concrete, firebrick, and steel form community oven in the alpine landscape

backdirwas_5 community oven reinterprets Alpine traditions

As part of the Medienfrische festival, Studio Carraldo has created backdirwas_5, a community oven in Boden that reinterprets local Alpine building traditions through concrete, timber, firebrick, and stainless steel. The project’s name translates to ‘bake yourself something,’ and its aim is to provide a place for people to come together and one that is available to both local residents and artists in residence during their stay.

the flames glowing through the stainless steel shell | all images ©Studio Carraldo 

Timber formwork and firebrick shape the oven’s structure

The oven stands on a solid concrete base cast using formwork made from round timber logs sourced from the surrounding forests. The design team at Studio Carraldo draws from traditional log building techniques found in the nearby farmhouses, translating their character into a contemporary architectural language. The oven’s combustion chamber is formed as a dome of refractory firebricks. The dome stores the heat generated during firing and reflects it back into the interior of the oven, allowing the heat to be retained and used efficiently. The structure is enclosed by a sculptural stainless steel body.

concrete, timber, firebrick, and stainless steel define the structure

Stainless steel panels reinterpret traditional Alpine shingles

At the front, the body continues the width of the concrete base, while its sides taper upwards. A horizontal drip edge forms the upper termination of the oven. The wooden shingles widely used throughout the Alpine region are reinterpreted as large stainless steel panels. Connected through an interlocking system, the individual elements come together to form a precisely assembled outer shell. A small piece of architecture that connects local building traditions with collective use. 

the communal oven set against the rugged mountain

nearby farmhouses inform the oven’s architectural language

round timber logs from surrounding forests form the concrete formwork

the steel body follows the width of the concrete base at the front

a dome of refractory firebricks forms the combustion chamber

project info:

name: backdirwas_5

architect: Studio Carraldo | @studio.carraldo
design team: Valentin Fick, Franka Ruhnau, David Zauels

location: Boden, Austria

photographer: Studio Carraldo

photography editing: Jonas Zauels | @blackbvrds

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. See more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: Christina Vergopoulou | designboom