Warto zobaczyć Południowy Tyrol

Beneath the glowing white walls of the Marienberg Abbey lies the somewhat dingier Fürstenburg, built from regional stone in 1278. A collapse of the castle’s keep in 1996 brought about the renovation, including a restructuring and extension, which was carried out in two phases. It began by securing the historical parts of the building and extending the home wing with modern fixtures made from steel and glass in order to provide the old stonewalls with more light transparency. New schoolrooms in the mountain were then constructed outside of the curtain wall to accommodate the increasing number of pupils. It appears from the outside to be a wall one story high made from the same dark stone as the castle. On the inside, the courtyard has been modernized with structural components made of glass and steel and there is a new section of building work climbing up the mountainside, covered in earth and plants. From something old was born something new.

The building is situated in a key position on the edge of town. It forms a gateway  between the historical series of façades and the newer neighboring buildings. It is a clear and contemporary structure that asserts itself within its environment, plays with the proportions of the surrounding buildings, and generates excitement through its cubic nesting. The reinforced concrete construction, coated with special weather-resistant plaster, allows for large projections and recesses in the three-story building structure. As a result, open spaces are created in front of the hotel rooms, some of which are illuminated above like little yards, and thus feel very protected and intimate. Another roof opening also allows daylight into the interior of the building. The planted roof terrace offers a beautiful view over the rooftops of the city and onto the mountains around Bressanone's valley basin.

On the renovated cable car, which is an important means of transportation for the permanently inhabited mountain village at the old pilgrimage church, you can ride from Laces/Latsch (630 m) up the summit station (1,740 m) in just a few minutes. The chapel, which leans on a steep hillside, was not supposed to have any structural competition with an eye-catching cable car. In order not to interfere with the visual presence of the chapel, the summit station was built behind a high stone wall that set it apart from delightful surroundings. In order for it to stay as low as possible, the cable car mechanics are situated outdoors. As a result, you can watch its technical components functioning out of the glass cube into which the red gondola glides. Access to the ticket counter and waiting room is at the rear of the building, where there is also an adjoining café with magnificent views.

The housing complex is situated north of the racetrack in a quiet residential area. The rectangular plot of land is reflected in the geometric lines of the four-story block of apartments containing sixteen flats: The outlines and facade are simple and clear, without any design effects. A large protruding attic forms a concise end to the roofline. The division of the front of the lightly plastered walls occurs through two types of window: full length balcony windows, and the windows of the rooms reaching up to the ceiling, which are placed in alternation, creating a lively structural arrangement. The colorful balcony parapets add to the visual effect. The clear design is of particular benefit inside the well laid out apartments − everything is light, friendly and easy to furnish.

Five outstanding architecture sculptures were designed for the adventurous Alpine Road, which leads through the Timmelsjoch Pass to Austria and is closed in winter. Each of the sculptures represents a theme related to this connecting road. The stations are made up of a chapel of sorts on the Austrian side of the pass with a wide promenade jutting out into “nothing,” a square house for the smugglers, the Pass Museum projecting out in a virtually neck-breaking effect, the two gigantic windows of the “telescope” looking over the mountain landscape, which are held by concrete of different shades, and finally the steel construction Granat, an echo of geological formations, which contains a showroom. These sculptures impressively demonstrate how architecture can add value to its surroundings.

In the vineyards above the village this structure comprising four staggered terraces, was graded into the hillside. The building was integrated so harmoniously into the vineyards that it has become a part of them. This integration is still underlined by the dry-stone retaining walls, which likewise carry forward the vineyard structure. The building’s concrete structure remains invisible, covered by wooden paneling and by the wooden grating set in front of portions of the glass facades. Floor-to-ceiling glazing of the spaces lends the terraces a transparency, covered by the wooden pergolas, with the shadowy effect of over-grown foliage. The reception and breakfast room, paneled entirely in wood, are good examples of a modern interpretation of rural Stube parlors. The apartments are also of high aesthetic quality.

The Messner Mountain Museum Ortles in Solda/Sulden is dedicated to ice and glaciers. The exhibition focuses on South Tyrol's most important mountain massif: the Ortler. In collaboration with architect Arnold Gapp, Reinhold Messner has created a unique museum, MMM Ortles is housed in a specially designed new building. The architect from Vinschgau managed to fit most of the museum into a small hill. Uniquely, the entrance was integrated into a natural stone wall and the folded walls of exposed concrete are modelled on ice crystals and ice caves. Inside, visitors can admire the world's largest collection of Ortler mountain paintings and ice tools from two centuries. The light is cast through a jagged band of windows onto the exhibits and will remind guests of a glacial crevasse. Ingeniously, the snow-covered peak of the Ortler mountain can be glimpsed at one point of the museum. The window acts as a picture frame so that the mountain is effectively "hung" in the exhibition.

