THERMAL BATH

Place : Vals, switzerland Architect: Peter Zumthor

ENABLING SKILLS & RESEARCH PRACTICE BENV 1080 , 2011 KAINAAZ FARHAD VARIAVA Z3352973 kainaaz_v@hotmail.com

CONTENTS
1. Getting with the surrounding 2. Structure and Space
2.1 Concept 2.2 Relation 2.3 Space and Function

3. Illumintaion
3.1 Natural light 3.1.1 Fissures 3.1.2 Windows 3.2 Artificial light

Summary Image Credits Endnotes

1. Main Front

1. Getting with the surrounding

The thermal bath structure is in deep valley of vals which is 1200 above sea level. This monolithic stone structure is half sunk into the earth and breaks out in a labyrinthine fashion*.It is designed in a way that it has a special relationship with the mountain landscape , natural power , geological substance and impressive topography.Zumthor forces people to connect and face nature by giving a naked spectacle of how it surpasses us by far , with the openess and glass.
3. Terrace area

4. The masonary stoned main front 2 . Downward view of the roof

The building potrays a large porous stone. On the whole the section and profile of the structure is by the continous series of natural stone strata of Vals Geniss.The Geniss was quarried further up the valley and it brought about a sense of connection with the Vals region and landscape. The walls formed a homogenous composite construction of layered geniss block and reinforced concrete.It was arranged and layered specifically with length and height which detailed its way of transition from floor to wall and wall to ceiling.

* The effect which is together compounded by the pervasive presence of water , steam and varied lighting is labyrinthine.

The structure is partially embedded into the hillside slop ( as in image 6 b).The building on the whole is made up of 15 simple individual units .Each being very different in shape than the others and having a large outcropping roof section ( image 5). The overhanging concrete slab is held in position by metal cables which hold and carry the strain to the ground.The metal cables arent visible due to a second layer of concrete roof or they are held in concrete between two layers of stones in the units wall.Each of these units are put together as a puzzle (image 6 c-g). and make up the roof which blends in the landscape( each unit differentiated in image 6 h ).The inner units of the roof dont quite fill the space giving it a sense of free space and allows easy flow of movements throughout the structure.

5. The units with their outcropping roof section.

Peter Zumthor in describing its essential nature has written : The building takes the form of a large , grass covered stone object set deep into the mountain and dovetailed into its flank.its a solitary building which resists formal integration wit the exiting structure in order to evoke more clearly and achieve more fully what seemed to us a more important role : the establishing of a special relationship with the mountain landscape .1
g
6. The series of units put together and forming the roof.

2. Structure and Space

2.1 Concept
The main conceptual idea is focused used on geology of the site and the site itself compromising a distant memory of almost prehistoric and archaic.The strong images of dam of Zerveila which is built into the mountain with essential interiors like cathedrals , reinforced the commision of the vals community for something related to mountain.
7. Windows on eastern facade.

2.2 Relation
Uniform Stone Layering Principle . There are more than 6,000 individual pieces of stone slabs which underlines the continuity of the building.It was a method of system of arrangement on stone slabs of different sizes , which seek to diffuse the joints between the slabs with the objective of creating a non-repititve pattern. Every slab of stones position has been specified according to position of joints in the layers beneath it.
8.Sketch of Stone Sequence 9. Stone Masonary Wall.

2.3 Space and Function

Secondary floor : the primal act of bathing Makeup room Changing room Showers

12.Changing Rooms

Main floor : a series of stones cubic volumes Central bath Outdoor bath Terrace

13.Outdoor Pool and Terrace.

14.Central Bath

10. Top - Secondary Floor plan 11. Bottom- Main Floor Plan

Each unit/block which together make up the roof of the structure on the whole , have a hidden world which is discernible on the outside (as in image 15, where the roof is taken out to reveal the hidden inside space ).Each unit is a suprise because it has intimate volumes in contrast with the bulkness of the exterior and through the use of tinted concrete for the walls and terrace-like floors which connect and have a relationship with the water.Each of these units are instilled with various bathing functions and are named accordingly.Some to mention are : Flower bath , Iced bath , Fire bath , Sound bath etc..The architect provides the interior elements and conditions of the already existing known reality and nature. This results in a balance between elaxaton and tension , freedom and system.

The architect says this in describing the units : Interiors are like large instruments, collecting sound, amplifying it, transmitting it elsewhere. That has to do with the shape peculiar to each room and with the surface of materials they contain, and the way those materials have been applied. 2

15. Top Left- Representative model of a unit 16. Right Top - Glassed resting space. 17. Right Bottom-Terrace facing down the valley

3. ILLUMINATION
3.1 Natural Light
3.1.1 Fissures

Fissures in the ceiling bring in light to a large stone cave.On the roof they are in a certain shape and are used in narrow spaces.There is a network of fissures in the ceiling.They are in the shape of letter T.

