Vernacular Architecture as a Multi-Author Collaboration: Farmhouse Atelier with a View of Speicher | Jaehee Shin MSc Arch ETH SIA

SPACE February 2025 (No. 687) 

Farmer Bearner Mühle was born in the village of Wy-Zähen, located in Kanton Bern, Switzerland. Together with his wife Elisabeth, he lives in a farmhouse built in the 1850s and continues to work in dairy farming. This farmhouse offers a view of the village’s oldest granary, constructed in 1705. The granary, a treasure trove for farmers, was used to store harvested grains, important documents, and fabrics. It was strategically built to balance safety from fire – located at a distance from the house and positioned on the wind’s opposite side – and proximity to prevent theft, as it remained within sight of the main house. Since June 2024, I’ve spent considerable time walking, observing, writing, measuring, and researching the granary, driven by a deep admiration for it. I needed a space to develop and complete my writing, drawing, and research. This led me to search for an unused area within the large-roofed farmhouse. Over coffee, interviews, and dinners with the Mühles, I hinted at my interest in renting a small space. Although I initially preferred the tool storage shed above the parking area, it was actively in use. Instead, the Mühles offered me a rarely-used small guest room, which I happily rented. As the farmhouse is designated as a Swiss Federal Cultural Heritage site, any major alterations, such as expansions, require architectural permits and consultations with heritage officials. We mutually agreed to avoid such interventions.

I began by accessing archival materials on granaries from nearby villages through the Swiss Federal Office for Cultural Heritage Preservation. I measured and drafted plans for the granary and farmhouse, analysing the flower and butterfly motifs on the granary’s façade, their forms, and spatial arrangements through drawings. Viewing this vernacular architecture as the product of layered historical narratives, I aspired to contribute, however modestly, to its ongoing evolution as one of many authors in its timeline. I decided to honor the slightly kitschy wooden finishes of the existing farmhouse, maintaining its original palette while selecting primary and secondary colours to enhance the s...