English

How 7 little bus shelters bring culture, Business
and architecture under one Roof

For those who enjoy exploring an inspiring natural and cultivated landscape the Bregenzerwald is the ideal place. The way of life and the hospitality combine tradition with inventiveness – exciting and inviting. And those who drive through the Bregenzerwald increasingly do so by public transport – in the yellow Landbus. At the heart of the village the bus-top designed by local architects Bernardo Bader, René Bechter and Hermann Kaufmann is a visible symbol of this efficient day-to-day mobility and also expresses the contemporary culture of building. A stop that helps shape the character of the village centre. It was in this setting that the project BUS:STOP Krumbach was carried out. The association kultur krumbach invited 7 international architecture offices to design small bus-shelters for the community of Krumbach. The designs were given built form by skilled craftspeople from the region. With the project BUS:STOP Krumbach seven selected international architecture offices engage in a dialogue with the people, the landscape, the local culture of building and the tradition of skilled craftsmanship in the Bregenzerwald. With the help of architects from the region and skilled local craftspeople small functional buildings were created in public space.
For BUS:STOP Krumbach skilled handcraft played a central role. The perfection and mastery in working with different materials – above all wood, glass and metal – that were employed for the 7 bus-shelters apply the high standards for which this region is famous.
However, Krumbach has succeded in far more than erecting 7 bus shelters designed by international star architects in our village. The work suceeded thanks to the utmost generosity displayed by over 200 people. Through their work, their financial support, and their joy in implementing a shared dream they have created something lasting. With their exeptional achievements, their commitment and their obliging approach seven unique symbols of our innovative region have been built.

1. Zwing
Smiljan Radic, Chile

Smiljan Radic was clearly inspired by the handcraft and traditions in the Bregenzerwald.
The result: a design with references to the Bregenzerwald house “parlour”. Radic Transfers the intimacy to the exposed situation of a bus stop. A cut-out Piece of “parlour” placed in the landscape, disengaged from the context of the interior. A precisely detailed glass pavilion with a coffered ceiling of black concrete. Rural wooden chairs are provided as seating. A bird-house provides a playful aspect that both attracts attention and provides distraction, at one and the same time.

Partner architect: Bernardo Bader Architekten Dornbirn
Structural engineer: Mader Flatz Bregenz
Skilled trades: Felder Metall Andelsbuch, Holzwerkstatt Markus Faißt Hittisau, Oberhauser & Schedler Bau Andelsbuch, Spenglerei Manfred Baldauf Doren
Material suppliers: EHG Dornbirn, Glas Marte Bregenz
Main sponsor: Morscher Bau, Mellau

2. Unterkrumbach Nord
Ensamble Studio, Antón García-Abril | Débora Mesa, Spanien

Ensamble Studio sees itself also as a research institute for architecture. Time and time again they test materials by taking them to their limits. Ensamble Studio were fascinated by the elementary quality of rough, untreated oak planks and they way they are stacked to dry in timber workshops in the Bregenzerwald. The challenge was to make this into a spatial situation for the BUS:STOP. Just by layering the rough planks, arranged and positioned in way that produced a space that was both protected and open. The architects regard it as most important that the oak planks should remain untreated, their smell and the process of ageing makes the place somewhere specific.

Partner architect: Dietrich|Untertrifaller Architekten Bregenz Wien
Structural engineer: Mader Flatz Bregenz
Skilled trades: Zimmerei Gerhard Berchtold Schwarzenberg
Main sponsor: Hypo Vorarlberg

3. Unterkrumbach Süd
Architecten De Vylder Vinck Taillieu, Belgien

dvvt – Jan De Vylder, Inge Vinck and Jo Taillieu are among the main protagonists of the Flemish architecture scene. dvvt made their site visit on their way back to Belgium from the furniture fair in Milan, by breaking their journey in Krumbach. Crossing Alpine passes in a car made a strong impression on them. And then there was a chance encounter with a picture on a wall somewhere in Ghent. The geometric abstraction of a triangular form could have been made by Sol Lewitt. But at the centre of it was an irritation: a handyman had mounted a doorbell in this wall painting. Disrespectful. Now we look at the location of the BUS:STOP: an acute-angled situation, where three directions meet. And dvvt bring together their impressions and influences to make an object precisely for this place. A poetic act of folding triangular surfaces. A narrative about the place, about Sol Lewitt and about the Alps – called “April”.

