For example, in the book Atmosphären, when discussing the photo of Broad Street Station in Richmond, Zumthor mentions it to describe a decisive impression that played a strong role in his biography as an artist.

However, both use the term 'atmosphere' occasionally, or rather in Zumthor's case relatively frequently, and one can certainly not say 'coincidentally' as these occasional uses are definitely significant. Theorist Pallasmaa himself says that he first became familiar with the term at a conference in Copenhagen on 'Atmospheres: Architecture and Urban Space', in 2011,1 whereas until then he was happy pigeonholing his own work under terms such as 'embodied image' or 'the eyes of the skin'.2 For Zumthor, the concept evidently assumed a central meaning in the context of the 'Poetische Landschaft' project organised by Brigitte Labs-Ehlert, as part of which he lectured in 2003 on 'Atmosphären' – this culminated in his book of the same name, published in 2006 by Birkhäuser in Basel.3 The one essentially taciturn and above all a master builder, the other admittedly an architect, but active primarily as a lecturer, historian and architecture theorist. While it may not be surprising that today Peter Zumthor and Juhani Pallasmaa share common ground with the concept of atmosphere, it is nevertheless something to make us sit up and take note. Benedict, Sumvitg Swiss, Peter Zumthor – photo GusTielens Gernot Böhme investigates the meaning of the notion of atmosphere in the work of theoretician Pallasmaa and practicing architect Zumthor.įelipe Camus St. They have identified atmosphere as the core theme of architecture, each in his own way. OASE 91 Building Atmosphere is about atmosphere as the core theme of architecture and is guest edited by renowned Swiss architect Peter Zumthor and Finnish architect Juhani Pallasmaa.

Atmospheres by Peter Zumthor