A+u 617 2022:02 Feature: Bernardo Bader

 The February issue of a+u features the work of Bernardo Bader, who has stayed close to his roots in Austria’s picturesque Vorarlberg region his entire life. Since establishing his studio in 2003, the architect has rapidly accumulated a stunning oeuvre in the villages and valleys of the Bregenzerwald. Each of the 60 felled spruces, firs, and elm trees used in the House by the Fens was accounted for in its entirety – becoming the building’s structure, walls, and furniture. Clay excavated on-site was pressed and air-dried into bricks. This act of “doing,” a stringency and devotion, expresses the character of the region. While his buildings may look ordinary at first sight, as though they have belonged exactly where they are since time immemorial, they exude contemporaneity, lightness, and youth. The experience of being in and around Bader’s buildings is to feel its “dialogue with the history of the area, response to the individual stories of the clients,” and “reaction to the landscape and architectural context,” as described in the opening essay by Arno Ritter. Florian Sauter further observes in his essay that it is “not an aesthetic aim,” but “the consequence of this progressive peeling off of the excessive and unimportant to gradually reveal the indispensable and important” that creates the “resolute calmness, clarity,” and perhaps, “anonymity” in Bader’s architecture. Sixteen projects are presented alongside contextual photographs and detail drawings to capture the placeness and character of each building. (a+u)