The modern architecture of this free-standing building integrates well into the landscape. The three-part extension breaks up the mass of the building, creating a well-balanced link to the connecting older buildings. Between the seemingly closed office blocks with their wooden facades lies the glazed middle section of the three-part complex, which houses a spacious central entrance hall. The public service function of the building is thus emphasized, and the different departments are well connected by an extravagant stairway. Natural wood is the main material, which is deliberately set against color and white plaster.

A cable car always means an intrusion into the mountains. For the fragile high-mountain landscape above Selva/Wolkenstein, an architect was commissioned for a suitable design. For the 2.2-km cable car, which has the capacity to transport 3,000 people per hour, three structures were to be designed: the base, intermediate and summit stations. The equipment rooms were to be situated underground to the extent possible, allowing passengers to step into spacious, glazed entrance areas that are covered by protective, undulating concrete shells. The smooth lines of the base station integrates into the terrain with smooth lines. The steel structure of the open intermediate station has a glassy, transparent look, and passengers are greeted at the summit station by the welcoming gesture of a concrete shell above the glazed hall.

Meadows surround the freestanding detached family house on the outskirts of Laatsch, a stones throw away from Mals. This unusual, singular building simply needs a certain amount of empty space around it, in order to allow a full appreciation of it. The view of both of the church towers in Laatsch heightens the contrast with the village. The mainly enclosed upper floor houses the bedrooms in a square layout, which encompasses the living rooms below with glass facades. With its far-reaching white glow, the “box” made from concrete seems to sway over everything and projects upwards from the slender supports. In order to provide the glass ground floor with some privacy freestanding stone walls typical for the area were built a short distance away from the house. Such a house makes one self-conscious of one’s living conditions.

This unusual house is situated amongst a quite standard new village architecture. It consists of two sections: one constructed from parts of a 300-year-old farmhouse in which the farmer's and architect's family have been living for centuries, and another new building that crouches under the large tree trunks. The idea to live under mounted tree trunks came to the architect when he was a child playing in the woods, and he subsequently made it a reality. The stacked, untreated tree trunks do not hide a dingy living space beneath, but rather glass walls and openings that create an artful play of light when inside. In addition many other materials were used, from rough concrete mixed with glass shards to the extremely shiny stainless steel kitchen. A highly imaginative design here from the architect.

Embedded within the summit of Mount Kronplatz at 2.275m, the Messner Mountain Museum Corones explores the traditions, history and discipline of mountaineering. The majority of the museum’s exterior and interior panels are made from in-situ concrete. The museum is arranged over several levels to reduce its footprint. During construction, 4,000 cubic meters of earth and rock was excavated and then replaced above and around the completed structure – immersing the museum within Mount Kronplatz and helping to maintain a more constant internal temperature. From the topmost level that houses the entry area, stairways lead like waterfalls over three exhibition levels all the way to the bottom. At the lowest floor, visitors pass by glass-enclosed viewing windows and arrive at a terrace that is nearly 40 square meters, from which they are able to enjoy a 240° panorama from the Zillertal Alps to the Ortles-Ortler to the Dolomites.

The town hall and neighboring extension of the church were conceived for a town building competition focused on restructuring the town center. The town hall is distinctly recognizable, with its tower and spacious square in front − identifiable features of the public building. The angular building has a north facing glass facade in front of which stands a row of pillars. These support the large overhang of the roof and are as high as the four-story building. The stone materials used for covering the facade were sourced locally from Europe's largest porphyritic stone deposit in Bolzano. Dark metal constructions for the window frames and exposed copper for the roof complete the selection of materials. Behind the main entrance the visitor is welcomed into a three-story high spacious atrium, which leads onto light rooms without a hint of claustrophobia.

In the center of Mals there was a plot of land for a free-standing building. Block-like brick buildings with windows cut into them and often without an overhanging roof are typical for Mals. The architect adopted this structure and designed a building in three parts with different levels. The middle part acts as an opening and is covered in larch wood boards, while the other two buildings attached to this are plastered white and have uniform, regularly spaced windows. This succinct language of form takes into account the details of the entire building. The shape of the building is clearly structured with the central entrance, so that the citizens can easily find their way inside. The community hall on the upper floor has a special entrance. The interior spaces are marked by white walls, light wood and overhead lighting in the corridors.

It was decided at Lake Caldaro/Kaltern, the warmest lake in the Alps, to create an outdoor swimming pool with an unusual bathing complex instead of a season-lengthening indoor pool. The architect took advantage of the downslope to the lake, leading the swimmer from the entrance between airy pavilions, with wide-spread winged roofs made of steel for shade, past the bistro, to a wooden-planked terrace reminiscent of a ship's deck. Here the swimming pools lie on an underlying free surface with rain room and whirlpool complex, which serves as a shady area in the summer. From here, swimmers in the overlying basin can be seen from below through circles of glass. The entire complex looks like a refined moving concrete sculpture that seems to float above the lawn in front of the lake.

