Peter Vetsch (born 14 March 1943) is a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, known for building

earth house An earth shelter, also called an earth house, earth-bermed house, earth-sheltered house, earth-covered house, or underground house, is a structure (usually a house) with earth (soil) against the walls and/or on the roof, or that is entirely burie ...

Life

Vetsch was born 1943 in

Sax, Switzerland Sennwald is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Werdenberg (Wahlkreis), Werdenberg in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of St. Gallen (canton), St. Gallen in Switzerland. History Sennwald is the ...

. He attended public school in Sax from 1950 to 1956. He then attended an agricultural school in

Cernier Cernier () is the former capital of the district of Val-de-Ruz in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. The municipalities of Boudevilliers, Cernier, Chézard-Saint-Martin, Coffrane, Dombresson, Engollon, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Fontainemel ...

until 1962, where he graduated. Afterwards he was an apprentice in structural design in

Winterthur Winterthur (; ) is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. With over 120,000 residents, it is the country's List of cities in Switzerland, sixth-largest city by population, as well as its ninth-largest agglomeration with about 14 ...

and worked for an architecture office in St. Gallen. In the following years, Vetsch attended the academy of arts in Düsseldorf, Germany, where he graduated in 1970. After his diploma he worked for architecture offices in Germany and Switzerland.

Occupational activity

Peter Vetsch has run his own architecture office in

Dietikon Dietikon is the fifth biggest city of the canton of Zürich in Switzerland, after Zürich, Winterthur, Uster and Dübendorf. It is the capital of the same-named district of Dietikon and part of the Zürich metropolitan area. Geography The ...

, Switzerland since 1978. Vetsch has built over 47 earth houses in Switzerland and around the world, and also a number of conventional houses. Vetsch’s Earth houses represent his conception of an environmentally conscious, ecological and progressive architecture. Using sprayed concrete construction, he creates building shells which encompass maximum space with a minimum of surface area, reducing the energy needed for heating. These constructions eschew right angles, and their spatial diversity overcomes the monotony of traditional designs. They recall Antoni Gaudí's organic forms as well as

Jugendstil (; "Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany, Austria and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German and Austrian cou ...

architecture. In 2011, Vetsch stepped down as the director of

Artforum Berlin ''Artforum'' is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art. The magazine is distinguished from other magazines by its unique 10½ × 10½ inch square format, with each cover often devoted to the work of an artist. Notably ...

. Vetsch was linked to designs for a series of Eco Theatres to be built in London's planned Olympic Park in time for

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

References

External links

Peter Vetsch earth house architecture
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vetsch, Peter Living people 1943 births Swiss architects People from Dietikon District