anrhored firmly in the ground. They make the imprcssior~ o f trring

a self-evident part of their surrnundings and t h ~ y seen) to be say-

ing: "1 an, as you see me and 1 h ~ l o n g here.''

1 have a passionate desire to desigrr such buildings, buildings

that, in time, grow naturally into being a part of the form ;tnd his-

tory ol'their place.

Every new work of a r c h i t e r t u r ~ intervenes in a slrecifio historical ~ situation. It is essential to the quality of the intervention that

the new building should cmhracr qualities which can enter into a

meaningful dialogue with the existing situation. For if the intrrvrn-

tioa is to find its place, i t must make 11s set, what already exists in

a npw light. We throw a stone into the water. Sand swirls rip and

settles again. The stir was necessary. 'The stone has found its placo.

But the pond is no longer the same.

I brlievr that buildings only he accrptcd by their surroundings if

they have the ability to appeal to our emotions and minds in vari-

ous ways. Since our feelings and understanding are rooted in the

past, our sensuous connections with a building must respect t h r

process of remembering. But, as John Berger says, what we remem-

ber cannot be compared to the pnd uf a line. Various possibilities

lead to and meet in the act of remembering. Images, moods, forms,

I words, signs or comparisons open up possibilities o f approach. Wk

must construct a radial system of approach that rnahlrs us to see

the work o l architecture as a focal point from diffrrpnt angles

simultaneously: historically, a~sthrtically. functionally, personally,

I I Amurig all t h ~ drawings protluced hy architects, my favur i t~s are

thc working drawings. !%'orking drawings are detailed and ol>,iec-

live. Created for t h r craftsmerl \+'l~o are to give t h ~ imagincrl ohjc.ct

a material forrn. they are frcv of assnr:iativ? manipulation. They du

18

not try to conrincr and impress like project drawings. They seem to

he saying: "This is exactly how it will look."

Working drawings are l i k ~ anatomical drawings. They reveal

something of t h r secrpt innpr tension that the firiishrd architecto-

ral body is reluctant to divulgc: thc art ofjoining, hidden geomrtry,

the friction of materials, the inner forces of hearing and holding,

the human work which is inherent in man-made things.

Per Kirkeby once did a brick sculpture in the form of a house

for a D o c u m ~ n t a exhibition in Kassrl. The house had no mtranc?.

Its intprior was inaccessible and hidden. It remained a srcrr t ,

which added an aura of mystical depth to the scolpturr's other

qualities.

I think that the hidden strrlctrjrrs and constructions of a house

should bt, organized i n such a way that they endow the body of the

building with a quality of inner tension and vibration. This is how

violins are made. They remind us of the living bodies of nature.

Unexpected truths

In my youth I imagined poetry as a kind of colored cloud made up

of more or lrss diffuse metaphors and allusions which. although

they might b r enjoyable, wpre difficult to associate with a reliable

view of the world. As an architect, I have learned to understand

that t h r opposite of this youthful definition o f poetry is prohahly

closer to th* troth.

If a ~ , o r k of architecture consists of lhrms and contents which

c o m h i n ~ to create a strong fundan~rntal mood that is powerful

enough to affect us, it may pussess the qnalities of a work of art.

This art has, however, nothing to do with intrresting configurations

o r originality. It is ronc~.rncd with insights and understanding, and

above all with troth. Prrtiaps poetry is unexpected truth. It livcs in

stillness. Arvhiterturr's artistic task is to girz this still expectancy a

form. The huildirlg itsrll' is never poptic. At must, i t rnay possess

buhtlr q u a l i t i ~ s which, $11 certain moments, p ~ r m i t us to ondrrstand

something that we were n<-vrr ablp to understand in quite this w;ty

1,cfort..

Desire

TI,? clear, logical development of a work of arcl~itcr:tore d rp rnds

on rational and ohjertir* criteria. When I pc rn~ i t subjective and

n n c o n s i d ~ r ~ d idpas to intervonr in the ot)jective course of t l ~ r

design process, 1 acknowledge the significance o l pcrsonal ibt.linp

in my work.

