Introduction

The vai Vorarlberger Architektur Institut is an interface in the field of Baukultur*. We bring together architects, other design professionals and clients with craftspeople and actors from business, academia, the arts, culture and politics and address the issue of architectural quality through exhibitions, events and publications.

For professionals we are a platform for networking and training. For clients and all those interested in cultural issues we are a source of ideas and inspiration. For children and young people we offer an enjoyable initial contact with architecture and the way in which the world around them is shaped.

Our role is to represent and communicate the personal and social value and added value of good architecture. We evaluate architecture as a reflection of wider social and cultural processes and, in doing so, address social, political, economic, ecological, technological and aesthetic influences and effects.

Our objective is to strengthen Baukultur* in Vorarlberg. Evolution requires education. This is why we encourage our public to examine the content and forms of representation and the impact of architecture, with the aim of contributing to an increased awareness of architectural quality.

The Vorarlberger Architektur Institut emerged from an initiative launched by members of the ZV Zentralvereinigung der Architekten Vorarlbergs (Architectural Association of Vorarlberg). In February 1997, around 20 individuals – architects, Baukünstler** and representatives of clients and the building authorities – met for a weekend retreat in St. Gerold Priory to discuss the purpose and objectives of an institution devoted to the long-term strengthening of architecture in Vorarlberg. This led to the creation of the association “vai Vorarlberger Architektur Institut”. Since 2003, the office of this association has operated on its behalf as “vai gemeinnützige Vorarlberger Architektur Dienstleistung GmbH”.

* An explanation of the term Baukultur in English can be found at www.davosdeclaration2018.ch

** The Vorarlberger Baukünstler is a group of architects and creative craftspeople who came together in the 1980s to form an opposition to the established professional bodies.