" Right from the start, there was a feeling for the mystical nature of a world of stone inside the mountain, for darkness and light, for the reflection of light upon water, for the diffusion of light through steam-filled air, for the different sounds that water makes in stone surorundings, for warm stone and naked skin, for the ritual of bathing."

—Peter Zumthor, Three Concepts

"Vals composite masonry" is the technique behind the laminated strata of Vals gneiss that form the monolith of a bath, set deep into the mountain in the valley of the Swiss Alps. All detailing has been designed to reinforce the monolithic nature of the composite stone; transitions from floor to wall, wall to ceiling, pool overflows, stone benches— all follow the principle of layering and joining stone masses. Fissures of light cut through the ceiling, washing the sides of blocks with toplight.

Zumthor's bath was meant to replace the previous 1960s spa in the village, and to help rejuvenate the area's ailing tourist industry. The project reached beyond its essentially commercial calling to enhance the modern spa experience by crafting a sensuous architecture whose form follows more than its mere function. 1 . 2

left: (top) study model of light filtering through openings (Zumthor, p.17); (bottom) stone masses cut with fissures of light (Steiner, p.35)