When architects calk ahout their buildings, what t t i ~ y say is often

at odds with the statements of the hnildings themsrlves. l'his is

prohallly connected with the fact that they tend to talk a good dpal

ahout the rational, thought-out aspects o f the i r work and less ahout

the secret passion which inspires it.

The design process is hased on a constant interplay of feeling and

reason. The ferlings, prefrrrnees, longings, and desirps that rmerge

and demand to he given a form must he controlled hy critical powprs

of reasoning, hut it is our f e ~ l i n g s that tell us whether abstract can-

siderations really ring true.

To a large drgrpe, designing is hased on understanding ant1

rstahlishing systems of order. Yet 1 believe that the esspntial suh-

stance of the architecture we spek proceeds from feeling and

insight. P r ~ c i o u s mompnts of intuition result from patient work.

With the suddrm emergence of an inner image, a new line in a

drawing, the whole design changes and is newly formulated within

a fraction of a second. It is as if a powerful drug were suddenly

taking cffcct. Evrrything I knew helbre about the thing I am creat-

ing is llooded by a bright new light. I rxperirnce joy and passion,

and something deep inside me st:ems lo aflirm: "1 want to hrrild this

house!"

Composing in space

(;enmetry is about thc lt~ws of linrs, plane surlaccs. and t h r ~ r -

dimrnsional hodics in sp;gcc. Geometry ran help us untivrstand

how to handle spare in architecturc.

In arrhi t rc tur t , there are two basic possibilities of spatial com-

position: the C I O S C ~ an: t j i tc~tural body which isolates space within

itself. and the open hodr which rmhraces an area o l space that is

r:onnrrted with the r.ndlrss continuum. T h e r x t ~ n s i o n o l space o;in

he made visible through bodics such as slahs or poles placcd f r c ~ l y

or in rows in the spatial expansc of a room.

1 do not claim to know what space really is. The longer 1 think

ahout it, t h r more mysterious i t bvcumes. Ahout one thing, how-

ever, I am sure: when we, as architects, are concerned with space,

we are c a n c r r n ~ d with but a tin! part of the infinity that sorrounds

the earth, and yet each and e w r y building marks a unique place in

this infinity.

With this idea in mind; I start by sketching the first plans and

scctions of my design. I draw spatial diagrams and simple volumes.

I try to visualize them as precise bodies in space, and I feel it is im-

portant to sense exactly how they define and separate an area of

intcrior space from thespacr that surrounds them, or how they con-

tain a part of the infinite spatial continuurn in a kind of oppn vessel.

Buildings that have a strong impact always convoy a n intense

feeling uf their spatial quality. They embrace thc mysterious void

called space in a sppcial way and make it vibrate.

Common sense

Designing is invcnting. When I was still a t arts and crafts school, w~

tried to follow this principle. Wr looked for a new solution to every

prohlmm. We felt it was important to he avant-garde. Not until later

did I realize that there are hasically only a very few architrctr~ral

prohlrms for which a valid solution has not already hpen found.

upon which wc ran builcl and rrhich wp all sharp. 1 thus a p p ~ a l for

a kind ol 'an:hitector~ of common srnsp hased on thc fundtlmvntals

that ~e still know, u n d ~ r s t a n d , and fccl. I carefully observc the

concrrt* appearance of thr, norld, and in my brrildings I try to

enhance what seems to he valuable, to corrrrt what is distorhing,

and to croato anew what wc feel is missing.

Melancholy p e r c e p t i o n s

Ettore Scola's film "I,? hal" recounts fifty years of European history

with no dialogrrr and a complete unity of place. It consists solely of

mrrsir and t h r motion of ppople moving and dancing. Wc remain in

the same room with the same people throughout, while time goes

hy and the dancers grow older.

The focus of the film is on its main characters. Rut it is the hall-

room u,ith its tiled flour and its paneling. the stairs in the hack-

ground and the lion's paw at the sidr whir11 creates the film's

denst,, powerful atmosphrrr. Or is i t the other way round? Is it the

people who endow thc room with its p a r t i c ~ ~ l a r mood?

