Peter Vetsch

Life

Vetsch was born 1943 in Sax, Switzerland. He attended public school in Sax from 1950 to 1956. He then attended an agricultural school in Cernier until 1962, where he graduated. Afterwards he was an apprentice in structural design in Winterthur 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, (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 architecture.

Recently, Vetsch has been linked to designs for a series of Eco Theatres to be built in London's planned Olympic Park in time for London 2012.

In 2011, Vetsch stepped down as the director of Artforum Berlin.