This 18th-century stone pigsty, charmingly set in Germany's Pfalz Forest, likely deterred many a wolf in its day, but it was no match for Father Time. Prospects were grim for the forlorn structure until FNP Architekten performed the architectural equivalent of turning straw into gold.
From the exterior, architects Martin and Stefanie Naumann’s renovation of this dilapidated, 18th-century saustall is almost imperceptible. The original stone exterior is crumbling; the roof is in ruins. Yet instead of the dank, rotted interior one might expect to see when peering into this wasted shell of a building, one finds that the exterior is just that—a shell. Inside, the floors and walls are dry and clean, and the pristine timber-frame interior glows warmly against the cold stone facade.
The project, aptly named S(ch)austall (sau meaning pig, schau meaning show), was born of economy and ingenuity. FNP was assigned the task of creating a goldsmith’s showroom on the premises, but was unable to renovate the original building due to its poor structural state and budget constraints; nor could they tear down and rebuild due to zoning laws and the older structure’s newfound (over the course of the last century) proximity to the street. Their solution was to create a timber-frame facsimile of the old structure, inserting it into the stone envelope. Visitors are encouraged to explore the interstitial spaces of the two forms, exploring the skin of the shanty and the capable carbon copy within.
