CONSTRUCTIVE Alps

An international jury selected the awardees from among 350 entries. The three top winning buildings are located in the Bregenz Forest in Austria, Valendas in Switzerland, and Comano Terme in Italy.
The award-winning Alpine buildings were convincing with regard to aesthetics as well as sustainability. Among the 350 entries, twelve renovations and new buildings were awarded. The architects of the award-winning buildings dealt scrupulously with the land, the building heritage, and the technologies. «There is sensible tourism architecture, and there is confidence with regard to Alpine farming», says Köbi Gantenbein, president of the jury, on occasion of the award presentation in the Swiss Alpine Museum in Bern. «The jury welcomes the further architectural development of villages, as a significant contribution to sustainability. There are already many buildings in the Alps that can be applied to new purposes or continued to be used.» The prize money of EUR 50.000 is divided among a new building in Austria, two buildings in Switzerland, and one new building in Italy. Eight further buildings were granted a special recognition by the jury.
The exhibition «Constructive Alps» presents all 32 projects that were nominated for the award. The exhibition shows how "sustainability" was implemented with regard to the individual renovations and building projects. The presentation of all nominated projects gives the visitors an impression of the variety and complexity of sustainable building, which requires the consideration of a multitude of aspects.
The 32 panels hanging in the rooms present, on one side, an expert view of the buildings. The other side of the panels shows how the users regard the built and renovated residential buildings, industrial buildings, leisure facilities, and communal buildings. With a plummet, the two perspectives are straightened out. The plummet also serves as a symbol of sustainability: it is the balance of well-conceived architecture and properly functioning life, living, and utilization that makes the buildings sustainable. The four award-winning projects are slightly elevated on a wooden pedestal. They are presented in more detail in a roughly three-minute film in which the users tell us how they bring the buildings to life.
The plummet points to the location of the building. As can be seen from the listed countries, sustainable architecture has reached all Alpine nations.
The special edition of the architecture magazine 'Hochparterre' also deepens the exploration into this topic. It contains detailed information on the individual projects.