Zuzana Törökova & Simon Platter
Valley Walls refers to the internalizing effect of the mountain landscape, the seclusion in a valley between rock faces or even behind built-up walls. The project consists of three parts. The first part, Refuge in Seclusion, contains the design of a retreat that is located on such a secluded place in the Alps, at the valley head of Trafoi. It is a place of shelter that does not concern escapism, the flight from the reality, rather searching and consolidating of a sense of one‘s self. The design is based on the two following parts. One of them is the approach to the place, the analysis of the context. The other part deals with the monastic architecture and its typology. These individual parts may also be considered separately. The project is based upon a site that is situated close to a place of pilgrimage, at the end of the high valley of Trafoi. It is a place of tranquillity in the middle of a vast mountain scenery. In this now re-found landscape, the intention is to propose a project that goes beyond the consumerism-driven Alpine tourism. By referring to the monastery architecture, the project aims to create an individual retreat and allow a chance for an encounter. The main focus lies therefore in the formulation of a simple single room and a common room and their relation to each other within the refuge. From the very beginning, the aim was to elaborate a precise architectural proposal trough plans and models by dealing with materiality and construction.
Die master thesis VALLEY WALLS, Refuge in Seclusion was supervised by Hans Gangoly (Institute of Design and Building Typology).
