Editorial

摘要

In the first years of the new millennium South Tyrol deliv-ered an unexpected architectural miracle. Following all the hype about the purist Swiss and Vorarlberg Baukunst and the triumphs of the bold, data-fuelled "Superdutch" strategy this autonomous mountain province in the heart of Europe demonstrated plenty of optimism and self-confidence in built form. Here central themes of the current architecture debate such as identity and resources played a special role and were handled in innovative ways. Two decades later it seems that the zenith has been passed and the "new intellectual infrastructure", as Bressanone architects Sandy Attia and Matteo Scagnol describe a core element of regional building in our interview, has been almost completely built. But precisely this changeover to the everyday mode of the various European crises and dealing successfully with them at regional level, which calls for considerable stamina, seems to us particularly interesting and instructive enough to enquire about the present state of things. A provisional interim balance: the projects have become smaller, but more sophisticated; the volume of building may have reduced but in formal terms is far more varied. After the demonstration of an independent regional identity between north and south, now building more variety can and should be afforded in order to playfully read in a new way the apparently rigidly constructed understanding of identity. The results are convincing and should provide encouragement to continue. Where, if not in this region which, despite everything, remains prosperous, can the interest and the necessary design leeway in political and economic terms be found? But unfortunately the rampant obsession with intellectual and administrative standardization and regulation is spreading in South Tyrol also - this issue is intended to combat this trend. The two project reports from the neighbouring states of North Tyrol and Vorarlberg, which deal with the issues of "life and death" in the form of an apartment building and a cemetery, serve as flanking measures in demonstrating what is perfectly feasible.