My Anlysis on Our Architects: Representing Their Ideas

Each architect/designer has his or her own way of showing their ideas to others. Some use diagrams, draw sketches, paint pictures, make models, or write out their ideas.
Out of our 16 architects, only a few of them actually paint or watercolor to represent their ideas, and some only do it for inspiration. Steven Holl uses his watercolor as a type of sketch, then perfects his design as the project moves on. Will Alsop is an example of someone who paints for inspiration and to show ideas and sketches, as well as Zaha Hadid.
A majority of our 16 of our architects make models, hand made or computer generated. Thom Mayne, Shinergu Ban, Norman Foster, NOX, and Frank Gehry who all sketch, Diller and Scafido, and then finally Renzo Piano, who has just recently started making models after many years of using sketches.
Pretty much all architects use sketches, especially in the earlier stages of their designs. Peter Zumthor, for example, uses rough sketches in the beginning of his projects, then moves on to more detailed diagrams later on in the design; and Antione Predock does the same thing.
Ma Yonsong uses drawings, while the UN studios and JDS use very detailed diagrams and 'good communication'. As you can see, every architect developes his or her own way of showing their ideas as their careers move on.

Never a Detail Too Many

Peter Zumthor has a very unique way of looking at details and how each one interacts specially with the building and the other details around it. When starting a project, Zumthor likes to think of how the building will be used in the future, and who all will be using it. Along this same line of thought, Zumthor likes creating spaces that don't necessarily create direction, but let people wonder freely throughout the building. Peter Zumthor has very beautiful buildings, and known of which are overly flashy, but they have an over all simple style about them that makes the building need no artistic additions.

In Peter Zumthor's mind, details are not just decoration, they lead to the understanding of a whole. With that thought, Zumthor adds so many details to his buildings, details that no one besides a skilled designer would notice, that the seemly over bearing quality of those details blend together to create absolute simplicity. Zumthor has come to know, that "At the point in time when concrete materials are assembled and erected, the architecture we have been looking for becomes part of the real world." This line is a perfect example of Zumthor's work, having so much hard work and demanding the best materials, that in the end it all evens out and one doesn't really notice the minuscule details anymore.

For example, the time it must have taken to get the light right in the thermal baths in Vals must have taken a back breaking long time, just to add mood lighting. But it was all worth it for Zumthor, because artificial lighting wouldn't do for the aura that he was trying to create. In fact, lighting is a huge factor in almost all the buildings Zumthor designs. Even if he is just refurbishing an old house/building, which he does alot, it has to feel right.

Peter Zumthor's Inspiration as a Builder

Many people are influenced by past experiences and memories, including Peter Zumthor. His life as a child growing up in Switzerland has had a very big impact on the way Zumthor creates and designs his building projects. In some of his books Zumthor mentions how he can still feel the shape of his aunt's doorhandle into the house, and how it led to a wonderfully farmiliar world of the kitchen, an image still circulating in Zumthor's mind. This permanent image of the old kitchen still has Peter in a trance at times, and when he comes out of that trance, new, fresh ideas rush to mind for a whole new project.

Another affect of Zumthor's style was growing up with a carpenter father and learning the trade as well. Before Zumthor settled as an architect, he apprenticed as a cabinetmaker, like his father, then a designer, then finally an architect at Kunstergawerbeschule Basel and Pratt Institute , New York. As a student at Pratt, Peter and his classmates took architectural history, and reguarded it as part of their general education, but Zumthor said the class didn't really affect how he creates as a designer. I believe that Zumthor learned the basics of architecture while at school, but he really taught himself how to design once he got into the real buisness.

Many of Zumthor's memories come from subjective expereinces and or childhood moments. In one of his books, Zumthor wonders that if he had stayed living in Basel, would his style be different from how it is today, but eventually comes to the conclusion that yes his surroundings have an influence on his designs, but its more memories and past experiences than anything else.