Werkraum Bregenzerwald
The culture of building and living is everywhere you look in the Bregenzerwald. The locals have been appreciating the artisan production methods employed in
small and medium-sized enterprises since way back when. Reliability, sound finishing and a good design mean that craftsmanship and trade are the largest
employers in the Bregenzerwald. Around 40 % of the working population are employed in such enterprises.
Nowhere else in Europe will you find such a comparable density of workshops. The baroque churches and monasteries created by the representatives of the Au
Guild of Maser Builders in earlier times, are works of art-historical significance. Today it is the craftsmanship, with its beautifully designed and practical
products, that has made a name for itself beyond the region. The Handwerk+Form competition, held every three years for over 20 years now, shows the public how
experts from all areas of design cooperate with craftsmen from the Bregenzerwald in order to develop useful objects which do justice to their material and
shape.
A house dedicated to craftsmanship
Intensive planning took four years - in February 2012, the building works for the new Werkraum Haus in Andelsbuch commenced. The architect of the house is
Peter Zumthor, from Switzerland - an internationally renowned architect with close ties to craftsmanship. It was during the building of the Kunsthaus in
Bregenz that he met and came to appreciate the craftsmen in the Bregenzerwald Werkraum. Since then, many craftsmen from the Bregenzerwald have been working for
the maestro from Switzerland. His design for the Werkraum Haus is based on two ideas: on the one hand, the building serves as a meeting place. On the other
hand, it is a large showcase for the culture of craftsmanship in the Bregenzerwald. This idea finds expression in a protruding roof made from wood and a facade
made from glass. There is no distinction between inside and outside - the landscape flows through the building. The craftsman community in Andelsbuch is
getting a facelift right in the middle of the village. The house is set to open in Summer 2013.
Bregenzerwald Werkraum
Since its establishment in 1999, the Bregenzerwald Werkraum, organised as an association, has been providing a platform for innovative craftsmanship in the
Bregenzerwald. It currently comprises 85 innovative firms, mainly involved in wood processing, such as joiners and carpenters, but there is also a handful of
locksmiths, stonemasons, bricklayers, fitters, electricians, painters, upholsterers, textile processors and cobblers through to the exotic such as coppers and
wood carvers. Most of the firms have up to around five employees, some of them are one-man workshops, and only a few have ten or more employees.
Qualities of craftsmanship
Work on the spot, reaction to special cases, direct commissioning, closeness to customers and flexibility are quality standards of this craftsmanship,
specialised skills and a creative instinct are needed, acquired in a highly developed culture of craftsmanship and naturally handed down to the next
generation.
This store of knowledge and skills is maintained and continually extended: raw materials – such as the silver fir – are cultivated to their most exquisite
form, small batches in the field of furniture construction open up new markets, the pre-production of construction elements in the field of hotel construction,
for example, is making progress. The latest manufacturing technologies such as CAM and CNC have been introduced, the finish of coatings is expanded, for
example: craftsmanship meets omnipresent engineering. Hence, it comes as no surprise that you can find kitchens
from Hittisau in Athens, that the furnishings of a hall of residence in Massachusetts come from Schwarzenberg or that, in 2008, a living unit from Reuthe was
visible on the roof of the MoMa in New York.
Public relations work, advertising, marketing – the Werkraum provides all those advantages which industry has over trade. Yet without a huge budget: instead,
it has capital typical to craftsmen – brains and ability, a network, links. And so an interested public in Vienna, Munich and Paris have seen exhibitions put
on by the Werkraum, for example.
The Werkraum is also a regular subject in the specialist press, and has been described as the “landscape of knowledge”. Yet that is not all: the Werkraum
has always been involved at a local level, such as in training, in schools, in specific construction projects, in dealing with historical building stock. It is
a contribution towards the structural change of the region, and an example of social competence. Despite its international reputation, many deliveries still go
to the customers in Vorarlberg and a major portion remains in the valley. And so these trades make an important contribution towards the prosperity of the
valley community.
