learning from the alps
by TIM, february 19th, 2020
Since I spent 1 1/2 years of my Architecture education in Europe, one of my favorite places to visit is still the Alps (Austria, Germany France, Italy, and Switzerland). The people there have adapted to their landscape of giant mountains, scenic rivers, high meadows and deep forests. For generations, their lifestyle has been shaped by this harsh but beautiful setting. They live, work, and play here and everyone we met was very friendly and happy (they must be doing something right).
When traveling through the Alps, I like to take the train to meet folks and the luxury of being able to look out the panoramic windows and take in the passing landscape. I can absorb more of the trip without needing to navigate a car. I actually feel like I am on stimulation overload when traveling through the Alps by train because so much is passing by that I want to see in more detail.
One way we slowed things down was renting ‘e-mountain bikes’. It was exhilarating to ride with some battery powered assist (you do have to pedal-especially when the battery dies-which happened once) on the narrow dirt and paved paths throughout the most magnificent mountain scenery and cozy villages with the occasional cow traffic jam with their clanging bells.
There is so much to learn from these mountain communities who have been thriving in the alpine climate for centuries. There are lessons on the designs of cities but also on living and playing in the mountains. While visiting the alps, in my college days, I did a journal of sketches because I love to draw (the reason I got into this profession in the first place). And as a student I remember walking though the Swiss village of Pontresina and seeing a very small hand carved wooden sign that read ‘Architect’ with an arrow pointing up an old narrow alley. That got me thinking that I could find a profession that was based in the mountains where I love to spend my time and it was through traveling that I discovered this.
All of us at Boden greatly enjoy traveling, and these experiences are also learning opportunities. One of my favorite Mark Twain quotes sums this up well for me:
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
A tangible value to traveling is seeing how people from other parts of the world have solved the puzzles of design, for example, in Switzlerland, instead of allowing snow and ice to unload from roofs and possibly damaging neighboring buildings, vehicles and even people, they’ve opted to keep the snow with shallow pitched roofs and snow stops, designing the structure to carry the snow load. With Boden’s experience of over 30 years designing for these conditions in North Idaho, we understand the way snow affects material choices, roof design and waterproofing details. We’ve also learned it’s important to evenly load the roof instead of using smaller snow-stops over entries which typically become damaged due to the glaciating effect of slowly sliding snow.
Stay tuned for future blog posts, where I’ll be writing about: Mountain Rural and Urban Architecture (Traditional to Contemporary); Interior Design; Bathrooms (not sure why but I have a fascination with European Bathrooms even those really tiny ones on the trains); Roof Design (including green roofs and patio roofs), Craftsmanship (from their fences to carved ceilings); retaining walls (sounds boring but actually pretty amazing what they do with their steep hillsides); privacy walls; planning full scale modeling (on site); public spaces; construction techniques and my visit to the Stockli Ski Factory!
Guten Tag!
Tim <):-)
