Objects of Desire
Getting Things Done includes thirteen prime examples of design and handcraft from Vorarlberg. They show the diversity of materials and areas of work; they are easy to handle and both practical and durable in daily use: furniture, storage boxes, a sport toboggan, a man's traditional costume from the Bregenzerwald region, a cigar humidor. All the products selected were submissions to the Handwerk+Form competitions run by the Werkraum Bregenzerwald and demonstrate the increasing autonomy of handcraft and product design in Vorarlberg. They are testimony to the careful execution of the work and the sophisticated way the materials are used – which is also clearly evident in the exhibition display.
Craftsmanship and Product Design
Alongside Vorarlberg's new architecture, handcraft has also become an unmistakeable hallmark of the region. Artisanal knowledge and prowess have been preserved in Vorarlberg over generations in small family structures. Innovation, flexibility, and improvisation have developed in working conditions that have often been difficult. Initiatives like the platform Werkraum Bregenzerwald (1999) attest to the increased importance and new self-image of handcraft and product design. Handcraft has thus become a significant economic factor. Its exponents are on an equal footing with professional designers from the realms of architecture, design, and art.
Handcraft and Architecture in Dialogue
Handcraft takes a holistic approach to problem solving and thus operates rather differently from industrial methods of production. In Vorarlberg this was recognized early on as a valuable asset. Handcrafting techniques and the forms of industrial production that have come out of them also play a vital role in the success and lasting quality of the building culture. The design tightrope that is part and parcel of the local building culture could only be walked with the help of good craftspeople. Innovative stimuli mostly came from planner-designers in the fledgling phase of new architecture in Vorarlberg in the 1960s. Drawing on its unbroken historical continuity, handcraft has now freed itself from this influence.
Architecture as Cultural Artefact
After completing its world tour, the exhibition Getting Things Done: Evolution of the Built Environment will become part of the Vorarlberg Museum's permanent collection. By reflecting processes of continuity and change in the society, Vorarlberg's building culture makes an important contribution to the region's cultural landscape.