The first obstacle he had to overcome to become an architect was his carpenter father: Who is Peter Zumthor?

Today's important architect Peter Zumthor, is among the most interesting names in the world of architecture; He was born in Switzerland on April 26, 1943, and mastered carpentry at the age of 15.

By David Foster Published on 10 Temmuz 2024 : 13:29.
The first obstacle he had to overcome to become an architect was his carpenter father: Who is Peter Zumthor?

The first obstacle Peter Zumthor had to overcome to become an architect was his father. While he was growing up with his father at a young age, with the dream of becoming a carpenter, as he got older, no matter how good a carpenter his father was, he could not help but see his shortcomings. Zumthor recalls his past experiences: "I grew up in a craftsman's home where everything was made with our own hands. He summarized it with the following words: "I worked as a carpenter for four years and I hated it."

Peter Zumthor (born 26 April 1943) is a Swiss architect whose work is frequently described as uncompromising and minimalist. Though managing a relatively small firm, he is the winner of the 2009 Pritzker Prize and 2013 RIBA Royal Gold Medal.

The architect realizes that although his father can do many things, he does not understand fine workmanship. As he improves himself in the field of design, he realizes that carpentry is not the profession he should do. While the architect was taking a design course in Basel, Switzerland, his teachers told him that he was talented and that he should study interior architecture. The real story of our architect begins with him taking an interior architecture course at Pratt Institute in the USA. It seems that Zumthor's interest is not in the space itself but in the space itself.

“The first 10 years of my professional life I spent running away from my father. He was a very good carpenter, and as his eldest child, I had to take over his work, in his workshop. “I tried to escape by first going to art school, then industrial design, and then interior architecture.”

Peter Zumthor decides to become an architect, but returns before finishing his education at Pratt. As a result, he does not actually have a diploma education. Returning to his hometown, the canton of Grisons, the architect begins to restore the local texture. As time passed, our architect realized that he belonged to that geography and did not want to leave it, and decided to practice his craft in the village where he was born and raised.

First, they design a house where they will live with their wife. Then they design two separate offices very close to their homes. Zumthor, who designed the second office in 2006 to be larger than the first office, currently continues to work with thirty people. One of the biggest reasons why he lives in this place, which is a village rather than a town, is that it is a real choice.