Peter Zumthor
Artist: Peter Zumthor
Title: Serpentine Gallery Pavilion
Size: 74.5 x 37.5 cm
Edition of 150
Price: £220 excl. VAT
"[Peter Zumthor] has a rare talent of combining clear and rigorous thought with a truly poetic dimension, resulting in works that never cease to inspire." Thomas J. Pritzker, on the announcing of Peter Zumthor as winner of the 2009 Pritzker Architecture Prize
On the occasion of the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011 designed by Peter Zumthor, the Serpentine Gallery is delighted to present a new limited edition work by the architect.
The concept for this year's Pavilion is the hortus conclusus, a contemplative room, a garden within a garden. One enters the building from the lawn and begins the transition into the central garden, a place abstracted from the world of noise and traffic and the smells of London - an interior space within which to sit, to walk, to observe the flowers.
Created by Peter Zumthor especially on the occasion of the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011, this limited edition print is based on the original watercolour sketches that informed the design of the hortus conclusus. Describing the significance of gardening in his practice, he commented:
A garden is the most intimate landscape ensemble I know of. It is close to us. There we cultivate the plants we need. A garden requires care and protection. And so we encircle it, we defend it and fend for it. We give it shelter. The garden turns into a place.
At the heart of Peter Zumthor's practice is a refined selection of materials used to create contemplative spaces that evoke the spiritual dimension of our physical environment. As always, Zumthor's aesthetic goal is to customise the building precisely to its purpose as a physical body and an object of emotional experience.
Born in Basel in 1943, Peter Zumthor trained as a cabinetmaker. In 1979 he established his own practice in Haldenstein, Switzerland. Major buildings include Protective Housing for Roman Archaeological Excavations, Chur, Switzerland, 1986; Saint Benedict Chapel, Sumvitg, Switzerland, 1988; Thermal Bath Vals, Switzerland, 1996; Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria, 1997; Kolumba Art Museum, Cologne, Germany, 2007; Brother Klaus Field Chapel, Wachendorf, Germany, 2007.
Major awards include Carlsberg Architectural Prize, Copenhagen, 1998; Mies van der Rohe Award for European Architecture, Barcelona, 1998; Praemium Imperiale, Japan Art Association, 2008; The Pritzker Architecture Prize, The Hyatt Foundation, 2009.
This year's Pavilion is the 11th commission in the Gallery's annual series, the world's first and most ambitious architectural programme of its kind. This is Peter Zumthor's first completed building in the UK and includes a specially created garden by the influential Dutch designer Piet Oudolf.
www.serpentinegallery.org/2011/09/peter_zumthor_limited_edition.html