This energy-efficient residence was built alongside four holiday flats between the forest, meadows and vineyards. The larch wood used in the construction and shell as well as on the balconies of the upper floors, comes from stocks owned by the construction manager. The balconies are equipped with mobile sunshades, thus giving a unified, yet changing exterior appearance. The basement is partially built into the slope behind, in the style of massive construction. The front of the top floor is made entirely of glass panels in order to make the most of the splendid view. The conventional shape of the house, which blends well into the landscape, is an unusually elegant building with a lightweight feel to it, well thought out details and tasteful furnishings.

On the outskirts of Schlanders the garden of the kindergarten encroaches on the stone terraces of Sonnenberg Mountain with its beautiful trees. In front of the group rooms it provides a sheltered open space, which includes many terraces and trees. This unique situation is ideal for a modern child's education, which includes nature and the environment. A covered space at the front leads to the two-story building, which is at an angle here. The architecture should provide the children with a tactile means to discover natural and sustainable materials both inside and outside, so it was built from wood in vertical slats. Large glass panes let light into the group rooms and an additional glass cube situated on the roof allows a comfortable amount of light into the central part of the building and provides a view to the west.

The architects analyzed the surroundings carefully. Many of the structural elements of the local conditions  ̶ the course of the road, the volumes of the surrounding houses all the way up to Schenna Castle, which can be seen from here  ̶  merge again in this building, but with a modern twist. The residential building, sheathed with bright Eternit slabs, floats like a crystal on the blue-gray, stone-clad semi-basement, where the shops are located. A glass-clad gap between the stone-clad basement and the residential building brings light between the two components, into the goldsmith shop. It provides upscale, almost indirect illumination of the white wall partitions and ceilings, while the dark walnut wood paneling conveys solidity.

Burgeis had managed to maintain its village-like character up to the present day. The traditional Weisses Kreuz Hotel lies centrally on a very small piece of land. The extensions and conversions, including its spacious spa area and new suites, have been admirably incorporated as part of the hotel, they sensitively take into account the survival of historical aspects. Zum Löwen, situated opposite, also belongs to the hotel and was renovated and reconstructed. The building was skillfully extended, the new extension now being home to a bistro and shop. This transformed the square with its fountain into a real village center. The listed facades of both houses were kept, as were the beautifully paneled rooms in the Löwen: all new buildings show the fitting of a modern hotel and are designed to be the best in modern architecture by the use of sustainable materials.

On the edge of the slope ending at Rodeneck Castle over the Rienz river, lies a white cubic building visible from afar. The three-story building houses a youth and workroom on the ground floor, and is accessed from the outside by a vast ramp. The entrance hall has a stunning view over the valley. The canteen is on this level and the classrooms are situated on the upper floors. The building, made of concrete, is roughly plastered on the outside and has evenly spaced large windows, their smooth, white frames calmly decorate the facade. Even the interior spaces have been kept purely white; only the red rubber flooring and the yellow tiled bathrooms add color to the school, which also has a self-contained kindergarten.

The sunniest and most sought-after cross-country skiing trail within the Ortler Ski Arena alliance, is located between Schlinig and Schliniger Alm, and offers 15 kilometers of trails and a vertical drop of 150 meters. The village of Schlinig built a service center for it, with a ski-waxing facility, changing rooms, toilets and equipment rentals. This single-story building matches the development of the village in both size and materials used. Covered entirely with vertical wood sheathing, the wagon looks like a cog railway into which you enter sideways. The incline of the roof and shape of the building take up the slope gradient. The entrances to the five functional units open onto a covered vestibule on the valley side, while the opposite side is provided with suitably tiered horizontal windows – as a result, the entire complex is integrated into the hillside in an ideal way.

The school is located in the immediate vicinity of the parish church and the Deutschordenshaus (House of the Teutonic Order), which were built outside of the old part of town in what used to be marshland. The groundwater table lies a mere 1 meter underneath the site’s surface. In order to prevent a dangerous rise in groundwater levels that could compromise the historic buildings while the school was being built, the new structure was constructed on top of a “raft” positioned 80 centimeters above the terrain. In due consideration of the historic neighboring buildings, the school was designed as an elongated, single-story structure that – while it is not meant to compete with its surroundings – has its own special character. In front of the façades, between the large cantilevered roof and the floor slabs encircling the building, the architects incorporated a “forest” of tree trunks that lets in enough natural light, but becomes more dense when viewed from an angle. As a result, the building can appear either more or less conspicuous, depending on the observer’s point of view and the amount of daylight available.

