Thinking Like Zumthor

     We all know the saying “A picture is worth a thousand words.” It’s a classic saying that explains how a complex idea can be represented or conveyed through a single image more effectively than through a written description.

     While reading through Zumthor’s writings on Atmospheres, I got the feeling that with architecture, a picture just simply isn’t enough. To be able to understand the atmosphere that the architect was trying to convey we must experience it for ourselves. No number of pictures will ever equate to the experience we get by visiting these places. Take Therme Vals for example; we may read about the feeling as you walk through the spaces, we may see in the pictures the steam created by the hot baths, but until we actually go there and are able to feel the temperature of the water, air, and stone walls, we cannot hear the sounds created by the moving water or other visitors, we cannot smell the smells created.

     We must design our buildings and create architecture so that it becomes experiential. Too often we focus as the other writings have on the look of the building, rather than how it makes the user feel. We must use our knowledge of envelopes and interior spaces to promote the experience of the atmosphere that we’re creating.