PRODUCTIVE WALLS

Revitalisation of dry stone walls as places of productivity and habitats

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Corinna Menn
Spring 2021 – ETH Zürich
Group work with Michael N.
Bergell – Aufzeichnungen eines Territoriums
Bondo und Muntac, Bergell

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description

Bregaglia, which used to be a thriving area, is unfortunately no longer the busy transit point it once was. In order to give the place a new attractiveness, we developed a project to revitalise the cultural landscape with the help of old techniques and the possibility of new vegetation zones due to climate change.
The proposal is to transform the historic cultural landscape around Muntac into a new form of agriculture in the spirit of viticulture. This is intended as an impetus for the valley and as a motivation for our architectural action. We want to draw inspiration for new architecture and new uses from the alpine pragmatism and beauty of the dry stone walls.

We utilise the great passive potential of terracing with dry stone walls to ripen the grapes and press the wine. In a large communal storage facility in Bondo, the local phenomenon of air cooling from the ground is utilised for an optimal ripening process in the barrel. The warehouse in Bondo is intended to become a place of social exchange, where winegrowers can exchange ideas and tourists can gain an impression of local production.
The intensive dialogue with the place and its history, as well as the revival of old knowledge that has fallen into oblivion, is intended to give something back to the place in this way. This is an incredibly wonderful experience.