Zumther
Client: the municipality of Vals
Location: Built over the only thermal springs in the Graubünden Canton in Switzerland. The bath house is 1250 metres above sea level in the small mountain village of Vals in the Vals valley. Snowy conditions in the winter make Vals a great spot for skiing and other winter sports while in the Summer, the rocky valleys make it a paradise for hikers. Vals gets about 3-4 hours of sunlight in the winter and up to 9 hours of sunlight in the summer.
About the architect: Peter Zumther graduated from the Kunstgewerbeschule in Basel, Switzerland, in 1963 and in 1966 continued his studies at the Pratt Institute in New York City. In 1979 he established a practice in Haldenstein, Switzerland. From the beginning, Zumthor purposefully kept his practice small so that he could be intimately involved with all elements of planning and construction. His practice grew quickly, and he accepted more international projects. Zumthor has taught at University of Southern California Institute of Architecture and SCI-ARC in Los Angeles (1988), the Technical University of Munich (1989), Tulane University (1992), and the Harvard Graduate School of Design (1999). Since 1996, he has been a professor at the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio. Currently, Zumthor works out of his small studio with around 30 employees, in Haldenstein, Switzerland.
Known for his sensuous materiality and attention to place, 2009 Pritzker Laureate Peter Zumthor is one the most revered architects of the 21st century. Shooting to fame on the back of The Therme Vals and Kunsthaus Bregenz, completed just a year apart in 1996 and 1997. Zumthers ability to control light to draw the persons view as they use the building with an outstanding interplay of light and dark creating an atmospheric environment in his buildings. Zumther is said to be an artist dealing with daylight. Zumther has said “I don’t understand light. It gives me the feeling that there’s something beyond me, something beyond all understanding. And I am very glad, very grateful that there is such a thing.”
About the project: A century ago in Vals, hot natural springs were first diverted for therapeutic bathing and in the early ’60s a vaguely glamorous hotel was erected to profit more intensely from the spa. However, as a result of financial failure in the 1980s, the small municipality of Vals took over the business and initiated an architectural competition to re-establish thermal bathing as an attraction for a wider clientele. Peter Zumther won this competition with his proposition to create a cave or quarry like structure. The bath house opened in 1996.
Working with the natural surroundings the bathrooms lay below a grass roof structure half buried into the hillside. The Therme Vals is built from layer upon layer of locally quarried Valser Quartzite slabs. This stone became the driving inspiration for the design and is used with great dignity and respect. The design of the project arose from a restriction which prevented the construction of a building height that would damage the guests' views of the valley. This led to one of the main design features of the building, with a facade and half of the building buried in the hill blending with the topography of the valley, and a flat green roof that combines with the sloping hill to create a continuous lawn.
The space within the spa is organized around two large pools, one outdoor and one indoor, surrounded by high stone walls. The building's main access is via a tunnel from the hotel, serving as a transition that prepares the visitor to experience the architecture imagined by Zumthor.
Critique of the project from the perspective of light: in this project, Zumther uses an archaic, minimalistic layout and creates an outstanding interplay with light and darkness. The architecture controls the light in a wonderful way. The subtle gaps of just 8 centimetres created in the ceiling with a sliver of natural light coming in through the cracks to illuminate the space give the effect that the user is in an underground cave. Zumther plays with contrasting light and dark throughout the building to draw the viewers gaze and lead them through the space. From inside the bath you are given glimpses of the surrounding topography, connecting the inner space to the valleys around it.
Zumther successfully uses alternating natural lighting and shade to give users of the bath a complete sensory experience, reminding people of the ancient art of bathing. Zumther creates several intimate spaces as well as spaces that connect the user to the surroundings. Peter Zumther became an artist when dealing with daylight in this project.
Bibliography
1. The Therme Vals / Peter Zumthor | ArchDaily [Internet]. [cited 2020 Oct 27]. Available from: https://www.archdaily.com/13358/the-therme-vals
2. Peter Zumthor - The Daylight Award [Internet]. [cited 2020 Oct 27]. Available from: http://thedaylightaward.com/peter-zumthor/
3. Thermal Baths in Vals, Switzerland by Peter Zumthor - Architectural Review [Internet]. [cited 2020 Oct 27]. Available from: https://www.architectural-review.com/buildings/thermal-baths-in-vals-switzerland-by-peter-zumthor
4. Peter Zumthor's Therme Vals Through the Lens of Fernando Guerra | ArchDaily [Internet]. [cited 2020 Oct 27]. Available from: https://www.archdaily.com/798360/peter-zumthors-therme-vals-through-the-lens-of-fernando-guerra
5. Thermal Baths in Vals, Switzerland by Peter Zumthor - Architectural Review [Internet]. [cited 2020 Oct 27]. Available from: https://www.architectural-review.com/buildings/thermal-baths-in-vals-switzerland-by-peter-zumthor
