We had played with these three blocks and many other ‘logi- cal’ layouts until we could do no more, and had them all shot down by the client. Then we became impatient, remembered Alexander the Great, and the harmonica form of the building was born. Honestly, I am normally a more orderly, humdrum, rectangular kind of guy, but once the decision to risk such a dynamic building configuration was made, it was tempting to go the whole nine yards. The three main components were allowed to express themselves through different materials and detailing. Walking around the building, minor shifts of viewpoint produce major changes in appearance. Odd angles in plan and elevation, structural elements of different materials, poking everywhere at random, highten the general sense of chaos and offer a welcome counterpoint to the rather uniform and regimented housing de- velopment surrounding the building. The children are shown an alternative to this world. They are encouraged to explore colour, form, texture, structure, and are confronted with living examples. The beams, posts, balconies and handrails become masts, tackle, yardarms, decks of pirate ships. Writing these words I find them a convincing rationale for the seemingly whimsicaI forms that were chosen. In fact, I would gladly be able to say that this is how we always intended to design the building, but you know that it is not so: we were pushed into it by external forces, by impatience, by emotions, by accident. When it was too late to turn back we picked up the pieces and ran with them. Working through the design new doors opened, new views appeared, new ideas emerged, ram- bling on aimlessly without much apparent logic, just like life itself. In the end there was a building that I, and more importantly, the children, really like. The experience of this project has reminded me that “the end never justifies the means”. That as long as we loose ourselves in the task, loosing sight of the end is no problem. I really needed that! g
client:
Marktgemeind Lana / Comune di Lana Maria Hilf Strasse 5, I-39011 Lana/BZ, Italy
architects:
Florian Maurer Architect, Naramata, BC Dr. Arch Heinrich Zöschg, Lana/BZ, Italy
structural engineer:
Dr. Ing Stefan Ladurner, Merano/BZ, Italy
mechanical and electrical engineer:
Walter Malleier, Lana/BZ, Italy
contractor:
Empresa Edile Stampfer, Bolzano/BZ, Italy
completion: gross floor area: construction cost:
2005 1,400 m 2 e 3 million
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