Catholic Pedagogical Academy Graz Eggenberg, 1963–1969
GÜNTHER DOMENIG/ EILFRIED HUTH
© Photo: Gerhard Maurer, 2022
The competition win and subsequent construction of the Katholische Pädagogische Akademie was the first architectural project to be realized by Domenig and Huth. It was a spectacular initial success, beyond the projects of Hans Hollein or Arbeitsgruppe 4. The competition was an attempt by the Church itself to make a new start through contemporary architecture. Domenig and Huth’s project took a sensationally progressive approach by using exposed concrete and asphalt floors, drawing closely on the brutalist buildings of the Swiss architect Walter Förderer or the German architect Gottfried Böhm, who had in turn been inspired by Le Corbusier’s sculptural exposed concrete buildings. The predominant architectural design elements are reduction and the display of constructional and technical elements in combination with the effect of the material concrete itself in order to create a uniformity in the design.