I ask this question because I am conrincrd that a good building

must he capable of absorbing the traces of human life and thus nf

taking on a specific richness.

Naturally, in this contrxt I think of the patina of age on materi-

als, of innrjmprahle small scratches on surfaces, of varnish that has

grown doll and brittle, and of edges polished hy use. But when I

closp my eyes and try to forgpt both these physical traces and my

own first associations, what rpmains is a different impression, a

d e r p ~ r f e ~ l i n g - a consciousness of time passing and an awareness

of thc human lives that have been acted out in these places and

rooms and charged them with a spwial aura. At thusc moments,

architeeturc's aesthetic and practical values, stylistic and historical

signifirance are of secondary importance. What matters now is only

this feeling of deep mrlancholy. ,Architertnrr is rxposerl to life. If

its body is srnsitivr ~ n o u g h , it onn assume 8 , qutality that hoars wit-

ness to t h ~ r ~ a l i t y of past life.

S t e p s left beh ind

V h c n I work on a dcsign I allow mysplf to hp grlidpd hy images and

moods that 1 rrrncrnher and can rrlatr to t h ~ kind of architecturp

I am looking ibr. Most of the images that come to mind originate

from my subjcrtive experience and are only rarely accompanied hy

a remen~br red arrhitectnral commpntary. While 1 am d ~ s i g n i n g

I try to find orrt what thew images mean so that I can learn how to

create a wealth of visual forms and atmospheres.

After a certain time, the ohjrct 1 am designing takes on some of

t h r qualities of the images I use as models. If I can fir111 a meaning-

fbl way of interlocking and superimposing these qualities; the

ohjrct will assume a depth and richness. If I am to achieve this

effect, the qualities I am giving the dcsign must merge and blend

with t h ~ r~ns t ruc t iona l and form;ll structure uf the finished build-

ing. Form and construction. appearance anrl function are no longer

separate. They helong togethcr and form a whole.

When wp look at the finished building, our eyes, g r ~ i d r d hy our

analytical mind, tend to stray and look for details to hold on to. Hut

the synthesis of the wl~ole does not become comprrhensihlr

through isolated details. Everything refers to everything.

At this mornent, the initial images fade into the background. T h e

models, words, and comparisons that wrre necessary for the CTP;I-

tion of the whole disappear like steps that have hren left hehind.

T h e new huilding assumes the local position and is itst-If. Its history

begins.

' l ' h ~ point that emergps h r re is the reduction uf the contents

to real things. Handke also speaks, in this context, of fidelity to

things. I l e would likc his descriptions, he says, to be e x p e r i r n c ~ d as

faithlulness to the placc they dpst:ribe and not as supplt:montary

coloring.

S ta t~mpnts of this kind help I ~ P 10 corn? to terms with thc dis-

satisfaction I oftcn e v p r r i r n c ~ when I vontt:mplatr recent architec-

tore. 1 frequently come across buildings that have heen dcsignecl

with a good deal of effort and a will to find a special form, and I

find I am put olf by then,. Thc architect responsible for the huild-

ing is nut present, hut he talks to me unceasingly from every detail,

he kceps on saying the same thing, and 1 quickly lose interest.

Good architecture should receive the human visitor, should enahlp

him to experience it and live in it, hut it should not constantly talk

at him.

Why, I often wonder, is thp obvious hot diffierrlt solution so

rarely tried? Why do we have so little confidence in the basic

things architpcture is made from: m a t ~ r i a l , structure, ronstruction,

hraring and being borne, earth and sky, and confidence in spaccs

that are really allowed to he spaccs - spaem whose enclosing walls

and constituent materials, concavity. emptiness, light, air, odor,

receptivity and resonance arp handled with respect and care?

1 personally like the idea of designing and huilding houses from

which 1 can withdraw at thc end of the forming procoss, leaving

hehirrd a hr~ilding that is itselr, that serves as a place to live in and

a part of the world of things, and that can manage perfectly well

without my personal rhetoric.

