|
The Architekturzentrum Wien commemorates architect Hans Hollein “For sixty years Hans Hollein was the most influential and internationally important architect from Austria. No other Austrian architect made an equal contribution to the international debate and development of architecture. He repositioned architecture so that it aspired to influence life in its entirety and in this way made an important contribution to increasing the social importance of architecture in general.” Dietmar Steiner, Director of the Architekturzentrum Wien With the death of Hans Hollein (1934-2014) the international architecture scene has lost a unique universal artist and a world star of architecture. After obtaining his degree at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna in 1956 this student of Clemens Holzmeister studied in the USA and from 1964 onwards ran an architecture practice. His career really took off in 1965 with his design for the 16-square-metre Retti candle boutique on Kohlmarkt in Vienna’s inner city. For this work Hollein received the Reynolds Prize and a cash award amounting to 25 000 US dollars. He subsequently built in New York (Richard Feigen Gallery, 1969), in Mönchengladbach (Städtisches Museum, 1970-1972), in Frankfurt (Museum of Modern Art, 1991) and Berlin (Austrian Embassy, 2001), as well as in Clermont-Ferrand ("Vulcania" Museum, 2002). The Haas House on Stephansplatz is Hollein’s best known building in Vienna. His projects that were never built, such as the museum he designed for the Guggenheim in the Mönchsberg in Salzburg, also achieved worldwide renown. He was the first and to date the only Austrian to be awarded the Pritzker Prize (1985). The many other awards he received included the German Architecture Prize (1983), The Austrian State Prize for Architecture (also 1983) and the Bundesverdienstkreuz (1997). True to the motto that he coined in 1967 – "Everything is Architecture" – Hollein was not only a curator, journalist, designer and architect but also an archivist and historian. He designed furniture and door handles as well as a grand piano, he worked as an exhibition and stage designer, and as a visionary and architecture theorist he raised fundamental questions about space and urban development. As chairperson of the committee for urban planning and urban design, university professor, director of the Architecture Biennale in Venice (1978-90) and president of the Austrian Arts Senate he exerted an influence on the cultural affairs of his native country that went far beyond the impact of his own buildings. At the beginning of April the Az W celebrated Hans Hollein’s 80th birthday with tributes from Federal Chancellery Minister Josef Ostermayer, media theorist and artist Peter Weibel, as well as Hannes Pflaum, President of the Architekturzentrum Wien. |
|
 |
|
© Az W |
|
Press page Current events Past events Information: Ines Purtauf Tel.: +43 (1) 522 31 15 - 25 Fax: +43 (1) 522 31 17 Email: purtauf@azw.at |
| © Architekturzentrum Wien 2024 |
 |
|
|
|
|