Decoding of Zumthor's design process

In architecture, atmosphere and its many implications have received increased attention, in recent years. It is used to describe an intangible characteristic that permeates our built environments. The feeling of the atmosphere is a direct result of one's perceptible circumstances, which are shaped by what architects design and how they go about designing it. When we talk about the atmosphere in architecture suddenly Peter Zumthor comes to the architects mind , Without a doubt, he is one of the best architects who has worked in this field for many years, and he is very successful to design buildings with a very deep atmosphere. I suppose that this achievement could not be accidentally, and I believe that he uses certain methods repetitively that help him to create an atmosphere. If you look at his design process and the patterns, you can pin the most crucial aspects and be aware of some strong strategy behind it. For this purpose, I started to read his books and literature about him, watched and read his interview, then based on the knowledge from them, I analyzed his projects and picked up the pieces and important notes to define the pattern of the tools that he frequently uses in his design process; but it was not enough, that why I set the interviews with Hélène Binet and Anna Staudt that the two most important tools in Zumthor’s designing are managed by them which are respectively photographer and sculpture (model maker). I believe that the light could be a very important element that helps Zumthor to create the atmosphere in his projects, and he controls it with different tools during the design. Models and photography are the most important tools in Zumthor design process that always help him in this way of controlling and looking at the reaction of the materials and reflection of the light to them. So, these two tools are important, firstly, both of them always involve during the design process from the initial idea until finishing the project, I can say that they have been used ever earlier than sketching. Secondly, Zumthor is able to check the light easily and the result is very close to reality.