The first book on a fundamental part of Atelier Zumthor's design process: their architectural models.

We learn a lot from our models. We love them. Peter Zumthor

Models of various sizes and scales, as well as material studies, are an essential working tool for celebrated Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. They serve to examine spatial ideas, shapes, materialization, and artisanal aspects of the buildings on which the architect and his studio collaborators are working. These architectural models are always sophisticated, some are spectacular, and many are very detailed, while others are deliberately rough. They have been on display in exhibitions internationally and have fascinated a wide audience.

Atelier Peter Zumthor: Architecture Models, the first-ever book focusing on Atelier Zumthor's models, features some 350 color and black-and-white photographs. They show models made of a wide variety of materials for 47 of Zumthor's buildings and unrealized projects, ranging from the Therme Vals Thermal Spa and the Kunsthaus Bregenz to the recently completed new building for the LACMA in Los Angeles and the extension for the Fondation Beyeler near Basel, which opens later in 2026. The models exude a strong sensual presence and reflect Peter Zumthor's pursuit of an architecture in which the construction and material create an intense atmosphere.

• First book focusing on architect Peter Zumthor's fascinating working models
• Features some 350 images of models and material studies for 47 buildings and unrealized projects by Atelier Peter Zumthor, many of them published for the first time
• Models are a core tool for Peter Zumthor and his studio in the creation of their unique designs
• Peter Zumthor is one of the world's most famous and most distinguished contemporary architects

Autorentext

Hannele Grönlund is a Finnish-born architect, designer, and curator. She served as director of exhibitions at the Museum of Finnish Architecture (now Architecture and Design Museum) in Helsinki 1998-2002.

Peter Zumthor works with his Atelier of around 30 people in the alpine setting of Haldenstein, Switzerland, producing architectural originals such as the Kunsthaus Bregenz, Therme Vals, Museum Kolumba Köln, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's new David Geffen Galleries, and the extension of Fondation Beyeler near Basel. He is the 2009 Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate.