the Dolomites, a grandiose territory in northern Italy

From the Venice lagoon, on a clear day, you can see them perfectly with their snow-capped peaks all part of the year. Although the Dolomites seem within reach, it nevertheless takes a good two to three hours to drive to reach this mountain range, an integral part of the Alps, but with very distinct landscapes. Spread out on the border of Italy and Austria, the Dolomites are characterized by a sedimentary rock, dolomite, which produces these very particular rocky spurs, flanked by impressive cliffs.

It was a French geologist, Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu, who brought to light, at the end of the 18th century, this geological composition which, a little later, would be recognized by the naming of the said massif after his surname. This is how the Dolomites – listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2009 – find a place on the maps, while we also refer to the province of South Tyrol (Trentino-Alto Adige, in French) to designate the area.

Organic form

The massif is relatively vast, punctuated by peaks flirting with 3000 meters (Marmolada, Tre Cime, Piz Boè…), while the roads to explore the territory are particularly winding. This leaves the leisure to enjoy the grandiose, not to say unique, landscapes which make the Dolomites a destination of choice for lovers of pure nature. But very quickly, we are struck by discovering, even at the bottom of a lost valley, a refined art of living, often served by particularly innovative architecture that we would not necessarily expect in a destination that initially seems very remote.

This impression becomes obvious when you reach the summit of Plan de Corones (2275 meters). There, in the heart of the ski area, two museums have been erected: the Lumen is dedicated to mountain photography and was designed by the architectural agencies EM2 and Demogo in the former arrival station of the ski lifts coming from Riscone . The second, the MMM Corones, seems to emerge from the rock. It was the architect Zaha Hadid who designed this very organic form, partly underground, to accommodate one of the six museums imagined by a real local star: the mountaineer Reinhold Messner who wishes through this series of places to exhibition, called Messner Mountain Museum, pay homage to the massifs which brought it to the firmament of this “conquest of the useless”symbolized by high mountain climbing.

“It is a real architectural feat, because the approximately 400 steel panels cladding the structure are not identical in their shapes. The building is like a puzzle”points out the museum guide. Hikers and skiers can thus enjoy a real cultural stopover during their journey, especially since the Lumen also houses a table, AlpiNN. Its interior design was entrusted to designer Martino Gamper by three-star chef Norbert Niederkofler, already present in the valley at Atelier Moessmer.

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More than perfect agreements

This example is not a unique fact which would be driven by the economy of excellent gastronomy, because it is indeed the entire hospitality sector which is particularly inclined to bring the taste of update the buildings housing the establishments. At the bottom of the slopes, or sometimes along them, it is not uncommon to see hotels with very contemporary architecture standing alongside buildings that are much more traditional in their design. However, nothing is out of place in the landscape, and even more so, it does not give rise to controversy. Here, when we decide to build from scratch, we are not trying to play mountain pastiche or traditional true-false. The work on shapes and the research into materials are uncompromising and often offer innovative interpretations of mountain architecture using materials and iconography specific to the territory.

A major reason for this: the presence of an architectural scene embodied by agencies such as Noa, Pedevilla, Modus, Peter Pichler, Martin Gruber, Armin Sader, even Matteo Thun… particularly dynamic, dealing with sponsors who have no not afraid to dare. Echoing this observation, the list of hotels and restaurants to play the game of modernity is impressive to say the least: whether these are addresses initiated by groups with an international dimension – like Como and Adler present at Alpe di Siusi or Falkensteiner in Riscone, at the foot of the Plan de Corones – as well as more local, not to say family, businesses, like Atto in San Candido, Anders Mountain Suites or Forestis on the Plose estate, Milla Montis in Maranza, Schgaguler in Castelrotto, Zallinger and Icaro in Alpe di Susi, Bühelwirt and Olm in the Ahr valley… To carry out the coatings for the facade of the Atto hotel, by For example, the Pedevilla agency decided to use purple-tinted sand from the nearby river. At the Falkensteiner, architect Matteo Thun made extensive use of wood to decorate the 5-star complex.

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Zero folklore

In Plose, Andreas Plattner, owner of the very intimate Anders Mountain Suites, entrusted architect Martin Gruber with the task of replacing his parents' classic guesthouse with a « villa » with very modernist shapes. In Obereggen, the ski area called on Peter Pichler to build a new mountain restaurant called Oberholz. “We noticed that the unique silhouette of the building, with its three glass facades, quickly made the rounds on social networks and, in fact, attracted customers sometimes coming specifically to the estate for a meal”explains the station’s communications manager.

Thus, contemporary architecture can become part of a region's tourist offering, completely getting rid of folklore. And this way of changing the living environment is reflected through different types of buildings – whether public facilities, such as fire stations, tourist offices, meeting rooms. escalation such as company headquarters, and of course homes, even farms. Proof of this is that, even in the heart of rurality, creative forms allow the art of living to evolve without distorting it.

Information : on Idm-suedtirol.com and Suedtirol. information