Partner architect: Thomas Mennel / MeMux Schwarzenberg
Structural engineer: gbd Dornbirn
Skilled trades: Waldmetall Dietmar Bechter Hittisau, Haller Bau Sulzberg,Malerei Raid Krumbach
Material suppliers: EHG Dornbirn
Main sponsor: EHG Stahl Metall

4. Glatzegg
Amateur Architecture Studio, Wang Shu | Lu Wenyu, China

Pritzker prizewinners Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu from Hangzhou, China addressed the special location of this BUS:STOP with an unobstructed view in both directions. They designed a camera obscura, a conical space that opens to the street and, with a window in the rear wall, frames the visual axis to the mountains. In this way they created a space with a special, focused perception of the landscape, which in all their projects is always more important than the buildings themselves.

Partner architect: Hermann Kaufmann Schwarzach
Structural engineer: Merz Kley Partner Dornbirn
Skilled trades: Kaufmann Zimmerei Reuthe, Haller Bau Sulzberg, Spenglerei Manfred Baldauf Doren
Material suppliers: Glas Marte Bregenz
Main sponsor: Sutterlüty Lebensmittel

5. Kressbad
Rintala Eggertsson Architects, Norwegen

Sami Rintala, Dagur Eggertsson and Vibeke Jenssen move along the boundaries between architecture, design and art. Their “objects” respond to the place with densification to create a special narrative. This is the background to their decision to use the tennis-court site. It was only here that they could augment the BUS:STOP with an additional social function. It is both a shelter for people waiting for the bus and a small, metaphorical, yet entirely functional, spectator stand for the tennis courts. Very reduced and traditional, timberbuilt, shingle-clad. The special aspect of the interpretation is the combination of need and possibility.

Partner architect: Baumschlager Hutter Partners Dornbirn
Structural engineer: Mader Flatz Bregenz
Skilled trades: Tischlerei Steurer mit Krumbacher Handwerkern, Schindeln Peter Lässer Lingenau, Malerei Raid Krumbach, Musikverein Krumbach und Offroader Krumbach
Material suppliers: Mario Sutterlüty Hittisau, Tischler Rohstoff Hohenems, Glas Marte Bregenz
Main sponsor: I+R Schertler Bau

6. Oberkrumbach
Alexander Brodsky, Russland

Alexander Brodsky was confronted with a difficult site for his BUS:STOP. A small left-over area at the edge of a site occupied by a neat single-family house stands. But he reacts in a fundamental andsovereign way to this restriction and places a radically simple but precisely built wooden tower on the site. At the same time his tower has a striking archaic quality. Openings on all sides, glazed on three of them. And then there is the “first floor” with its small unglazed windows. Here the wind blows and birds can fly through. With a table and bench Alexander Brodsky provides a relaxed atmosphere to wait in, if the bus should happen to be late.

Partner architect: Hugo Dworzak / Architekturwerkstatt Lustenau
Structural engineer: Merz Kley Partner Dornbirn
Skilled trades: Zimmerei Gerhard Bilgeri Riefensberg, Spenglerei Manfred BaldaufDoren, Oberhauser & Schedler Bau Andelsbuch, Malerei Raid Krumbach, Raum in Form Raimund Fink Krumbach
Material suppliers: Tischler Rohstoff Hohenems
Main sponsor: CREE - Rhomberg Bau

7. Bränden
Sou Fujimoto, Japan

Sou Fujimoto’s architecture derives its strength from the dream of a new unity of architecture and nature. Here architecture should not adapt itself to nature, should not imitate it but through its own geometric laws ensure for nature the space it deserves. With this philosophical approach architecture no longer has a protecting function. It is an open dialogue with nature. For this Sou Fujimoto offers spatial frames as possible forms for interaction. A further development of this concept is his BUS:STOP for Krumbach. A“wood” of thin, steel rods. In this open structure a staircase winds upwards. No, this BUS:STOP offers no protection against the weather, but instead opens up new dimensions in the perception of
place, space and nature.

Partner architect: Bechter Zaffignani Architekten Bregenz
Structural engineer: gbd Dornbirn
Skilled trades: Eberle Metall Exclusiv Hittisau, Malerei Raid Krumbach, Zimmerei Gerhard Berchtold Schwarzenberg, Haller Bau Sulzberg
Material suppliers: EHG Dornbirn, Collini Hohenems
Main sponsor: Vorarlberg Netz illwerke vkw

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