Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor has installed a "workshop" of his architectural models at the centre of Giardini in Venice Architecture Biennale. Zumthor's model show includes a series of his "never-before-seen" working models that are varied in scale, materiality, technique and presentation. 

"Perhaps I work like an artist. I'm not implementing the ideas of others. My client wants a building; I will try to find a good form for it and share this work with them," said Peter Zumthor in his manifesto.

"The process of finding the right form is full of insecurities, of despair, pleasure and joy. And it needs Freespace to move and think," Zumthor added.

Zinc Mine Museum, Allmannajuvet, Norway (completed 2016). Site model 1:100, built in 2004 using styrofoam, charcoal, and modelling clay collection of Kunsthaus Bregenz.

The exhibition, titled "Dreams and Promises: Models of Atelier Peter Zumthor", displays the architect's some well-known projects built in different parts of the world, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Zinc Mine Museum, erected on black-winged stilts at Norwegian old mining region, as well as a restaurant in Switzerland, a desert hotel in Chile and a Tea Chapel in Namyang, South Korea. 

Zinc Mine Museum, Allmannajuvet, Norway (completed 2016). Site model 1:100, built in 2004 using styrofoam, charcoal, and modelling clay collection of Kunsthaus Bregenz.

"Our models - structural, sculptural, atmospheric, always different - aim to discover and show the physical presence of building and place. They help us to understand, to think and to dream. We make them to hold the promise of the object we are looking for," added the the architect.

The curators Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara also added: "in the exhibition, Zumthor sets out a workshop of his models for us to enjoy, allowing us the opportunity to explore his own journey from thoughts and memories to actuality, to his spaces that nourish the soul."

A general view from the exhibition

Protection Shelter for his Ham's Palace, Jericho. Study model 1:20, built in 2010 using concrete, sand, and plaster collection of Kunsthaus Bregenz. 

Protection Shelter for his Ham's Palace, Jericho. Study model 1:20, built in 2010 using concrete, sand, and plaster collection of Kunsthaus Bregenz.

Tea Chapel in Namyang, South Korea. Site model 1:50, built in 2017 using sand, pigment, and wax.

Detailed view from the Tea Chapel in Namyang, South Korea. Site model 1:50, built in 2017 using sand, pigment, and wax.

Detailed view from the Tea Chapel in Namyang, South Korea. Site model 1:50, built in 2017 using sand, pigment, and wax.

Room of Atacama Desert Hotel, Chile. Section model 1:20, built in 2009 using styrofoam, plaster, and pigment collection of Kunsthaus Bregenz.

Summer Restaurant, Insel Ufnau, Switzerland. Site model 1:50, built in 2005 using wax, collection of Kunsthaus Bregenz.

Summer Restaurant, Insel Ufnau, Switzerland. Site model 1:50, built in 2005 using wax, collection of Kunsthaus Bregenz.

Mountain Hotel Braunwald, Switzerland. Site model 1:500, built in 2014 using styrofoam, sand, wax, and steel wool.

Atacama Desert Hotel, Chile. Study model 1:100, built in 2010 using card and sand, collection of Kunsthaus Bregenz.

Bruder Klaus Field Chapel, Germany (completed 2007). Study model 1:10, built in 2005 using white clay collection of Kunsthaus Bregenz.

Zumthor's mesmerising model show can be seen at the mezzanine floor, at the entrance of Giardini. The 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale, curated by Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara under the title of Freespace, will be on view from May 26th to November 25th, 2018 in the Giardini and the Arsenale, and around other venues in Venice.

Top image: Zinc Mine Museum, Allmannajuvet, Norway (completed 2016). Site model 1:100, built in 2004 using styrofoam, charcoal, and modelling clay collection of Kunsthaus Bregenz.

All images © World Architecture Community

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