A small museum celebrates the history of wild ibex in the alpine region of Pitztal, Austria

By admin - 2021-11-14

Ibexmuseum-S-Leonhard-external-view-cover-photo-Lukas-Schaller

A small museum celebrates the history of wild ibex in the alpine region of Pitztal, Austria

In a narrow valley of the Austrian Alps not far from Innsbruck, a small museum was built to tell the story of the extermination and the process of reintroduction of the ibex in this region.

Ibexmuseum St.Leonhard, view from the valley, photo Lukas Schaller

Designed by Atelier Rainer Köberl and Daniela Kröss Architektin, the Ibexmuseum St. Leonhard was conceived as a building in a strong relationship with the external environment and is integrated by an enclosure that houses seven specimens of ibex.
Built next to one of the oldest farmhouses in the valley, on the imprint of an old barn, the small tower building represents an important landmark visible from the small village below. The compactness of its volume and the reinforced concrete facade with the signs of the formworks made of rough wooden boards are a clear reference to the old barn.
The building is organized vertically: visitors walk through the exhibition from the bottom up and finally exit the straight steel bridge that connects the path with the animal enclosure.
In the interior exhibition space, similarly colored on the outside, large windows frame the views of the surrounding landscape.

Ibexmuseum St. Leonhard is among the nominees for the 2022 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award.

Ibexmuseum St. Leonhard – Project credits
Location: St. Leonhard im Pitztal, Austria
Architecture: Rainer Köberl; Atelier Arch. DI Rainer Köberl; Architektin Daniela Kröss
total area: 3088 m2
Usable floor area: 732 m2
Client: Gemeinde St. Leonhard im Pitztal

cover: Ibexmuseum St.Leonhard, photo Lukas Schaller