Graz School

The question of whether the ​“Graz School” was an architectural movement or a group is difficult to answer and at any rate not the most important issue. To quote Friedrich Achleitner: ​“Whatever works or architects are subsumed under this term, the phenomenon is so characteristic and independent in its features that it holds a firm place in the architectural history of the second half of the 20^th century.” The ​“Graz School” had its beginnings in the drawing studios of the then Technical College in the early 1960s; today it would be described as a bottom-up movement. Many of the works were rebellious, untamed, rejected any kind of tradition, responding to the social consensus of the purely economically driven years of reconstruction, dramatically over-articulated, as Achleitner put it, and yes, also clamorously vociferated, intent on self-realisation.

There are extraordinary works that have brought Graz architects recognition beyond the region, including Günther Domenig’s multipurpose hall at the Schulschwestern school in Graz (with Eilfried Huth) and his Z‑Bankfiliale in the Favoriten district of Vienna, the works of Michael Szyszkowitz and Karla Kowalski or the Kiang restaurant in Vienna by Helmut Richter. These are remarkable creations that established their reputation: the co-determination models of Eilfried Huth, Volker Giencke’s greenhouses in the Botanical Gardens, his church in Aigen or also the buildings which drew attention to Klaus Kada from the district town of Leibnitz. These all went to establish an international reputation and the appointment of many Graz architects to Austrian and German universities.