Austria designer farm stands out in struggling field

Austria designer farm stands out in struggling field

The Metzler farm attracts 10,000 visitors a year who come to explore the premises and check out the goats
The Metzler farm attracts 10,000 visitors a year who come to explore the premises and check out the goats. Photo: ARND WIEGMANN / AFP
Source: AFP

In idyllic western Austria, Ingo Metzler's goat breeding farm with its striking light wood panelling and big glass facades sets itself apart, aiming to survive in a sector in crisis.

"Architecture is a way of expressing our innovative approach and our values," says Metzler, 58, who took over and spruced up the family farm in Vorarlberg, a region which is a pioneer in sustainable design.

In the past three decades, the Alpine nation of nine million people has lost more than half of its 200,000 farms with the agricultural sector today accounting for only 1.5 percent of its GDP.

Vorarlberg -- with more than 200 architects for around 410,000 inhabitants -- has "a very old tradition of wooden construction... with a network of artisans always focused on the spirit of the times" and sought after all over the world, according to Metzler.

Read also

'Licence to hide': Western plastic waste dumped in Myanmar

Metzler said he had no other choice but to move upmarket in the face of "difficult conditions: sloping terrain, harsh climate, small production with significant fixed costs".

"We knew that we would not win the price war," said the farmer, who now sells cheese from goats' milk but also high-end beauty products containing whey.

PAY ATTENTION: Share your outstanding story with our editors! Please reach us through info@corp.legit.ng!

'Prestige'

Today the Metzler farm -- sporting solar panels and wood panelling from spruce trees from the region -- attracts visitors.

In idyllic western Austria, Ingo Metzler's goat breeding farm with its striking light wood panelling and big glass facades sets itself apart, aiming to survive in a sector in crisis
In idyllic western Austria, Ingo Metzler's goat breeding farm with its striking light wood panelling and big glass facades sets itself apart, aiming to survive in a sector in crisis. Photo: ARND WIEGMANN / AFP
Source: AFP

Some 10,000 people per year come to explore the premises and check out the some 100 goats.

Metzler says "animal welfare" is the priority with for example, dominant individuals able to access raised boxes "so that the animals are not stressed".

For the design, Metzler approached Christian Laesser when he heard the architect of schools and villas had rebuilt the family barn after a fire there.

Read also

Burp tax causes pre-poll stink with New Zealand farmers

"He came to see me. The fact that I grew up on a farm allowed me to know the specific constraints of this type of construction," Laesser tells AFP.

"Cheese factory, warehouses, cold rooms... I knew the processes," he adds.

Ingo Metzler says architecture students are increasingly interested in the agricultural sector with farms, in turn, opening their doors to the public with people keen to see where their food comes from
Ingo Metzler says architecture students are increasingly interested in the agricultural sector with farms, in turn, opening their doors to the public with people keen to see where their food comes from. Photo: ARND WIEGMANN / AFP
Source: AFP

He says architecture students are increasingly interested in the agricultural sector with farms, in turn, opening their doors to the public as many people are keen to see from where their food comes.

"People are very happy to see us at the forefront, while around us farmers are going out of business," says Laesser's nephew, Stefan Laesser, who also recently had his uncle redesign his farm, adding design gives "a certain prestige".

Metzler, too, is reassured: where others have left their farms, three of his four sons work alongside him -- with their own designs in mind.

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.