Manifesto

We love working with people who share our vision of creativity.

WE SEEK SYNERGIES WITH THE TERRITORY

and never stop pushing the boundaries

Practising architecture and design today means tackling sustainability issues, whether environmental, social or economic. In our projects, we venture outside of our field of work to pinpoint each territory’s synergies and the opportunities it has to offer. This allows us to read a place’s complex mosaic as a whole and discover, for example, that entire regions function better without car traffic. The quest for a healthier, safer, greener world is the catalyst behind our design choices.

WE BUILD STORIES

while designing buildings

We practise architecture to tell a narrative. We want to understand the place where we design; trace its history, capture its peculiarities, breathe its atmosphere. This pursuit of the profound trickles through to our client relationships: getting to know them, their desires, their passions. All of our projects start with a face-to-face: we aim not only to discover the site during this meeting, but to set the bar for the type of relationship we like to have with our clients: easy, honest and reliable.

WE TRANSCEND STYLISTIC EXPRESSIONS

'designed by NOA' can take unexpected forms

Our projects transcend style, typology, budget and scale. Each one unique in its own right, together they culminate in a design culture that reflects the collective to which they belong, made up of many different views of the world. The way of proceeding is always the same — thorough, curious, innovative — but the architectural result is always different. "What in the world did NOA create this time?" is the phrase we like to hear most.

WE CELEBRATE INTERDISCIPLINARITY

by teaming up with a larger network

When NOA is in charge of a project, the fundament is architectural and design creation. But design has countless touchpoints with the utmost diversity of subjects and ranges in its scale; from the spoon to the city. In our ideal project, you enter a NOA house, drink coffee from a NOA cup, and use NOA toilet paper. To do this, we call upon our international network: a think-tank of creative professionals who love challenges just as much as we do.

WE CONSTANTLY DIVERSIFY OUR FIELD OF WORK

with the creation of novel architectural categories

The first decade of NOA saw the elaboration of many hotel projects, where we set a standard for hospitality architecture and design. Each project is a different journey and challenges us to imagine how hotels will evolve. Novel project designs are a staple in our portfolio and have always been well received. Today we create a range of worlds that are vastly distinct: from an oceanfront villa to a 3,000m-altitude viewing platform, from a cultural hub to an exhibition pavilion, and from a minimalist lamp to a redevelopment area masterplan.

WE REMAIN IN CONSTANT MOTION

from Seiser Alm to Berlin to Milan, it’s a stone’s throw away

When we opened our studio in Bolzano, we found clients who allowed us the freedom to express ourselves. That said, we have always strived to stay inextricably connected to the exciting, international atmosphere of the big city, the birthplace of our expertise. That’s why we established three outposts in Berlin, Milan and Turin: to constantly feed our curiosity, in and out of the office. And all that we absorb from these places flows directly into our projects.

WE OSCILLATE BETWEEN CRAFTMANSHIP AND TECHNOLOGY

existing know-how meets tomorrow's progress

Architecture is thought, representation and craftsmanship. In each of these elements, the most sophisticated techniques of the past merge with the boldest advances in technology and innovation. When we present a project, we create an immersive animation to instantaneously put the client inside the project and spark dialogue. When we design a shingle roof, we study how it was done 100 years ago. Experimentation is key.

WE EXPERIMENT TO AVOID ARCHITECTURAL BOREDOM

NOA is an open laboratory

We created our studio as an open laboratory, where experimentation and curiosity are driving forces. "Limits" are our constant companion, which we try to move, break and erase. We are not interested in doing "crazy" things, but we want to provide surprising interpretations of the spaces where our architecture is embedded. And where the landscape and its context are always the main players.

VIDEO CREDITS

1. Zallinger © Manfred Feichter
2. Monastero © KIWITREE Film, Stefanie Aichner
3. IDM Box, Südtirol Home © Ebner Film + Music
4. Apfelhotel Torgglerhof © KIWITREE Film, Stefanie Aichner
5. Ötzi Peak 3251m © Visual Minds: Marco Telfser, Florian Steiner, Peter Praxmarer, courtesy of Alpin Arena Schnals Senales
6. Transsensorial Gateway © Takt Film | Sound design © Ebner Film + Music
7. IDM Box, Südtirol Home © Ebner Film + Music
8. Hub of Huts © Markus Ranalter, courtesy of Hotel Hubertus