Map of traditional alpine building skills, techniques and materials

27.10.2025

Discover the treasures of Alpine architecture! Our "Genius Loci" archive, which was created as part of the EU Interreg project Bauhalps, collects traditional knowledge about building methods, techniques and materials from the Alpine region. It also makes actors and region-specific relationships visible.

REGION 1: TRENTINO (ITALY)

Relationships

- Actors: Architects, engineers, employees, community members.
- Actants: CLT wood, shou sugi ban-treated timber, concrete skeleton, panoramic landscape, acoustic panels.

Knowledge

- Tacit: Craftsmanship in timber construction, acoustic design, spatial comfort.
- Explicit: CLT paneling, Kielsteg roofing, modular office layouts, circular design prin-ciples.
- Absent Present: First-time use of shou sugi ban by Alpenos; symbolic telescope-like building shape.

Resources

- Cultural Heritage: Adaptive reuse of a failed shopping center.
- Locally Sourced Materials: Timber, rock wool insulation.
- Life Histories: Innovation Room as a community hub; rooftop used for employee and public events.

REGION 2: SALZBURG (AUSTRIA)

Relationships

- Actors: Planners, builders, local authorities, residents.
- Actants: Historic timber buildings, stone masonry, digital planning tools, flood-prone landscapes.

Knowledge

- Tacit: Block construction with dovetail joints, moss insulation, rammed earth floors.
- Explicit: Hybrid wood-concrete systems, BIM planning, modular façade systems.
- Absent Present: Traditional plaster textures, historical salt trade influencing mate-rial scarcity.

Resources

- Cultural Heritage: Rauchhaus Mühlgrub, OH456 office, BH-Salzburg administrative building.
- Locally Sourced Materials: Spruce, Untersberger marble, larch wood.
- Life Histories: Adaptive reuse of sawmill site; critique of marble law books as sealed, lifeless surfaces.

REGION 3: ALLGÄU (GERMANY)

Relationships

- Actors: Master carpenters, surveyors, volunteers, youth groups.
- Actants: Renaissance wooden ceilings, sandstone crypts, reused barn structures.

Knowledge

- Tacit: Reed roofing, vaulted ceilings, acoustic optimization through solid wood.
- Explicit: Structural reinforcement of barns, historical surveying techniques.
- Absent Present: Lost Madonna altar; oral histories in attic collection.

Resources

- Cultural Heritage: Church miracle-of-light, aristocratic crypt, granary museum.
- Locally Sourced Materials: Recycled wood, sandstone, lime plaster.
- Life Histories: Eventstadl as a community venue; attic as informal learning space.

REGION 4: UPPER BAVARIA (GERMANY)

Relationships

- Actors: Construction firms, students, planners, researchers.
- Actants: Hybrid timber-concrete systems, prefabricated modules, solar installations.

Knowledge

- Tacit: Modular timber production, acoustic insulation, community integration.
- Explicit: BIM planning, DGNB certification, KfW standards.
- Absent Present: Challenges in concrete separability; research on hybrid joinery.

Resources

- Cultural Heritage: CampusRO as a model for student housing.
- Locally Sourced Materials: Wood wool insulation, prefabricated timber.
- Life Histories: Regenauer's production site as a circularity showcase.

REGION 5: BOHINJ REGION (SLOVENIA)

Relationships

- Actors: Architects, local artisans, educators, hospitality staff.
- Actants: Timber exoskeletons, edible landscapes, seismic joinery, alpine symbolism.

Knowledge

- Tacit: Hayrack-inspired design, passive solar orientation, folk-craft integration.
- Explicit: Triple-glazed windows, geothermal systems, GLT roof structures.
- Absent Present: Reconstructed Vila Muhr from ruins; underground passage linking heritage sites.

Resources

- Cultural Heritage: Hotel Bohinj, Vila Muhr, Hiša v Alpah, Vrtec Bohinj.
- Locally Sourced Materials: Larch, Bohinj stone, untreated timber.
- Life Histories: Kindergarten as civic anchor; hotel referencing Triglav ascent.

REGION 6 PROVINCE OF PADUA / VENETO REGION (ITALY)

Relationships

- Actors: bioarchitects, reed specialists, radioaesthetists.
- Actants: Marsh reeds, cork insulation, electromagnetic fields, radon mitigation systems.

Knowledge

- Tacit: Reed vault construction, lime plastering, bioclimatic design.
- Explicit: Ventilated crawl spaces, natural glues, electromagnetic shielding.
- Absent Present: Mudhif reed techniques from Mesopotamia; forgotten reed ceiling traditions.

Resources

- Cultural Heritage: Casone rural house, ethnographic park.
- Locally Sourced Materials: Marl bricks, cork, marsh reeds.
- Life Histories: House as a living lab for bioarchitecture.

REGION 7 PROVINCE OF VICENZA / VENETO REGION (ITALY)

Relationships

- Human Actors: Museum curators and guides, craftspeople and artisans, local communities, associations.
- Actants: Materials, landscape features, built heritage.

Knowledge

- Tacit: Craftsmanship, embodied practices, dialectal terminology.
- Explicit: Historical regulations, museum documentation, educational transmission.
- Absent Present: heritage revival, forgotten techniques.

Resources

- Material resources: Clay, wood, stone and minerals, kaolin.
- Symbolic Resources: Architectural identity, cultural continuity, emotional resonance.