oris: Jednoga ljetnog dana prošle godine, šećući Stradunom u Dubrovniku, razgovarali smo o vašoj knjizi Thinking Architecture (Misliti arhitekturu). Možete li zamisliti kako smo se osjećali kad smo vas te iste večeri neočekivano sreli u starome gradu? Kakva zanimljiva podudarnost – sresti autora te inspirativne crvene knjižice.

Zumthor: Ali ovo nije pitanje.

oris: Ne, ovo je više kao uvod. Približavamo se pitanju. Čitajući vašu knjigu, srećući se s vama, osjećajući silno zadovoljstvo nakon obilaska vaših građevina uhvatila nas je neka vrsta opsesije kad smo došli u vaš ured ovdje u Haldensteinu. Pokušali smo slijediti vaše misli. Dojmilo nas se je što su osjećaj i emocije u tolikoj mjeri dio vaše arhitekture. Zato naše prvo pitanje glasi: Zbog čega ste svoju knjigu nazvali Thinking Architecture, a ne Feeling Architecture (Osjećati arhitekturu)?

Zumthor: To se u tome trenutku protivilo mojim idejama. Razmislim li o tome sada, počeo sam radeći arhitekturu i razmišljati o tome što radim, u tome je stvar. Rasmussen je pisao o Doživljavanju arhitekture prije četrdeset godina, a u osnovi je govorio o istoj stvari. Nazivati knjigu Osjećati arhitekturu bilo bi na granici kiča.

oris: Ali vrlo često kažete da je osjećaj važniji od intelekta.

Zumthor: I moj učitelj tenisa tako kaže. Mnogi ljudi tako govore, no govorite li previše o osjećaju, počinje zvučati čudno.

oris: Ne mislite li da govoriti ili pisati o arhitekturi često znači govoriti i pisati o uvijek istim stvarima nakon što prođe neko vrijeme zanemarivanja ili zaborava?

Zumthor: To ne znam. Mogu vam odgovoriti samo u svoje ime. Volim razmišljati o onome što radim, svojoj motivaciji, interesima… to je više kao dio projektiranja. Radi se o promišljanju onoga što radite.
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oris: One summer day last year, while walking along Stradun in Dubrovnik, we were speaking about your book Thinking Architecture. That same evening, when we unexpectedly met you in the old city, can you imagine how we felt? What a remarkable coincidence to meet the author of this inspiring little red book.

Zumthor: But this is not a question.

oris: No, this is more like an introduction. We are getting to the question. Reading your book, meeting you, experiencing such pleasure from visiting your buildings, coming to your office here in Haldenstein, we got obsessed in a way. We were trying to follow your train of thought. What we found appealing was that your architecture is so much about feeling and emotion. So our first question is, why did you call your book Thinking Architecture; why didn’t you call it Feeling Architecture?

Zumthor: It was contrary to my mind at that time. If I think about it now, it started with doing architecture and thinking about what I was doing, so that was the idea. Rasmussen wrote about Experiencing Architecture forty years ago, and he was essentially talking about the same thing. To call it Feeling Architecture would be bordering on kitsch.

oris: But very often you say that feeling is more important than the intellect.

Zumthor: My tennis teacher also says so. Lots of people say so. But if you talk too much about feeling it starts to sound strange.

oris: Don’t you think that talking or writing about architecture is very much about talking and writing always about the same things after some period of neglect or amnesia?

Zumthor: This I do not know, I can only give you a personal answer. I like to think about what I am doing, about my motivation, my interests… it is more like a part of designing. It is about reflecting on what you do.
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