19 . Fissures in T shape

The intimate volume of the various units / blocks are flushed with more natural light which come through one side of the blocks.

20. Blocks with top light marked in yellow. 18. Natural light from glass gaps and fissures and artificial light for archaic effect

The light from the fissures at T juntcion fall on the wall depicting the marks that the spring waters do on the walls.Image 21, depicts the marks in form of light.Image 22 , on the right side can see the spring water and the mark it forms on the wall.

These fissures create a dual impression. The roof looks very heavy and one big mass but at the same time it appears to be floating in the air.

21.Light forming marks.

22. Light in the underground tunnel during night. 24. Light on bathing floor and main level from fisures.

Fissures in narrow spaces . Narrow spaces with fissures reflect the sunlight once in the space.Using the long fissures can avoid opening number of windows.The sunlight goes straight to the ground and some are refelectd to the opposite wall spreading light in the space.

23. Detail of flow of light in the tunnel.

25. Example of the fissure and light coming through.

3.1.2 Windows

The windows are of different sizes. They arent smiliar so as to produce a variety and sense with each rooms function.

26. Eastern facade with the windows and spaces

27. Windows of different sizes on eastern facade

Depending on Function .

Different spaces and different functions of the windows.For example the resting areas have huge windows to get the light in and brighten up the place , where as the relaxation wing have small windows.

H L
28. Relation of light and space of function is H:L < 1:2

29. One of the windows reflecting the scenery

They bring natural light and the surrounding landscape into the stone.it all depends on the function of the room and how the light plays its game on it.

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3.2 Artificial Light

The gloomy lights take you back to the ancient times of the atmosphere and light that the earlier bath houses used to have.And the blue lights give you an impression of being under / next to water.In the nights , in the water , the light is from underneath .

"In order to design buildings with a sensuous connection to life, one must think in a way that goes far beyond form and construction." 3 by : Peter Zumthor

30. Top -The passageway with artificial lighting and sunglight. 31. Right Top - Gloom light blubs hanging 32. Right Bottom - The blue lights and lights underwater

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Summary
The building mediates the people between the surrounding landscape and the ground of the earth through the springs.It lets people indulge in sensual pleasures and escape the hectic everyday life by releasing themselves through their sight on the landscape and senses through the different spaces available for them to indulge in the very same building.It has strong timeless presence.The poetic utilisation of a concept in terms of construction is an achievement similar to a poem where the creator manages to conflate the whole meaning , thoughts , experiences , knowledge and craftsmanship in some stanzas.

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Endnotes.
1. Hawkes, Dean, ed. 2007. The Environmental Imagination Taylor & Francis Group. 2. Peter Zumthor, Thinking Architecture (Berlin: Birkhuser, 1999),11 3. Peter Zumthor, Thinking Architecture (Berlin: Birkhuser, 1999),57. 4. Peter Zumthor -Therme En Vals. El Croquis 88-89 (1998): 268307. 5. Chipperfield , David. Thermal Bath at Vals by Peter Zumthor [Exhibition Review].AA files 32, no. Autumn (1996): 72-75. 6. Reuber, Paul. Thermal Vals. Canadian architect 47 June 2002 (2002): 25. 7. Steiner, Dietmar. Peter Zumthor: Bagni Termali, Vals, Svizzera = Thermal Bath, Vals, Switzerland.Domus, no. 798 (1997): 27-35. 8. Unwin, Simon. Thermal Baths , Vals. Twenty Buildings Every Architect Should Understand. Routledge, 2010. 9. The Thermae of Stone - Peter Zumthors Documentary Part 1. accessed April 05, 2011, Youtube, 2010. 10.The Thermae of Stone - Peter Zumthors Documentary Part 2. accessed April 05, 2011, Youtube, 2010. 11. Thermal Bath Vals , accessed April 05,2011 ,Youtube , 2008
12. Peter_Zumtor_the_Thermae_of_Stone.Flv. accessed on April 06,2011, Youtube, 2010 13. Melinda. 28 Thermal Bath at Vals. , accessed on April 06,2011, authorstream, 2007. 14.THERMAS DE VALS / PETER ZUMTHOR / UCV / FAU / UDE / JAVIER / DELGADO SAMANTHA DAVILA . , acessed on April 09 , 2011 , Youtube , 2010. 15. THERME DI VALS. , accessed on April 12, 2011 , Youtube , 2007. 16. OGrady, Elena. The Theme Vals / Peter Zumthor. accessed on April 12 , 2011 , ArchDaily , 2009.In http://www.archdaily.com/13358 17. Bziotas, Euripides. Therme Baths at Vals , Switzerland accessed on April 12 , 2011,In http://www.scribd.com/doc/31384347/Therme-Vals-byP-Zumthor-Conceptual-Approach. 18. Taylor, Robert D. Henry and Julie D. Therme Vals. Spa : The Sensuous Experience. The images publishing group , australia, 2005. Images publishing group. 19. Peter Zumthor, Peter Zumthor (Tokyo: Architecture and Urbanism, Extra Edition 1998), 143. 20. Hawkes, Dean. Therme Vals. The Environmental Imagination -Technics and Poetics of the Architectural Environment. 2007. Taylor & Francis Group. 21. Weston, Richard. Vals Thermal Baths. Plans, Sections and Elevations of the Key Building of 20th Century. Vol. 2004 part 2: Laurence King Publication, 2004.

