Betriebsgebäude der Alp Puzzetta

You could call Puzzetta the "red alp". From head to toe, the four new parts arranged one behind the other like stairs are wrapped in red aluminium. Only the windows and doors protrude from the metal shell in silver. A little off the beaten track, but in the same style, the stable stands for the alpine pigs.  The colour red, which is otherwise rarely used in the area, is intended to draw attention to the alp and to set an accent. On Puzzetta, located near Fuorns in the Val Medel, just off one of the routes up to greina, modern architecture meets an old-fashioned use: the goat's summer.

Marlene Gujan and Conrad Pally, the architects of the Alp, have remained quite traditional in terms of design. Because the model of the Puzzetta is very close: the Ziegenalp Stgegia below the dam wall on the Lukmanier Pass, which was also renovated with the participation of the architectural office from Curaglia. Stgegia is also four-part and staircase-like adapted to the terrain - just like Puzzetta.The four-part division makes sense: it corresponds to the workflow of the alp. Twice a day, the shepherd drives the currently about 350 goats to the new building, where they are first brought in groups to the top part, a shelter. From there, the animals reach the second part, the milking parlor for 44 goats each. The milk obtained continues to flow into the third part of the building, the cheese dairy. And at the bottom of the fourth part is the Sennhütte with a roof room, which could also serve as a night camp for hikers. Finally, the Scotsman from the dairy ends up as feed in the remote pigsty.

The use of aluminium as an outer skin also makes sense: the weather on Puzzetta is so harsh that the timber frame hidden under the red shell needs a protective jacket to be able to withstand wind and weather. The wood comes from the valley, water and electricity for the operation as well: At Péz Ault, a new spring has been installed for Puzzetta and a turbine is also operated with it.