TightWind is written by Kyle Baxter. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

The New York Times has a wonderful profile of the architect Peter Zumthor.

Here’s one part:

“I think the chance of finding beauty is higher if you don’t work on it directly,” Zumthor has said in describing his philosophy. “Beauty in architecture is driven by practicality. This is what you learn from studying the old townscapes of the Swiss farmers. If you do what you should, then at the end there is something, which you can’t explain maybe, but if you are lucky, it has to do with life.”

Beauty and meaning in something arises naturally if it’s designed to function well for its intended purpose and its environment.

And:

Working with the traditional wood beams was crucial, he said. “Solid wood has almost disappeared as too expensive, complicated and old-fashioned,” he explained. “I reintroduced it as a construction method here because it feels good to be with, to be in. You feel a certain way in a glass or concrete or limestone building. It has an effect on your skin — the same with plywood or veneer, or solid timber. Wood doesn’t steal energy from your body the way glass and concrete steal heat. When it’s hot, a wood house feels cooler than a concrete one, and when it’s cold, the other way around. So I preserved the wood-beam construction because of what it can do for your body.”