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Head+Strong


The Bregenzerwald Workshop as a model for a new craft, 2005. Published by oekomverlag Verlag München ISBN 3-936581-99-6 or www.oekom.de by Florian Aicher and Renate Breuss.

Something magical, hard to define, lies over the Bregenzerwald:  the elegance of the simple.  Here in the Alpine mountain region, a new culture of building and living has enfolded over the past few years, something that is manifest and that has sparked international interest.  The fabrication of crafts in small scale enterprises with high standards when it comes to craftsmanship and design which have become a trade mark and an important economic factor in the region.


The impulse transmitter for this development is the Bregenzerwald Workshop, initiative.  Craftsmen and designers are working together and have created a new work culture - in awareness of the unity of good use and beautiful design.  This accomplishment makes the rich culture in the region come alive, carries history forward and during the past few years, has led to a boom in handicrafts in the Bregenzerwald.  What has been created is a confident, headstrong alternative to the globalisation of bad taste, which is committed to the aesthetic contemporary as well as tradition on an equal basis.  

The Bregenzerwald Workshop is a convincing example of vitality and the willingness to innovate from the people living and working outside of the large commercial centres and the metropolises that set the tone.


This book is dedicated to these people and their accomplishments.  It begins with the work in the workshops, goes on to talk about the workshops and how they are run and then finishes with questions about design.  

The thoughts run through modern and historical times.  In dialogues with craftspeople, we look at the future through their philosophy and aesthetics as well as the economic and environmental history.  We want to get closer to this unusual phenomenon by visiting the region, looking at the landscape, taking a look at the history, immersing ourselves in the region and its traditions, looking at the outside from the inside, and comparing developments there in various ways:  The Bregenzerwald Workshop, its people, and its products.


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