Vipitenum

A proposal to revive one of the archetypical buildings of the alpine, medieval town of Sterzing. It seeks sufficient, durable forms of not only structural, but also social and environmental repair. It is an exemplary, small-scale attempt to address a problem faced by many historical town centres: the migration of inhabitants to sprawling suburbs.

The particular typology of Sterzing's townhouses mostly dates to the 13th century. Arranged in a dense, almost uniform grid, they symbolised equality for the emergent bourgeoisie. The elongated plots (up to 70 meters) consist of a front and rear building, formerly residential and farm buildings. The analog building survey of the entire structure helped finding an approach to this typology and comprehend the essence of its original elements. Thus, the projects ground floor becomes again publicly accessible, extending through the entire plot as an arcade. The inclined barrel vaults extending from the roof will be freed from obstruction, allowing light to enter and reach the ground floor. The inserted staircase, connecting the apartments above, integrates in this zone of public and private interaction. The use of common areas, especially in the front building, is being underlined, promoting a positive interdependence of its inhabitants. The front building will be renovated using carefully considered measures: targeted placement of a simple, sufficient thermal envelope (biogenic insulation plaster) leads to durable details and low construction and operating costs. In terms of thermal proficiency, the townhouses have a 15x better facade-to-living space ratio than detached single-family houses in the suburbs, no matter how „ecologically“ built they may be. In addition to their social qualities, these buildings, often misunderstood as outdated, show their contemporary ecological potential. Above the historic ground floor of the rear building, the upper floors from the 60s will be replaced using highly perforated bricks in a monolithic, single-layer construction, matching the language of the archaic, original structure. The purposeful reclamation of existing buildings is of great significance, addressing many defining issues of our time: conservation of resources, reduction of energy consumption and infrastructure via increased density, reduction of sealing of valuable soil, revitalisation of social life and preservation of cultural assets.