LP The lesson of Tyrolean Modernism II Franz Baumann and the Landhaus Zach Daniel Zwangsleitner Politecnico di Torino Franz Baumann was born in 1892 in Innsbruck, Austria. After training as bricklayer, and additional architectural training in a construction company in Meran he found a position in the construction company Grissemann & Walch in Innsbruck where he worked until 1927. In the same year he founded his own office in Innsbruck. Being a member of the Nazi Party he was Head of the Regional Asssociation of Architects in Tyrol from 1938 to 1944 (Hambrusch et.al. 1998). After World War II until 1953 he was responsible for the reconstruction of numerous damaged buildings. Franz Baumann is considered, together with Lois Welzenbacher and Clemens Holzmeister, the most imprtant representative of modernity in Tyrol. In the same moment he is inheriting strong references to the regional building traditions as well as an intense engagement with the specific characteristics and peculiarities of the building site. His professional life stretches from the 1920s to the end of the 1960s. His extensive work includes the construction of modern hotels (Hotel Monte Pana, 1930, St. Christina, Italy), restaurants (Weinhaus Happ, 1952, Innsbruck), townhouses (Villa Holzmann, 1956, Innsbruck), school buildings and many more. His most famous project though remains the Nordkettenbahn, relatively the three cable car stations Hungerburg, Seegrube and Hafelekar from 1927/28.
protruding, expressively shaped chimney adds a further characteristic. The overall impression one gets in wandering through the all wooden interiors of is best decribed with “Baumann’s magical minimalism at the level of material […] in the introspective, wood-lined interior of his Zach house” (Frampton 1992, p.127). On the outside, we are confronted with strong references to the traditional alpine farmhouse, the whitewashed brick ground floor (here white colored concrete) and the upper floor carried out in wood that, although in another scale, can also very well be recognized in Siegfried Mazagg’s projects Hotel Berghof and Pension Bergheim that were built in the same period (see Archalp 11.2016, pp.98-102). Achleitner (1997, p.32) however critically questions the transformative achievement of this Baumann’s project. He draws a comparison to Edoardo Gellner and his more scientific approach in dealing with autochthonous architecture which he obviously values a lot higher. He then, after a short factual description of the Haus Zach assumes that Baumann is merely showing off his connectedness to landscape. It is especially the inward-sloping, pillar-like chimney (“angezogene Pfeiler als Kamin”) and the alpine, sloped porch roof (“das abgeschleppte, alpine Dach”) he holds responsible for this.
Landhaus Zach 1932, Reith bei Seefeld The Landhaus Zach is situated on a steep slope on the outskirts of Reith bei Seefeld, near Innsbruck. It is a two-storey building over L-shaped floor plan. The most outstanding external characteristic is constituted by the, typical for Baumann, material change (white colored concrete, dark wood) and the asymmetry. The building is further characterized by an asymmetrical saddle roof and an extensive arrangement of windows on the southwestern- façade. The
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