Bauen in den Alpen

Building in the Alps documents and comments on the architecture award Constructive Alps. For ten years, this international award has highlighted climate-friendly construction and planning between Ljubljana and Nice – including renovations and new builds, single houses and ensembles. The book presents 35 projects with texts, images, and plans, such as the renaissance of Valendas, a village in the canton of Graubünden featuring the inn by the fountain, the Türalihus, and the settlement at Burggarten. It also covers the Kaufmann joinery and carpentry, a production center for wooden buildings in Reuthe, Vorarlberg. Another featured project is the Rinka community center in Solčava in the Slovenian Alps, which plays a crucial role in tourism and village life in the widely scattered community. Additionally, there is the Borgata Paraloup in Rittana in the Piedmont mountains, where art and culture are bringing new work after many years of decline. Lastly, the wooden high-rise in Grenoble represents a groundbreaking collaboration between city and countryside in the French Alps. The book includes essays by Gion A. Caminada, Paolo Cognetti, Köbi Gantenbein, Asa S. Hendry, Benjamin Quaderer, and Uroš Zupan. Constructive Alps is a contribution from Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein to the Alpine Convention. It advocates for beautiful and social, economic and ecological construction – in short, building with reason. This book illustrates how this can be achieved in the Alps.