On a backpacking trip across Europe, I pinched pennies, stayed in cheap hostels, and skimped on meals to save up for the highlight of my journey, a stay at Pritzker Prize winner Peter Zumpthor‘s most famous project, Therme Vals.
The remarkable building is located in a small Alpine village in rural Switzerland above a natural hot spring. Recessed into the mountainside, the building is crafted from thin slices of local quartz stone, evoking the feeling of a quarry or a very orthogonal cave.
The main building is one of the most contemplative spas in the world, with a finely crafted series of circulation spaces creating an orchestrated experiential journey leading to a number of pools of various temperatures. Slot skylights and strategically placed widows allow natural light to penetrate the building, dramatically lighting the dark interior spaces.
What makes this different from a typical modernist building? The beauty here lies in the differences, not the rational. When grids don’t line up, beams of light appear. Natural variation of stone and asymmetric formal compositions create dynamic spatial experiences. Unlike the universal nature of modernist buildings such as those of Mies van der Rohe, this building is very specific- it couldn’t be repurposed for any other use.
The iconic Villa Vals is located next door.
The hotel rooms are located in an adjoining refurbished ’70’s building with guestroom interiors designed by Zumpthor. The walls are finished by hand with glossy encaustic stucco which have vibrant colour and reflect light into the rooms. The hotel rooms are impeccably furnished and it’s one of my all time favourite hotel stays!
Images by Jonathan Choe