'To me, buildings can have a brautiful silence that I associate

with attributes such as composure, self-evidenoe, dnrahility, pres-

ence and integrity, and with warmth and sensnousnpss as well;

a building that is heing its&, heing a tiuiltling, not representing

anything, just heing.

Say that it is a crurlc rffe,,t. black reds,

Pink yellows. orungc whites, too much as they are

To be anything else in the sunlight of the room.

Too nirrch as they are to he changed by metaphor.

Too actual, things that in being real

hlake any imaginings of them lesspr things.

This is the beginning o f t h e poem "Bouquet of Hoses in Sunlight"

by the American lyricist of quiet contr,mplation, Wallace Stevens.

F'allace S t ~ v e n s , I rrarl in the introduction to his collection

o f pucms, accepted the challenge of looking lung, patiently and

exactly and of dis-covering and understanding things. His poems

arc not a protest or a complaint against a lost law and order, nor are

they the expression of any snrt of consternation, but they seek a

harmony which is possible all the same and b,hich - in his casp -

can only bu that of the poem. (Calvino goes a step further along

this line of thought in a n attempt to define his literary work when

he says that he has only one defense against the loss of form that he

sers all around him: an idea of literature.)

For Stevens reality was the wished-for goal. Surrealism, it

appears, did not impress him, for it invents withoot discovering. He

pointed out that to portray a shell playing an accordion is to invent,

not discover. And so it crops up once again, this fundamental

thought that I srern to find in Williams and Handke, and that I also

sense in the paintings of Edward Hopper: it is only between the

reality of things and the imagination that the spark of t h ~ work of

art is kindled.

If I translate this statemrat into architectural terms, I tell myself

that thc spark of the successfi~l building can unly hc kintllud be-

tween thc reality of the things pertaining to i t and the inlagination.

And this is no revelation to me, but thp confirmation n l ' s o m e t t ~ i n ~

1 r.ontinually s t r i v ~ for in nty work, and the confirmation of a wish

whosc roots seem to br. d r y inside me.

But to return to the rluestiun onr final timc: where do 1 find the

reality on which I most concentrate my powers ofimagir~ation when

attpmpting to drsign a boilding for a particular place and porpusc?

Ono key to the answer lies, 1 believe, in th* words .'plac~'' and

"purpose" th~mse lves .

In an essay entitled "Building Uwellirrg 'Thinking," Martin

Heidegger wrote: "Living among things is the hasic principle of

human existcnrr," which I understand tu mean that we are nevr r in

an ahstract world hut always in a world ofthings, oven when we think.

And, once again Heidegger: "The relationship of man to places and

through places to spaces is hasetl a n his dwelling in them."

'She concept of dw~l l ing , understood in Heiclrgg~r's wide sense

of living and thinking in places and spaces, contains an exact refer-

rncu to what reality means to me as an architect.

It is not the reality of theories detached from things, it is the real-

ity of the concrete huildingassignment relating to the a r t or state of

dwelling that interests me and upon which I wish to concentrate my

imaginative faculties. It is the reality of huilding materials - stone,

cloth, steel, leather . . . - and the reality of the structures

I use to construct the huilding whose properties I wish to penrtrate

with my imagination, hringing meaning and sensuousness to hear

so that the spark of the successful building may be kindled,

a huilding that can serve as a home for man.

T h e reality of architecture is the concrete body in which forms,

volumes, and spaces come into heing. There arp n o ideas rxcept

I in things.

From passion for things to the things themselves 1994

It is important to m e t o rcllect ahout architecttrrtx, to step hack from

my daily work and take a look at what I am doing and why I am

doirrg it. 1 love doing this, and I think I need it, too. I rlo not work

tom,ards architrctur* from a throretieally defined point of rlppar-

turr , for I am committed to making architecture, to huilding, to an

ideal of perfection, just as in my hayhood I used to make things

according to my ideas, things that had to he just right, for reasons

which 1 d o not really understand. It was always thcre, this drcply

personal feeling for the things I made for myselr, and I never

thought of it ;as heing anything special. It was just there.

