THE THERME VALS

PETER ZUMTHOR
 Zobia Ibrahim Sheikhani

Analyzing Architecture
Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture
2021
Location: Vals, Switzerland

Architect: Peter Zumthor

Design Year: 1993

Size: 15,000 square feet

Completion Year: 1996

Usually architecture is what we physically and visually interact with. To connect with a space deeper, solely

depends on the how an architect designs the space to allow multiple experiences within its visitors.

Peter Zumthor’s Therme Vals is a primal experience of nature subsiding with architecture. Built with

quarried stone, it portrays a quiet and calm form for bathing, cleansing, and relaxing. Zumthor efficiently

dictated this architecture not solely through its physical form, rather created a sensory experience through

sound, temperature, material, and light. His vision was to allow the function of traditional bathing while

connecting with nature and architecture sensually.

I chose to analyze this project because of its rhythmic yet striking contrast with nature and architecture.

Sitting between a hill, the form is almost unnoticeable until its linearity becomes overwhelmingly evident

against the backdrop of organic forms. This structure is not meant to compete with a human, but allow

them to exploit it to maximum. Each component is carefully thought of in regards with how it stimulates

and enhances a different sensory experience.

What makes this project distinct is the fact that there is no engagement with modern technologies. Due to

its unique psychological approach, Therme Vals is a breakthrough in contemporary architecture.

“Mountain, stone, water – building in the stone, building with the stone, into the mountain,
building out of the mountain, being inside the mountain – how can the implications and the
sensuality of the association of these words be interpreted, architecturally?” Peter Zumthor

https://www.archdaily.com/13358/the-therme-vals
 Form-Space Relationship

Zumthor maintained a respectful

relationship of The Therme Vals with its
surroundings. The structure is built in a
way that it responds to its immediate
environment, standing on its own yet
Section camouflaging with the natural hilly
terrain. It emerges vertically from the
slope of the hill engaging its visitors into
a powerful and captivating presence.

The alpine’s topography in the

surrounding highly complements
Zumthor’s idea to connect the visitors
deeper with nature and architecture.
The roof panels are planted with grass
and integrate into the landscape.

Site Plan
https://www.archdaily.com/13358/the-therme-vals
https://iitcoa3rdyr.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/jmk-
process-vals01.pdf
Therme Vals emerging from the hilly terrain.

Grassy rooftop integrating with the landscape.

https://www.archdaily.com/13358/the-therme-vals/
 Material
The structure’s exterior and interior is made up of
quartzite stone which is locally found within the
mountains. In Therme Vals, material plays a very
important role. Zumthor wanted a natural cave-like
experience around the structure which determined
the choice of this stone. In the simplicity of this
material, he was able to sculpt the environment to fit
the sensory experience of the baths.

The inherent relationship between the material and

the environment that forms caused the function of
the structure to enhance and depend. Such as, the
sound echoing off the stone walls, the temperature
of stone on the feet in water, the visual reflection
through opacity and color gradient of the stone.

www.archdaily.com
 Organization

The spatial organization

varies across the entire
form.
Linear organization for
the changing and shower
rooms, and spaces at the
other end.
Majorly a centralized
organization around the
indoor and outdoor pool.

Plan

Over all spaces within a space.

Interlocking spaces around the indoor and
outdoor pool.

https://jandekeyserdiaryandthoughts.wordpress.com/2
014/01/04/11-nov-2013-the-rhythm-of-silence-on-the-
work-of-architect-peter-zumthor-day-3/

https://www.slideshare.net/SIDDIQSALIM1/therme-
vals-bath-by-peter-zumthor
Axonometric View

https://www.pinterest.com/bobyanda/peter-zumthor-
therme-vals/
 Entrance

Though the façade of the buildings has

wide opening and windows, there is
no entrance in the exterior.

The entrance is from the nearby

hotel, using a corridor through the
mountain that passages and opens
into the inside of Therme Vals

https://www.architectural-
review.com/buildings/thermal-baths-in-vals-
switzerland-by-peter-zumthor
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/147985537725741690
 Light

The light play in the pools creates a sensorial

atmosphere for the visitor.

The light come from various places; walls,

windows, and artificially from water too. There
is reflection and refraction within which creates
a serene and mystic atmosphere.

A hot bath is stimulated as such that the

lighting there is red and warm, the walls are
www.archdaily.com tinted red. Vice versa for cold baths.
www.arc2o.com
Dezeen.com
Zumthor has considered an
interesting play of lighting through
the roof.
The structure’s roof plane is
constructed with horizontal slabs
with 8 centimeters of separation in
between. This allows natural light to
filter through these small gaps,
reflects in the water, and creates
mesmerizing effects.
It illuminates in the darkness and
enhances the visitor’s sensorial
experience.

https://www.slideshare.net/SIDDIQSALIM1/therme-
vals-bath-by-peter-zumthor
 Circulation

There is no specific circulation path in Therme Vals. Though the perspective is always
controlled, the visitor is allowed to explore and integrate their own path. Zumthor refers to this
as walking in the woods. The pathway throughout the entire structure is a rhythmic sequence
that connects all spaces. The visitor has the freedom to make discoveries.

https://www.coa.gov.in/show_img.php?fid=148
Conclusion
To conclude I will say that Therme Vals is a very successful project in achieving what was intended of the
architect.

Together, stone, water, and the landscape become the primary elements in other determinants of this
form.

What sets apart this structure is that the hierarchical element here is the stone. Usually this is not the case
in forms. With material as the primary hierarchy, Zumthor carefully oriented the entire outlook of this
project and created sensuality in architecture, which is hard to find in architecture. This physical and
mental association with Therme Vals is a lifetime experience for visitors.
References
https://folio.brighton.ac.uk/user/jvc11/examplary-projects-therme-vals-
naman-spa
https://atmospherics3.wordpress.com/4-therme-vals/
https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/case-studies/a2530-therme-
vals-spa-in-switzerland-by-peter-zumthor/
https://pdfcoffee.com/dani-final-case-study-pdf-free.html
https://www.archdaily.com/13358/the-therme-vals