Screening on location: Matteo Thun

We are pleased to announce a film and discussion event of the Dutch Mountain Film Festival (DMFF), which will take place in the new space of the second phase of the GTB Lab. An afternoon where, in addition to the screening of the ARD documentary about the Tyrolean architect Matteo Thun, we will - as he does - consider the question of how to build ecologically and sustainably in the mountains.

Matteo Thun, architect of the mountains

Documentary from the series about ecological architecture in the Alps.

Year: 2021

Director: Frieder Käsmann

Playing time: 44 minutes

Language: German

Date: 3 November 2024 - 16:00

Location: GTB lab

Tickets

For some time, architect Matteo Thun, born in the Italian city of Bolzano, has been occupying himself with the question as to how buildings can stay in harmony with the landscape and the ecology of the Alps. The globetrotter, who loves coming home, spends a lot of time in the mountains.

His Vigilius Mountain Resort, a hotel high on the Vigiljoch in Soth Tyrol, built entirely from timber and consciously blends into its surroundings, has drawn international critique. It provides an answer to some of the most pressing questions regarding tourist architecture in the Alps: how can ecologically sustainable buildings be constructed using local materials? How can a contemporary design language be found that respects traditional building cultures and at the same time provide an innovative impulse? How do you make tourist infrastructure more aesthetically pleasing for an audience which has a penchant for design?

“I have learned more about architecture from hill-farmers in South Tyrol than I did at university,” he explains. “Those who live in the mountains have always had one abiding problem, that of poverty. Having so little forces you to make do with what you have: anything that has no use is worthless. And that’s what good design is all about.” Thun has produced other examples of high-quality Alpine architecture. In Katschberg in Austria, for instance, with two residential tower blocks, where he has proven that high-rise construction can be sensible in a landscape that is three-dimensional by definition and he has been active for some time in the outlying areas of the Bavarian Alps. In Bad Aibling, he was involved in the”City of Wood” project, an environmentally friendly neighbourhood of timber houses, and in Bad Wiessee, where he planned the area surrounding the new iodine-sulphur bathhouse.

About the Dutch Mountain Film Festival

With its rolling uplands, sunken lanes, steep-sided valleys with fast-flowing streams, charming half-timbered houses and a softly spoken dialect, Zuid-Limburg defies all the preconceptions that most of us have about the Netherlands. This is where the mountains begin: the backdrop for the Dutch Mountain Film Festival.

This week-long festival of film places mountain scenery, mountaineering and mountain culture centre stage. Its films and documentaries pay homage to the great outdoors, the majesty of the mountains, the awe-inspiring role of mother nature, and the diversity of mountain cultures, both near and far. The annual festival puts together an exciting programme of historical dramas, gripping documentaries, accounts of do-or-die and experimental outdoor adventures, and exceptional arthouse films. The best films are presented with a DMFF Award.

DAV Climate Award

The DAV Climate Award, an initiative of the German Alpine Club (DAV), is given to the film that the jury believes tells the most compelling story of climate change or environmental degradation in the mountains. The award-winning film must throw a critical light on climate change and/or the effects of environmental pollution in the mountains. The film will also present possible ways in which individuals or society might counteract these changes.

Not just film

The film programme is complemented by an array of side events including presentations, workshops, exhibitions, masterclasses, a trail run and a cycle tour. A compelling reason, if one were needed, for mountaineers, lovers of the great outdoors, film aficionados and frequent cinema-goers to pay a visit to the highest, perhaps even the most uplifting film festival in the Netherlands.