S(ch)austall - FNP Architekten

Usually, I am not that much into snappy, witty names for built projects. I don't know ,it just feels a bit too much like an ironic semi-academic thing from the nineties. But I'd have to make an exception for this project by the Stuttgart firm called FNP Architekten. They named the reconversion of this old shed somewhere in Rheinland-Pfalz (in the south-west of Germany) S(ch)austall, a combination of Saustall (pigshed) and Schaustall (showroom), both the old and the new use.

But as nicely chosen the name might be, it is rather meagre in comparison to the loveliness of the building itself. Whereas a building such as this old pigstall would normally be torn down to make place for a new building, the architects came up with another approach to the crumbling, old structure from the 18th century. The architects used the strategy of a "house within a house". They devised an infill for the existing structure, that enhanced the existing structure. For instance, the existing holes in the old structure (that used to be windows) now look rather modern. I just love this approach to renovation, actually playing on the specifics of the site. And I'm not the only one digging this, considering the fact that building won several awards.