Bespoke Bathrooms tours home town architecture in Austria
Bespoke Bathrooms’ designer Lisa Millbacher is in Austria visiting her family’s home town Dornbirn. A picturesque market town, Dornbirn is located in the country’s western state of Vorarlberg, well know for its interesting architecture – both contemporary and historical.
Europe’s largest wood-shingle onion dome tops the Martinsturm in Bregenz, the province’s lakeside capital. The tower, which was used as a storehouse before becoming a watch tower in 1600, can today be climbed for splendid views of the town.
Also in Bregenz is one of Lisa’s favourite buildings – the Festspielhaus which houses a traditional opera house, home to lesser-known operas and an open-air lakeside stage, with spectacular sell-out productions every summer. This modern building has a large public area with a water feature – a favourite with children on a warm summer’s evening.
In nearby Nenzing, at the foothills of the Alps, Lisa will be visiting Artenne, a traditional wood farmhouse dating from 1841 and recently converted into a cultural centre for contemporary literature, film and art. Local architect Hansjörg Thum took great care to retain as much as possible of the original structure and materials in order to preserve a style of building which has largely disappeared from the area. The former farmhouse is now a multi-level exhibition hall which has to date won three architecture awards.
Also on the agenda for Lisa’s trip is a visit to specialist tile makers Karak – discovered on instagram – which Bespoke Bathrooms wrote about earlier in the year. This exciting ceramic studio was founded by a family of artists who use traditional materials and age-old techniques in a very modern expression.
Image credits:
Martinsturm: Curt Huber, Bregenz Tourismus & Stadtmarketing
Festspielhaus: Bruno Klomfar, Festspielhaus Bregenz
Artenne: http://www.artenne.at
Karak: www.karak.at