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IMAGE CREDITS
Main page - Peter Zumthor -Therme En Vals. El Croquis 88-89 (1998): 269 1. Peter Zumthor -Therme En Vals. El Croquis 88-89 (1998): 274 2. Melinda. 28 Thermal Bath at Vals. , accessed on April 06,2011, authorstream, 2007. 3. Taylor, Robert D. Henry and Julie D. Therme Vals. Spa : The Sensuous Experience. The images publishing group , australia, 2005. Images publishing group :252 4. httpwww.archnow.com201004an-classics-the-therme-vals-by-peterzumthorthe-therme-vals-by-peter-zumthor-01 5.Hawkes, Dean. Therme Vals. The Environmental Imagination -Technics and Poetics of the Architectural Environment. 2007. Taylor & Francis Group. 6. Thermal Bath Vals , accessed April 05,2011 ,Youtube , 2008 7. Image by Adrian Chan 8.Hawkes, Dean. Therme Vals. The Environmental Imagination -Technics and Poetics of the Architectural Environment. 2007. Taylor & Francis Group.256 9. httpcommons.wikimedia.orgwikiFileVals,_Therme_-_ch 10. Melinda. 28 Thermal Bath at Vals. , accessed on April 06,2011, authorstream, 2007. 11. Melinda. 28 Thermal Bath at Vals. , accessed on April 06,2011, authorstream, 2007. 12.Hawkes, Dean. Therme Vals. The Environmental Imagination -Technics and Poetics of the Architectural Environment. 2007. Taylor & Francis Group. 13.Peter Zumthor Therme Vals Peter Zumthor, Zurich: Scheidegger & Spiess, 2007, p. 180 14.Hawkes, Dean. Therme Vals. The Environmental Imagination -Technics and Poetics of the Architectural Environment. 2007. Taylor & Francis Group. 15.Hawkes, Dean. Therme Vals. The Environmental Imagination -Technics and Poetics of the Architectural Environment. 2007. Taylor & Francis Group. 16. Cool spas and wellness 75 17. Domus, 1997, November, n. 798, p. 32

nics and Poetics of the Architectural Environment. 2007. Taylor & Francis Group.
19. Melinda. 28 Thermal Bath at Vals. , accessed on April 06,2011, authorstream, 2007. 20. Melinda. 28 Thermal Bath at Vals. , accessed on April 06,2011, authorstream, 2007. 21.kengo kuma -selected works - botond 22. Melinda. 28 Thermal Bath at Vals. , accessed on April 06,2011, authorstream, 2007.

18.Hawkes, Dean. Therme Vals. The Environmental Imagination -Tech-

thorstream, 2007.

23. Melinda. 28 Thermal Bath at Vals. , accessed on April 06,2011, au24. Weston, Richard. Vals Thermal Baths. Plans, Sections and Elevations of the Key Building of 20th Century. Vol. 2004 part 2: Laurence King Publication, 2004 :24

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25.Hawkes, Dean. Therme Vals. The Environmental Imagination -Technics and Po-

etics of the Architectural Environment. 2007. Taylor & Francis Group. :234

26. Domus, 1997, November, n. 798, p. 36

2007.

27. Melinda. 28 Thermal Bath at Vals. , accessed on April 06,2011, authorstream, 28. Domus, 1997, November, n. 798, p. 33 29. Zumthor Window Frame. Reinier De Jong, accessed on April 14, 2011 , http:// www.reinierdejong.com/2011/03/zumthor-window-frame/. 30.Peter Zumthor -Therme En Vals. El Croquis 88-89 (1998): 246 31. Architectural Review, 1997, August, v.202, n.1206, p. 44 32.Peter Zumthor -Therme En Vals. El Croquis 88-89 (1998): 274