Peter Zumthor: Therme Vals

On the 14th January 2010, the Velux Stiftung presented the second Daylight-Award at the S AM Swiss Architecture Museum in Basel. The presentation was realized in collaboration with the Department of Architecture of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (DARDEN ETH), Zürich and the S AM Swiss Architecture Museum.

Winner of the Daylight-Award 2010 is the Therme Vals of Peter Zumthor in Vals, Switzerland. Two honorary awards go to James Turrell for his Skyspace Piz Uter in Zuoz and to Isa Stürm Urs Wolf Architects for the Kunst(Zeug)Haus in Rapperswil, both in Switzerland. An additional honorary award for her important contribution to a better understanding of the effects of daylight to the human organism and its health goes to Prof. Anna Wirz-Justice, a chronobiologist of the University Basel, Switzerland. The Daylight-Award aims to encourage developers, planners and specialists to systematically use daylight in order to increase quality of life and energy efficiency.

VernissageTV realized three short documentaries for Velux Stiftung about the awarded works. The videos are already available at the Velux Stiftung website and will be published on VernissageTV within the next days.

In this video we have a look at the project that was awarded the first prize, Swiss architect Peter Zumthor’s Therme Vals. In his studio in Haldenstein / Switzerland, the architect speaks about this work, focusing on the aspect of daylight. The Jury states: “The building is exceptional, already a ‘classic’. It is still perceived as the most accomplished project in terms of daylight due to an archaic, minimalistic layout and an outstanding interplay with light and darkness. The architecture controls the light in a wonderful way, it is judged as a magnificent project.” According to the jury the architect Peter Zumthor became an artist dealing with daylight.

Peter Zumthor is one of the most famous contemporary architects. In 2009 he won the Pritzker Prize. Among his most known works are Therme Vals, Art Museum Bregenz, and Kolumba Museum in Cologne.

The Velux Stiftung was established in 1980 and promotes projects investigating the effect and better utilization of daylight. The Velux Stiftung is interested in the effect of daylight on the well-being of humans and on the recovery process from both physical and psychological illness, but also its impact on nature, and in technologies for the utilization of daylight in buildings for energy efficiency and illumination.

Peter Zumthor: Therme Vals / Interview. Vals and Haldenstein / Switzerland, December 15, 2009.

Via: Vernissage TV