The stone house in Steindorf
Just around the corner from Lake Wörthersee, in Steindorf on Lake Ossiach, is one of the most architecturally significant buildings in Carinthia: the stone house by Günther Domenig.
With the realization of a footbridge on a narrow lakeside plot in Steindorf on Lake Ossiach, the construction of a manifesto began in 1982. With the precise language of architecture, Günther Domenig articulated there messages that are disseminated and continually quoted in the metropolises of the world. The landscape forms and their characteristics influenced the architect and thus became the design basis for the "Stone House" project.
The jagged polyhedra of steel, glass and concrete, spectacular pathways as well as crystalline - only comprehensible after comprehensive observation - geometric spatial structures bear witness to this. Hills" grow out of the ground, from which in turn "rocks" break. These are penetrated by spaces and paths that reach below the water table.
The building has been a listed building since 2012. In 2016, it was included in the international Iconic Houses platform as the world's youngest house museum. The innovative force in Günther Domenig's projects reaches a peak in the Steinhaus, internationally it is probably the most famous work of Carinthian contemporary architecture. The transformation of regional landscape elements, resulted in an architectural sculpture with tangible spatial intensity. The inspiring density of the site is now to be exploited through a multi-layered program of symposia, workshops and presentations.
Since 2014, Architektur Haus Kärnten has been working together with the Günther Domenig Steinhaus Privatstiftung to create a vibrant future in the Steinhaus. The architecture connects both houses, which are active regionally as well as internationally.
For years, the building has persisted in its purpose as an architectural workshop and think tank between the disciplines. Its amorphous outer shell and its complex spatial concept create a partly spiritual, but above all inspiring environment, which is now to become a meeting place for architects and visual artists from the Alps Adriatic region and beyond. Initially, the Architekturwerkstätte Steinhaus will be open to all architecture and design schools in Austria for workshops and will also serve selected "artists in residence" from Austria. In the longer term, the location should be able to mutate into the international Steinhaus Residence.
The Steinhaus will thus become a place of encounter between architecture, art, business and the public, which will ultimately not only preserve the house itself by revitalizing it, but also fertilize the building culture of the region and architecture itself in a forward-looking way.
Source: architektur-kaernten.at
