An Alpine setting welcomes the new Ötzi Peak 3251m lookout platform by Noa* – Network of architecture, in which architecture, sculpture and graphic design are combined in a single design action, balanced to offer visual continuity and material harmony with the inert elements of this high-altitude location. Perched on the ground only at the strictly necessary points, the structure incorporates an existing cross, standing out in the panorama like a suspended construction on a dizzying rocky precipice, in the highest part of the crest of the Val Senales Glacier.
The parapet is marked by vertical sheets of Cor-ten in a modular sequence, following the rounded profile of the platform. The domino effect is interrupted at the position of an overhanging glass balustrade – speeding the heartbeat to produce an even more exciting experience – and by an opening of well-defined geometric lines whose angle aims the gaze towards the fascinating site of the discovery of Ötzi.
Though the platform interacts with the landscape, acting as a contemporary, recognizable sign, its specific evolutionary metamorphosis, and the mutable expressive impact of an oxidized chemical makeup – tactfully ‘raise’ it from its severe presence, instead making it into a non-invasive organic feature.
Photo © Alex Filz
