Linthal, located at the end of the Glarus valley, carries a rich agricultural and industrial heritage that is still visible in its built environment, marked today by many underused or vacant buildings. Once a vibrant rural hub, it now bears the character of a transit zone, with essential services found only further down the valley. Yet within this apparent emptiness lies the potential for renewal. The unique landscape and close-knit scale of the village invite new ideas for how people might live, work, and engage with nature. Linthal is not defined by the anonymity of cities but by community spirit, resilience, and a deep connection to the land. Qualities that can become the foundation for a future shaped by sustainable agricultural practices and a strengthened rural collaboration.
In order to create and maintain such a regenerative farming concept a new actor is introduced that concentrates the responsibility for administrative and organizational as well as distributary questions in one figure. Various agents are part of a regenerative farm and ask therefore for the orchestration of the system cycles. With the One Roof Cooperative a contact point occurs. Combining two associations under one large roof: the farmer’s and the gardener’s association, the cooperative fosters dialogue, support, sharing and negotiations. Located in a former farmhouse, it connects Linthal’s traditions on several levels. Remnants in the ambient land evoke the presence of hidden networks and practices that are then illustrated by these artefacts. Some of them still fulfilling a purpose, some being reprogrammed and others standing their ground as artworks.
All together form a composition that allows people to experience natural landscapes and agricultural practices in a humble way without being disturbed. The scenery is about celebrating what is already there, identifying the potential and making it productive again. This does not solely imply economic profit, but more significantly the enhancement of communal identity and the collective appreciation of rural traditions and crafts.
Architecturally speaking, the former housing unit is transformed into the administrative interface of the cooperative, while the barn part gets a clear communal and production or processing based orientation. Together they break with the linearity that was predominant in Linthal before and where everything passed through. Now it invites us to stay, learn, exchange knowledge and spend time appreciating the land and its advantages. Increasing energies all over the village come together in the farmhouse, get refined and then distributed to customers and interested parties. The large roof provides not only symbolic shelter from weather conditions for the program. It is also offering a space for gathering, for festivities and workshops, allowing for engagement in agricultural practices and the celebration of simple but honest joy of high-quality products. It is embodying the love for nature and tradition and shows its appreciation for handicraft, in architecture and in agriculture.
By not being fully insulated, the building questions the spatial needs architecture has to provide in a rural and food processing setting. Therefore, the project challenges how architects could work with existing buildings and proposes settle adjustments that blend in seamlessly while still showing that something is happening.
