Located in the remote Swiss Alps, The Therme Vals by Peter Zumthor is a poetic exploration of the relationship between architecture, nature, and the human senses. Completed in 1996, Zumthor’s minimalist yet monumental design has since garnered global acclaim for its seamless integration into the landscape and its ability to create a meditative space of relaxation and contemplation. As one of Zumthor’s most iconic works, the Therme Vals exemplifies his design philosophy: a synthesis of materiality, atmosphere, and place that elevates the everyday architecture experience.
Therme Vals Technical Information
- Architects1-5: Peter Zumthor
- Location: Vals, Graubünden, Switzerland
- Gross Floor Area: 5,600 m²
- Completion Year: 1996
- Photographs: © Fabrice Fouillet, © Hélène Binet
I wanted to create a space that is both primal and timeless, where the visitor’s experience of the building and the baths becomes a deeply personal ritual.
– Peter Zumthor 6
Therme Vals Photographs
Historical Context
The Therme Vals’ roots date back to the long-standing tradition of thermal baths in the Swiss Alps, where the local spring waters were used for therapeutic purposes. In the early 1990s, the municipality of Vals, a small village in the canton of Graubünden, sought to revive the area’s historic baths to boost tourism and economic activity. They commissioned Peter Zumthor, a lesser-known architect then, to design a spa facility that could honor the site’s history and offer a modern interpretation of a traditional retreat.
Zumthor’s response to the brief was both respectful and radical. Rather than designing an imposing new structure, he embedded the building into the mountainside, allowing the surrounding landscape to inform every architectural decision. His approach was guided by a deep understanding of place, responding to the specific climate, geology, and cultural history of Vals, ensuring that the architecture felt like a natural extension of the mountain itself.
Therme Vals Design Concept
At the core of Zumthor’s design is the concept of integration with nature. The Therme Vals is not a building placed atop a mountain but a structure carved from it. Zumthor’s use of local Valser Quartzite stone, quarried just a short distance away, anchors the building firmly in its environment, physically and symbolically. This material choice creates an immediate connection between the architecture and its surroundings, ensuring that the baths feel like they have always existed within the landscape.
The spatial layout of the baths evokes a sense of journey, with a series of rooms and pools carefully arranged to create a slow, almost ritualistic experience for visitors. As they move through the baths, guests are invited to engage with different elements—water, stone, light, and shadow—in a way that heightens awareness of the passing time and the changing environment. This rhythm of movement, punctuated by moments of stillness, reflects Zumthor’s belief that architecture should engage all the senses, not just the visual.
Materiality and Craftsmanship
One of the most striking features of the Therme Vals is its materiality. Zumthor’s choice of Valser Quartzite stone, a greenish-grey stone native to the region, was not just an aesthetic decision but a conceptual one. The stone’s texture, weight, and color ground the architecture in its setting, creating a direct dialogue between the building and the mountain from which it is derived. The precise craftsmanship of assembling the stone slabs—each carefully aligned to create a smooth, uninterrupted surface—demonstrates Zumthor’s obsession with detail.
The stone walls are visually appealing and tactile, offering visitors a physical connection to the building through touch. This choice of material evokes a sense of permanence and durability, reinforcing the idea that the Therme Vals is a timeless structure that will endure through the ages just as the mountain itself has.
Atmosphere and Sensory Engagement
Zumthor’s mastery lies in his ability to create spaces that engage the senses on a profound level, and the Therme Vals is a perfect example of this. The baths are designed to be experienced slowly, encouraging visitors to immerse themselves in the interplay of light, shadow, sound, and texture. Natural light filters into the baths through narrow gaps in the stone ceiling, casting soft, shifting patterns across the water and walls. These fleeting moments of illumination create a sense of time passing, subtly reminding visitors of their connection to the world outside.
Sound is another critical element of the baths’ atmosphere. The space’s acoustics—soft, echoing, and slightly muffled—enhance the feeling of peace and solitude. The sound of water gently flowing and footsteps reverberating through the stone corridors contributes to the overall sense of serenity, making the baths a refuge from the noise and distractions of the outside world.
Interaction with Water and Space
Water, of course, plays a central role in the Therme Vals experience. Zumthor’s design choreographs the interaction between water and space, offering a series of thermal experiences that range from hot to cold, still to flowing. Each pool is distinct in temperature and ambiance, allowing visitors to move between them at their own pace, choosing whether to linger in the main pool’s warm embrace or plunge into the bracing cold of the smaller baths.
The arrangement of the pools encourages a contemplative, almost meditative rhythm of movement, guiding visitors through different atmospheres as they transition from one space to another. The play of reflections on the still surfaces of the water creates a visual dialogue with the stone walls, reinforcing the sense of harmony between the natural elements and the built environment.
Zumthor’s Philosophy in The Therme Vals
The Therme Vals perfectly embodies Peter Zumthor’s architectural philosophy, prioritizing emotional and sensory engagement over form or function alone. In his book Atmospheres, Zumthor speaks of architecture’s ability to create spaces that resonate with the human soul, evoking emotions and memories through carefully orchestrated experiences. The Therme Vals achieves this by offering visitors a direct, unmediated encounter with the elemental forces of nature—stone, water, and light.
Zumthor’s approach is also deeply rooted in the concept of Genius Loci, or the spirit of place. Rather than imposing a design onto the site, he sought to reveal the inherent qualities of the location, allowing the architecture to emerge from the landscape. In doing so, he created a building that feels inseparable from its surroundings and enhances the natural beauty of Vals rather than detracting from it.
Therme Vals Plans
Therme Vals Image Gallery
About Peter Zumthor
Peter Zumthor is a Swiss architect renowned for his minimalist and sensory approach to architecture. Born in 1943 in Basel, Switzerland, Zumthor began his career as a cabinetmaker before studying industrial design and architecture. His work is characterized by its deep connection to place, materiality, and atmosphere, with projects like The Therme Vals and The Zinc Mine Museum in Norway earning international acclaim. Zumthor has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2009, and is celebrated for creating buildings that evoke profound emotional and sensory experiences.
Notes & Additional Credits
- Structural Engineer: Ingenieurbüro Conzett, Bronzini, Gartmann AG
- Material Palette: Valser Quartzite stone (local stone, quarried in Vals), concrete, glass
- Client: Municipality of Vals
- Site Area: Approximately 20,000 m²
- Construction Type: Load-bearing stone walls and concrete slabs
- Zumthor, Peter. Atmospheres: Architectural Environments, Surrounding Objects, 2006.
