THE USE OF TRADITIONAL SHINGLES ON THE MODERN BUILDING FACADE COVERING IN VORARLBERG / A

In the Alpine regions wooden shingles are considered to be the traditional roof covering. In the areas with particularly hostile climatic conditions, they have also been used for facade covering. Shingles boast of several qualities. They may be considered an attractive and long-lasting covering solution. When appropriately laid, they may last up to 50 years, which is much more than with other types of roof covering. Although the use of shingles has diminished considerably, a comeback of this building material can be observed. The paper describes the successful application of shingles in Vorarlberg, Austria, where the use of shingles in facade covering is part of tradition. In the towns of Nüziders, Wolfurt and Dornbirn, the architects Baumschlager and Eberle have used them for the facades of modern buildings with flat roofs, thus combining the rational ground plan with the modern cube composition and the traditional material for the facade. Their solution represents an interesting way of introducing modern architecture into the traditional setting of the Alps.