Today, I am tiwarc that my work as an architect is largely a quest

for this early passion, this obsession, an11 an attempt to understand

it bcttcr and to refine i t . And when 1 reflect on whether I have since

aclded new images and passions to the olcl ones, and whether I h a w

Iearnecl something in my training and practicr, I realize that in

some way 1 seem always to ha\,? known the intuitivr core of new

discovrr i~s .

Places

I live and work in the G r a u h i i n d ~ n in a farming village surrounded

by mountains. I sometimes wondcr whethcr this has influenced nly

work, and the thought that it probahly has is not unpleasant.

Would the huildings 1 design look dilfrrent if, instead of living in

Grauhiinden, I had spent the past 25 years in thp landscape of my

youth on t h ~ northern foothills of thp Jura mountains, with their

rolling hills and beech woods and the familiar, reassuring vicinity

of the urhane city of Hasel?

As soon as 1 hcgin to think ahont this question, I rcaliae that my

work has been influenced by many places.

When 1 concentr;nte on a specific site or place for which 1 am

going to design a building, if I try to plumh its depths. its form; its

history, and its sensuous qualitips, images of othcr places start to

invade this procPss of precise observation: images of places that

I know and that once impressed me, images of ordinary or special

places that I carry with me as inner visions of specific moods and

qualities; images of architectural situations, which emanate from

the world of art, of films, theater or literature.

Sometimes they come to me unbidden, these images of places

that are frequently at first glance inappropriate or alien, images of

places of many different origins. At other tirnes 1 summon them. I

need them, for it is only when I confront and compare the essentials

of different places, when 1 allow similar, related, or maybe alien

elements to cast their light on the place of my intervention that the

focused, multifaceted image of the local essrncr of the site emerges,

a vision that reveals connections, exposes lines of force and creates

excitement. It is now that the fertile, creative ground appears, and

the network of possible approaches to the specific p l a c ~ e m e r g e and

trigger the processes and decisions of design. So I immerse mysclf

in the p l a c ~ and try to inhabit it in my imagination, and at the same

time I look heyond it at the world of my other places.

When I come across a building that has developed a special prrs-

cnce in connection with the place it stands in, 1 sometimes feel that

it is imhued with an innpr tension that r&rs to something over and

;,hove the place itself.

It seems to he part of the essence of its place, and at the same

time it speaks o f the world as a whole.

W'hcn an architrctural d ~ s i g n draws solely from tradition and

only repeats the dictates of its site, I wnse a lack of a genuine con-

tern with the world and the oman;ltions of contemporary l i f ~ . If a

work of architecture speaks only of contemporary trends and

~ o ~ h i s t i c a t ~ d visions without triggering vibrations in its place, this

work is nut anchorcd i n its site, and I miss the specific gravity u f the

ground it stands on.

Observations

1 Wt: were standing around the drawing tahlr talking ahout a pro-

ject by an architect whom we all hold in high regard. I considered

the project interesting in many ways. I n~entioned several of its spe-

cific qualities and added that some time prwiorrsly 1 had laid aside

my positive prejudice which sprang lrom my high estimation of tht.

architect and taken a n unbiased look at the project. And I had

come to the conclusion that, as a whole, 1 did not really likc it. We

discussed the possihle reasons for my impression and came up

with a fcw details m,ithont arriving at a valid conclusion. And then

one of the younger memhers of the group, a talented and usually

rationally-tllinking architrrt , said: "It is an interesting huilding

for all sorts of theoretical and practiottl reasons. The trouhlr is, it

has no soul."

Some m,eeks later, 1 was sitting outdoors drinking coffpe with my

wife and discussing the issue of buildings with a sool. W'e talked

about several works of architucturc that we knew and described

them to each other. And when we recalled buildings that had the

characteristics we were looking for and pinpointmi their special

qualities, we became aware that there are buildings that we love.

And whereas we knew almost at once which onps belonged to the

special category in which we were interested, we found it difficult

to find a common dcno~ninator for thpir qualities. Our attempt to

g ~ n r r s l i z e servnvd to roh the individual huildings of their splendor.

But the subject continoed to prpy on my mind, and I resolved to

try and write some hrief drscriptions of architectural situations that