Renovation of an agricultural out-building, transformed into an atmospheric venue for celebrating parties as well as the local rural history.

Alberschwende is a municipality that is located at the thres hold between the Bregenzerwald hills and the Rhine Valley; with a population of 3000 it is situated more than 700 m above sea level. The characteristic village center – church, town hall, country inn – is set amongst traditional farmsteads complete with barns and stables. However, as in most comparable villages of the region, most agricultural out-buildings lie in a state of disuse. Their preservation and reuse is, nevertheless, of crucial importance for the identity of the settlement structure. The old stable in Alberschwende, located in second row of the village center, belonged to the estate of the socalled Mesmer house. The municipality and its mayor, Walter Rüf, decided to convert the building into a small agricultural museum which could double as an attractive venue for small events, meetings, concerts and festivities. In the course of the conversion, as much of the old building fabric was preserved as possible. Silver fir, a traditional local material, was used for the extensions and fittings, producing a sensitive dialog between the clean, abstract details of the new intervention and rough surfaces of the existing structure which bear testimony to the craft tradition and to the harsh living conditions of the past. Two large skylights and a wide footbridge draw attention to the new use that the building has been put to. text: Otto Kapfinger "Hermann Kaufmann Wood Works"