The old Nives barn, in the middle of a sprawling tourist village structure, was to be preserved as a reminder of the farming past and used for exhibiting purposes. Through the renovation, surfaces were created in the section made of stone and in the solid wood construction of the barn. The interior spaces below were plastered, and those above were paneled with larch. In order to enlarge the exhibition space the barn was connected through a short passageway to a new structure, forming an elegant architectural contrast. A visually light pavilion, the structural steelwork, was surrounded on all sides by a glass facade. As a result, the building allows insight into what is happening inside and develops a dialogue with passers-by, who are encouraged by its transparency to visit.

This pool complex with its sweeping views connects nicely to the surrounding mountain landscape, creating an added attraction for visitors. At first glance the entrance façade looks closed as the result of the masonry curtain on the upper level, but the prominent glazed entrance area and long horizontal bands of windows on the ground floor also allow for a welcoming peek into the pool from outside. Apart from that, floor-to-ceiling glass facades girdle the structure, opening generously onto the outdoor swimming pool and the views. Through a recess in the roof, a shielded roof terrace for the sauna was created on the first floor, which also affords views into the distance. Light-flooded during the daytime, the wooden ceilings inside also lend the spaces a warm light and nice atmosphere when artificially lit at nighttime.

In the industrial area of Glorenza/Glurns, the 13-meter-high cubed Puni Distillery stands out like a kasbah from an alien world − a symbolic landmark. It was the architect's ingenious idea to house all the technical equipment, as well as the sales area, and service rooms inside a brick cube, which was designed according to the system of the old, air-permeable brick walls of a rural barn. The stonework thus has a transparent effect, from the exterior and interior alike, and continues down into the basement, where the sparkling-clean fermenting vat and alembics can be found, a massive vault construction. A convincing uniformity in the choice of materials alludes to the clarity of this distillery’s products – the first to distill whisky in Italy. All the glass-and-steel details have been developed with as much as focus on quality as was the brick construction.

The listed Grünen Baum Guest House lies directly on the main square of South Tyrol's smallest city. The ground-floor guest rooms are not part of the renovated hotel, which is housed on the upper floors and are the focus of this text. Here you will find the stylishly paneled rooms of the restaurant, which have preserved everything of value and consciously integrated new elements. Historical rooms are furnished in a modern style and new rooms contain some antique furniture. In the individually designed guest rooms, interaction with history is key, and is displayed through a focus on style and sensitive taste in decor. Bathtubs and showers sometimes stand alone in a room and convey an informal, friendly atmosphere in a very traditional way.

The new Nives construction is another building block towards a focal point for the tourist village of Solda/Sulden, which is unstructured from an urban planning point of view: this is true spatially, with its compact volumes, and in the surface with a new square design, and functional, with a variety of dining options. The seven different restaurants, bars, cafes and clubs alone offer a lively atmosphere with a sun terrace. Two hotel categories, the simple Base Camp and the Base Camp de Luxe, are available for overnight guests. These very different offerings for tourists are housed in a solid construction made of plastered masonry, natural stone and wood right on the edge of the slope behind the square. The interior design is adapted to the various functions and, with lots of wood, is robust yet elegant. The arrangement of the floor plans into freestanding buildings allows for beautiful views in all directions.

A new structure for a kindergarten, library and cafeteria was built to replace the dilapidated kindergarten. The compact, plastered masonry fits in with the character of a small village in terms of scale, volumes, roof shape and materials used. Deep recesses and an array of window shapes, with offsetting, show that good modern architecture can be created out of conservative structures. Box windows in various sizes illuminate the interiors. In the kindergarten area, the windows are designed in such a way that their deep embrasures can be used by children as benches to relax and play inside the building. This architecture is convincing in its simplicity, with carefully considered modern details.

Although the clear architecture language of the new building in the middle of St. Lorenzen does not attempt to hide when it was built, it fits well into the historical image of the place as a building representing the modern. It was placed near the church plaza, and closes the space. This has created two independent square areas which are however still in communication one with the other. The sheer volume of the town hall, which also houses the public library, corresponds with the size of the surrounding buildings. The design reflects our times through the materials used and the structure of the facade. Variously sized windows are found in the concrete construction, varying according to the function of the room, which creates a refined and lively variation of the building's ratios.

Architect Othmar Barth has created a pioneering South Tyrolean hotel architecture by this building, proving that in South Tyrol modern regional architecture in its own right is possible, and that it doesn't necessarily have to refer to Alpine decoration. The refined, undulating building is nestled on the edge of the Caldaro vineyards and appears, though freestanding, to be integrated into the landscape, breathing the spirit of the place. The structure is slightly removed from the shore of the lake, and its restaurant, terraces and the shaded loggias of the rooms afford clear views of the meadows, even as far as the reeds on the glittering surface of the lake. Simple materials such as copper, wood, stone and plastered masonry add to the successful scale of the building; they also determine the interior and lend the hotel a sense of timelessness.