Some Architecture

Architecture was the field I had planned to enter for most of my life, until the end of high school. For some reason, as I was getting ready for college, I decided to follow the way of physics. Good decision or bad decision, it was, it is, but I still have a fascination for all things related to designing and building buildings.

Probably because we enjoyed a couple of months ago the documentary film about Frank Gehry made by Sidney Pollack ("Sketches of Frank Gehry"), Netflix suggested that we might enjoy a 3-DVD series of short films, a collection (originally French, I think) of 40-minute pieces, each on a different building project. Some of the buildings are newer, some were built over 100 years ago. The films are quite interesting.*

In the recent set, one building in particular caught our fancy. the Thermal Baths in Vals, Switzerland, designed by Peter Zumthor.

The village of Vals was apparently well known for its hot springs. In previous decades a developer had built some hotels around the springs and intended further development, but he went bankrupt. In 1983 the town itself bought the thermal spa and the hotels, and decided to enhance the development with a new building for the spa itself.

They wanted something special, an architectural statement. In 1986 they chose the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor to design and build their new spa. It opened in 1996.

The complex is fascinating: understated, functional, and beautiful. Most of the building is below ground level, although one face is exposed because of the hillside it's built on. The walls are all built of a local stone ("Valser quarzite"), which has been cut into thin slabs that are stacked one atop another. The visual simplicity of the building manages to avoid being irritating and modern and unlivable. Perhaps it is the presence of the water, the pools in the rooms that keep it inviting, mysterious, and sensuous.

It's difficult to convey the impression it gives in words. Fortunately, the Spa has its own website. (They're Swiss, so you can choose English, German, French, or Italian as your language.) Be sure to click on "Spa" and explore the photos by clicking the links down the left side. For more (too small) pictures, here are a couple more websites about the spa: here and here.

For dessert, while we're on the subject of beautifully designed buildings for practical functioning, here is DeputyDog's list of "7 of the coolest fire stations on earth". I love looking at these pictures.
———-
* If you're interested and want to know specifics, leave a note and I can probably come up with it without too much more effort.

Posted on January 4, 2008 at 13.32 by jns · Permalink
In: All, Music & Art, Personal Notebook

2 Responses

Subscribe to comments via RSS

  1. Written by chris
    on Saturday, 5 January 2008 at 19.43
    Permalink

    ah yes, architecture. Michael Flanders (of Flanders and Swann, "mud glorious mud" etc) commented that "architecture is said to be frozen music. Swann's music is rather like melting architecture".

    the fire stations are lovely, and so is the spa, though I agree, the photos are distressingly small.

    to offset this disappointment, I offer photos of another spa, the Denver Swim Club. Take the "virtual tour" (top of screen, on the right). With many photos of beefy boys enjoying the spa.

  2. Written by jns
    on Saturday, 5 January 2008 at 22.41
    Permalink

    Ah yes, I remember hearing about the Denver Swim Club some few years back. Thanks for the reminder, Chris.

Subscribe to comments via RSS

Leave a Reply

To thwart spam, comments by new people are held for moderation; give me a bit of time and your comment will show up.

I welcome comments -- even dissent -- but I will delete without notice irrelevant, rude, psychotic, or incomprehensible comments, particularly those that I deem homophobic, unless they are amusing. The same goes for commercial comments and trackbacks. Sorry, but it's my blog and my decisions are final.