Neue Wohnform Ragnitz, Graz, 1965–1969

GÜNTHER DOMENIG/ EILFRIED HUTH

What began as a specific development study for the Ragnitz district of Graz became an extensive experimental investigation into the idea of “megastructure.” Too experimental for the clients – the two young architects were paid but not commissioned – the project received the Prix d’Urbanisme et d’Architecture in Cannes in 1969 and therefore garner-

ed international attention. Its focus lies with the individual and their needs. The project is a clear rejection of traditional bourgeois forms of housing, which find their primary expression in the popular desire for the home for the single nuclear family and clearly opposes the waste of land, an approach that is more controversial today than ever.

The Neue Wohnform Ragnitz was actually designed as a realizable project. Every detail is formulated and goes as far as including the design of the individual living cell (“Habitat X”), which in turn, as a central element, was designed in a participatory manner by the potential residents. It is a clear manifestation of Huth and Domenig’s architectural standpoint, which in the 1960s could also be found in forward-looking projects by the English group Archigram as well as in the visionary designs of Yona Friedman and Constant Nieuwenhuys, or in works by exponents of the Austrian architectural avantgarde such as Haus-Rucker-Co, Hans Hollein, Coop Himmelb(l)au, Missing Link, and Zünd-Up.

Objects

Stadt Ragnitz at the FRAC

The FRAC Centre Val de Loire hosts an extensive collection of originals by Eilfried Huth and Günther Domenig. Unfortunately, they were not made available to us, but you can find further information about the project Stadt Ragnitz here: https://www.frac-centre.fr/_en…

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