In summer 2017, celebrated Swiss architect Peter Zumthor curated the exhibition Dear to Me at the Kunsthaus Bregenz, marking the 20th anniversary of one of his most famous designs. Part of the program were conversations with philosophers, curators, historians, composers, writers, photographers, collectors, and craftsmen that Zumthor had invited to contribute to the exhibition. His dialogues with them offer insights into the thoughts and practice of fascinating personalities. Together with his counterparts, he explores artistic preferences and practices, reasonings, as well as practical knowledge from artisanal experience. Always charming and affectionate, he follows-up persistently, and takes his guests with gentle determination on mutual intellectual strolls.

The equally serious and serene conversations with Anita Albus, Aleida Assmann, Marcel Beyer, Helene Binet, Hannes Boehringer, Renate Breuss, Claudia Comte, Bice Curiger, Esther Kinsky, Ralf Konersmann, Walter Lietha, Olga Neuwirth, Rebecca Saunders, Karl Schloegel, Martin Seel, Ruedi Walli, and Wim Wenders are collected in 17 booklets held together in an exquisitely manufactured box. An 18th complementary booklet documents the Dear to Me exhibition in Bregenz through concise texts, images, drawings and plans.

Peter Zumthor

Scheidegger & Spiess, 2022

Box set 22 X 13 cm, 480 pages