Architectural Design V-IX: Falera Village - Attempts after the Community of Fate (A. Caminada)

Abstract

In HS21 in Falera, we will investigate the question of whether, in our time of individual action and unrestricted access to materials, places can emerge that are able to inspire us.

Objective

In teaching, we remain true to our goals and do not want to teach students a certain type of architecture - be it in terms of methods, images or styles. Rather, what needs to be developed is an idea that supports the location. The idea must be a spatial equivalent of the design. In the course of the semester, the focus is on the material and construction used, and also on the spatial atmosphere that can support a certain event. In the end, the idea, shape, construction, material and atmosphere should be in a coherent relationship. Architecture requires a fine perception of what already exists and a courageous design for what is to come. As a basic requirement for both moments, we consider a sustainable attitude to be developed from the lifeworld collective. The aim of the course is to increase the sensitivity to such an attitude. At the same time, the skills should be learned to make this attitude effective. Dealing with the immediate reality of construction and material plays a key role in this.

Content

There are places that touch us. The conditions that led to it were very different. In the mountain regions, for example, foreign capital worked on important trade routes or at the base of pass crossings, in other places the power of faith and religion. In remote regions, living conditions were very modest. Due to the limited availability of materials, people had to be inventive. The possibilities for action were not limitless. It was necessary to observe the regularities written in the materials. The power of a place and its architecture emerged from the repetition of the almost identical. Many mountain villages were in a similar situation. There were major changes towards the end of the last century. Above all, tourism and the hotel industry, followed a little later by the construction of second homes, led to modest prosperity. The new opportunities resulted in a radical decline in agricultural livelihoods. The social structure of the village and the influence of the church have fallen. Liberation from these mighty bonds has been a relief for many. Effects were not lacking. Individual forms of life and the disappearance of local knowledge led to a leveling of phenomena in the entire Alpine region. The power of a specific place has largely been dissolved. The freedom gained also has a downside. The canon of values ​​that characterized the culture of space has disappeared. Orientation guidelines are always in question. The big change also took place in the Graubünden village of Falera. The small farming village became a tourist place. Falera still likes to see itself as a farming village. Agriculture is still present. With the change, the farmers have moved to the edge of the village. The stables in the village center are empty or have been converted. Holiday homes were built in the style of farmhouses. The stable entity, which used to be an indispensable element of the rural typology, has been replaced by the car garage.

Resources