There is often a very close relationship between a building and the body that occupies it. To analyze this concept I chose the Terme Vals designed by Peter Zumthor and took into consideration the point of view of the architects Vetruvius and Le Corbusier. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayTherme Vals, located in Vals, Switzerland, is built above a hot spring and serves as a place of relaxation and rejuvenation for tourists and the local community. A bath is a very private and warm experience and the building is meticulously designed to enhance this feature. Vetruvius' book, The Ten Books of Architecture, emphasized the importance of relationships in architecture with respect to the proportions of the human body. Le Corbusier's Le Modular speaks of standardization as a means of mass production and takes Vetruvius' study of human proportions further into design to discuss the relationship between the body and a space. While Therme Vals inculcates all of these concepts into its design, one of its most successful features is the transitions of scale and proportion from room to room that create calming and soothing experiences for people. Moving through the space, you pass through a series of internal and external areas that offer a view of the ecstatic landscape beyond and around. At the same time, there isn't much that people can see from outside the building, enhancing its privacy and tranquility. In the ten books of Architecture, proportion is defined as the relationship between the members of a structure. As regards the façade of the Terme Vals, the proportions of the windows are studied very carefully. The upper floor of the structure features four impressive windows that open towards the sky and have a frontal view of the entire town. This place houses the outdoor swimming pool. At this time, Zumthor, the architect, aims to create a feeling of smallness compared to the world around us. The sight of the endless mountains, the eternal sky, and the high stone walls that barely enclose the space make the person inside think how infinitesimal their presence on Earth is. On the other hand, the lowest floor of Therme Vals serves the purpose of an enclosed, low-height space that keeps you cozy and close to the stone walls of the building. Each small, long corridor opens onto a hot sauna, a relaxation room and a changing room. This space in turn makes the interaction between an individual and their space powerful. There are sixteen small windows that give you a preview of the nature outside. While the massive outdoor space at the top makes you think about the world beyond you, the compact space on the lower level begins to act as an instigator of self-introspection. Similar to Vetruvius, Le Corbusier's book Le Modular also enters into the proportions of the human body. He further delves into the measurements and proportions of the human body studied by Vetruvius and places the body at the center of design. Everything must be designed to the scale of the human body and modified to create various experiences, says Le Corbusier. Walking or driving towards Terme Vals you get the feeling of grandeur. The building in most of its parts has double-height spaces, is 178 feet wide overall and is composed of two parallel rectangles connected to each other on one side. All these proportions, in my opinion, were created with the idea of ​​making the human being feel small, in a space overwhelmed and inspired by nature. While these proportions might fit well with the ideal human body taken into consideration during design, I believe it is not fair that the ideal body is that of a six foot tall man. If yesIf you considered the average height of people in the world, it would be only 5 feet 8 inches. So, although the Terme Vals caters to people of all heights, Le Corbusier's idea of ​​designing according to the six-foot man is questionable in terms of gender and race. Vetruvius states that the best architecture derives from symmetry. However Zumthor opposed this idea in his facade. He placed windows and openings not symmetrical with each other, but rather according to their function in the building. Small windows for private areas and large ones for more public spaces. I believe this is the most effective way to approach design. While symmetry has always been pleasing to the human eye, we must keep in mind that we ourselves are not symmetrical, and if we were, we would look a little absurd. Similarly, modifying the façade of the Vals Thermal Baths to remain true to its solid, rectangular plan, but at the same time instilling the truthfulness of form following function, worked successfully for the thermal spring. Even inside the structure there is not much symmetry in the overall plan, but the layout remains faithful to rectangular rooms parallel and perpendicular to each other. Despite the lack of repetition, this floor plan creates a sense of rhythm and works based on the needs of an individual walking through the space. From the spring water, to the changing rooms, to the toilets and then to the stairs, the Terme Vals are extremely functional. Despite being asymmetrical, the bathroom floor plan can be arranged on a grid. Le Corbusier in his book Le Modulor underlines his tendency towards standardization. The ability to create a grid with infinite possibilities, and this is exactly what Terme Vals is. Despite its lack of conformity to Vetruvian symmetry, Zumthor designed the bath as a cuboid, with different sizes of rectangular rooms within it. There are no curved paths through the entire structure and this compensates for the lack of symmetry by allowing the space to follow its functional transitions. This idea of ​​standardization has evolved into common steps for building a house or space and, exactly, these characteristics are found in the Terme di Vals. The first guideline: free space on the roof to create a terrace. The hot spring is entirely covered by a green roof, allowing it to maintain its connection to the site at ground level. Next, Corbusier talks about the free plan that encourages free movement within a space, the free façade that allows light to flood the space, and horizontal windows, all made possible by using columns as support. Therme Vals is horizontally predominant and has all the characteristics mentioned by Le Corbusier. Zumthor, following all these guidelines for Le Corbusier's steps towards mass production, decided to break a rule, and I see it as a bold and successful initiative. building declaration. Le Corbusier says that the house must be raised off the ground to increase the garden space. On the contrary, the Terme Vals have about half of their structure set in the ground, caressing the landscape. Keeping in mind the structure's purpose of leaving a sense of relaxation, security and warmth to the individual, the building acts as a small niche in the massive earth's surface and keeps the people inside still in touch with nature, from within a man-made structure. Being too open on a tall building would create a sense of fear in people, not allowing them to enjoy an open space without the fear of heights and the strong breezes that come with it. This design also ensures people's privacy by keeping them outdoors – two ideas that seem difficult to implement.