Wim Wenders explores architect Peter Zumthor’s work in 3D

Wim Wenders’ documentary about Swiss architect Peter Zumthor took 14 years to make, a timeline the German filmmaker considers fitting for its subject. “From Inside Out: The Architecture of Peter Zumthor” was shown outside the competition at the Venice Film Festival.

Wenders said he and Zumthor share a willingness to give their work time. He initially imagined the film might take six or seven years. “In the end, it was 14, and I think it is very appropriate for the work of this man. We both love taking our time,” he said at a joint news conference with Zumthor in Venice.

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In the end, it was 14, and I think it is very appropriate for the work of this man. We both love taking our time.

The film explores several of Zumthor’s major creations, including the Vals Thermal Baths from 1996 and St. Benedict Chapel from 1989, both in Switzerland, as well as Kolumba, the diocesan museum of sacred art in Cologne, completed in 2007. It also examines unfinished projects, including Berlin’s Topography of Terror Documentation Center, where construction stopped in 1999 after work had begun.

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Peter wanted to let the building speak. Stopping it was a political act.

“Peter wanted to let the building speak. Stopping it was a political act,” Wenders said. He described 3D as more than a technical tool: “It is a medium, a way of telling a story. 3D does not work with images. We work with space. Every image I create has depth.”

Wenders said three dimensions were “the only appropriate way to tell Zumthor’s story,” because the architect works with real space. Zumthor, who was born in Basel in 1943, said his work requires him to immerse himself in a place and its history. “I have to feel the space, and my biography helps me,” he said. “I have seen so many things that I do not remember them all, but they are there. And that requires time, real time.”

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It is a medium, a way of telling a story. 3D does not work with images. We work with space. Every image I create has depth.

Wenders, known for films including “Paris, Texas” and “Wings of Desire,” has moved between fiction and documentary. He said documentaries appeal to him because they involve exploring a subject without knowing exactly where the process will lead. He added that his fiction films begin from the same premise, although the supplied report ends before completing his final statement.

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I have to feel the space, and my biography helps me. I have seen so many things that I do not remember them all, but they are there. And that requires time, real time.