Last year, Marte.Marte Architekten completed a building that meets the functional requirements of a highway maintenance depot and impresses with its clear architectural language.

The Marte.Marte office around the Vorarlberg brothers Bernhard and Stefan Marte is one of the architectural scene’s favorite children. We have also reported on the concrete fetishists on several occasions, including in Baumeister 4/2015, when we presented the office’s bridge trilogy (Schanerlochbrücke, Schaufelschluchtbrücke and Kohlhaldenbrücke).

In an interview at the time, Stefan Marte told us: “With this imposing natural backdrop, every project is just an extra”. A statement that obviously applies to the breathtaking Vorarlberg rocky landscape. It does not apply to the location of the new Salzburg highway maintenance depot. On the contrary: the surroundings of the Salzburg maintenance depot are heterogeneous and even problematic. The traffic situation, small structures and the natural environment have a formative effect here. “The building site is located right at the gates of the historic old town of Salzburg. It is not in absolute no man’s land, but it is cut off by the huge traffic circle and the sloping terrain. A difficult site, a great challenge that appealed to us,” says Stefan Marte in an interview about the industrial plant.

The architects knew right from the start: “Something extraordinary can be created here.” But what kind of architecture do you choose for such a non-place, between a highway exit, meadow and pasture? Location and design process Marte.Marte built an introverted concrete fortress.

The design, which prevailed against 61 other offices in an open competition in 2011, was significantly influenced by the genius loci that also exists in this uncomfortable environment. The new Meisterei is embedded in the inclined plane of the north-east quadrant, literally growing out of it. The entrance to the entire complex is located on the north-west side of the site. Here you are at the lowest point of the inclined plane. “The positioning of the structures allowed us to ‘cut’ the building into the slope. The halls help us to easily overcome the ten-metre drop in height and create a hermetically sealed building.” A flat ramp leads up to the level of the existing underpass and can easily re-enter the traffic circle. This means that the entire fleet of Asfinag highway maintenance vehicles can swarm out immediately at any time of day or night. The maintenance depot, which went into operation in summer 2015, replaces the former Asfinag facility.

You can find out more in Baumeister 9/2016

Photos: Marc Lins

The Garden Travel Guide Switzerland portrays the entire spectrum of Swiss garden culture. Author Sarah Fasolin spent six months traveling through the country, discovering gardens that can only be reached by boat or cogwheel train.

Until now, Switzerland has lacked a garden travel guide that presents the entire spectrum of Swiss garden culture. There was a list of 600 possible gardens for the “Garden Travel Guide Switzerland”. 380 were visited and 300 were finally portrayed.

The entire spectrum of Swiss garden culture is represented in the guide. From a tiny artist’s garden of just a few square meters to a 120-hectare landscape park. From cottage gardens to castle gardens, from monastery gardens to collectors’ gardens, from Renaissance gardens to modern gardens. Author Sarah Fasolin spent six months traveling through Switzerland and discovered gardens that can only be reached by boat or cogwheel train. Gardens that were created between tank humps and gardens that won international prizes. Gardens in the lowlands and gardens at an altitude of over 2,000 meters. Gardens dedicated to a particular plant, such as fuchsias, chrysanthemums or cacti. And gardens with evocative names: Patumbah Park, Flower Mountains, Parco Negroni or Jardin de la Paix.
The garden travel guide is not simply a series of 300 garden portraits, but the reader learns a lot about the special features of Swiss garden culture in short introductory texts on the individual cantons. A garden agenda presents the most important garden events throughout Switzerland, including well-known festivals as well as special insider tips.

Sarah Fasolin: Garden Travel Guide Switzerland. 300 gardens and parks, 416 pages, gatefold brochure,
Callwey Verlag 2014, ISBN: 978-3-7667-2043-6, 19.95 euros. Available in the Callwey Shop.

The “Garden Travel Guide Switzerland” is also available as an app for iPhone/iPad/iPod under iOS 7, 4.99 euros.