Peter Zumthor

Peter Zumthor (born 26 April 1943) is a Swiss architect and winner of the 2009 Pritzker Prize and 2013 RIBA Royal Gold Medal.

Early life

Zumthor was born in Basel, the son of a cabinet-maker. He apprenticed to a carpenter in 1958 and studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule in his native city starting in 1963.

In 1966, Zumthor studied industrial design and architecture as an exchange student at Pratt Institute in New York. In 1968, he became conservationist architect for the Department for the Preservation of Monuments of the canton of Graubünden. This work on historic restoration projects gave him a further understanding of construction and the qualities of different rustic building materials. As his practice developed, Zumthor was able to incorporate his knowledge of materials into Modernist construction and detailing. His buildings explore the tactile and sensory qualities of spaces and materials while retaining a minimalist feel.

Career

Zumthor founded his own firm in 1979. His practice grew quickly and he accepted more international projects.

Peter

Peter often is used to refer to Saint Peter, a disciple of Jesus Christ. It can also refer to many other people, of which only a few are listed here. This page only lists people commonly referred to as "Peter" and nothing else; for others, please see List of people named Peter.

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Gold medal

A gold medal is the highest medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. The award concept arose in the military, initially by simple recognition of military rank, and later by decorations for admission to military orders dating back to medieval times.

Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have been awarded in the arts, for example, by the Royal Danish Academy, usually as a symbol of an award to give an outstanding student some financial freedom. Others offer only the prestige of the award. Many organizations now award gold medals either annually or extraordinarily, including UNESCO and various academic societies.

While most gold medals are solid gold, notable exceptions are gold-plated and often silver-gilt, like those of the Olympic Games, the Lorentz Medal, the United States Congressional Gold Medal (displayed to the right) and the Nobel Prize medal. Nobel Prize medals consist of 18 carat green gold plated with 24 carat gold. Before 1980 they were struck in 23 carat gold.

Royal Gold

Royal Gold is a precious metals company with royalty claims on gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc at mines in over 20 countries (12 in the America's, most of the rest spread between Africa, Western Europe and Australia). Over half of the developmental properties it has interests in are producing however most (130 representing 70% of all properties) have not passed the exploration stage. Not all contracts are the same, some like the one it has with Thompson Creek Metals regarding a quarter of the gold produced at Mount Milligan lasts the length of the mine's life while others like Taparko in West Africa which ranges depending on the price of gold and the one in Pascua Lama (El Indio Gold Belt) where the 5.23% royalty is contingent on gold prices (must be higher than $800 an ounce) are structured differently; Most claims are between 1% and 5% but a few like Andacolo (75%) and Taparko (15%) are over 10%. It also has an interest in Osisko Mining's Malartic gold project within the abitibi gold belt (1.0-1.5%, will be Canada's largest when production begins in 2012).

Kunsthaus Bregenz

The Kunsthaus Bregenz (KUB) presents temporary exhibitions of international contemporary art in Bregenz, capital of the Austrian Federal State of Vorarlberg. Commissioned by the State of Vorarlberg and designed by the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, it was built between 1990 to 1997.

Exhibitions

The Kunsthaus Bregenz is one of Europe’s leading galleries for contemporary art both architecturally and in terms of its program. The KUB Arena located on the ground floor, along with three vertical floors, offers 1,880 m² of exhibition space. The Kunsthaus exhibits works by international contemporary artists who generally create art work specifically for the Kunsthaus. The KUB also has its own collection with two core areas: “Archive Art Architecture” and “Contemporary Austrian Art.” Select works of exhibiting artists have been expanding the latter part of the collection since 2009.

The KUB not only addresses international concerns with its exhibitions and projects, but also helps shape the cultural identity of Vorarlberg with regional projects. Noteworthy examples are Gottfried Bechtold’s “Signatur 02” at the Silvretta dam, the American artist Jenny Holzer’s “Truth Before Power” (2004), involving the projection of large-format texts onto architectural and natural monuments in Vorarlberg, or, from August 2010 through April 2012, the British sculptor Antony Gormley’s landscape project “Horizon Field.”