Contemporary arChiteCture in Graz

Field studies across town. Through the inner city on foot and by tram toward the west and east and south.

Graz Tourismus informaTion Herrengasse 16, T +43 316 80 75-0, F DW -15 info@graztourismus.at, www.graztourismus.at

imprint: Responsible for content: Graz Tourismus und Stadtmarketing GmbH. Concept and text: Karin Tschavgova. Design: Graz Tourismus und Stadtmarketing GmbH, Carina Fiala. Photography: Arch. Riegler Riewe (1), Atelier Giencke (1), Krug/ Flughafen Graz (1), Robert Frankl (1), Hotel Weitzer (1), Universalmuseum Joanneum (2), Peter Blundell Jones (1), Angelo Kaunat (Cover and 17), Gerald Liebminger (2), Gnther Linshalm (1), Zita Oberwalder (1), Paul Ott (25), Michael Schuster (2), Helmut Tezak (1). Translation: yplus, Graz, Printing: Druckerei Klampfer Austria-Export-Prospekt. Typesetting and printing errors excepted (2010). For ease of reading, gender-specific terms have been avoided. Nevertheless, the intent of the organiser is that masculine terms used should be interpreted as applying to both sexes.

WHEN SOMEONE SAYS A IN GRAZ THEY MEAN ARCHITECTURE.

More precisely, modern or better contemporary architecture.

With a density that even eclipses some other European metropolises. With a variety that proves that creative artists and freethinkers are very welcome in Styria. And with a level of quality that shows at first sight that juxtaposing old and new structures is no longer a fundamental issue. Let this brochure be your guide on a tour of discovery that will take you to the most thrilling examples of contemporary architecture in Graz. Just choose from: a relaxed walk through the inner city that will also take you up on the Schlossberg hill, to the historical crown of the town and the Stadtpark greenery. Or choose one of the three routes toward the east, west or south of the city comfortably by tram, from the Kunsthaus in all cases. Or would you rather choose for yourself? No problem; just choose the buildings that are particularly interesting for you and we will show you the way.

from local phenomenon To inTernaTional qualiTy producT Short introduction to modern architecture in Graz Tracing a successful synthesis of old and new: Walk through the inner city Westward or reaching modern architecture by tram East Side Off to the south! Out of Graz Information, guided tours, recommended books
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Tracing a successful synThesis of old and new.

Walk through the inner city

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1 It isnt just the gem of the almost fully preserved historical city centre that makes Graz so special it is also down to the successful combination of old and new. Buildings charged with history and sensitively refurbished, plus contemporary amendments buildings that can be read as confident gestures and have been cleverly added to the cityscape, all of the highest quality. This is how this city keeps itself young and lively. 1 KunsThaus Gallery
Lend | Suedtiroler Platz 2, Lendkai 1 | Peter Cook & Colin Fournier, GB (2003)

Whatever one might like to call this deep-blue, strange structure, within a very short time it became the citys most famous building. Seemingly weightless, the bubble rests on a glass pedestal. The exterior skin consists of more than a thousand curved acrylic sheets, which are lit from behind by innumerable light sources. Its belly holds two exhibition surfaces, one above the other, which are accessed via transverse travelators. The gallery of the vaulted top space leads to the so-called needle, a glazed city loggia, forming a visual brace between the bubble and the listed neighbour, the historic building of Eisernes Haus.

Gries and Lend: not so long ago they were still sleepy trading districts on the west bank of the river Mur, but today, having turned into extremely colourful and vital districts, they have become part of the centre. Enlivened by foreign cultures and a fresh young art scene, enriched by jovial pubs and trendy event venues, and indeed by the Kunsthaus with its mystical light show each evening. 2 square desiGn
Lendplatz | Norbert Mller (2000) no illustration

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Lendplatz 41 | Innocad (2008)

4 murinsel island
Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Kai, Lendkai | Vito Acconci, USA (2003)

Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Kai, Lendkai | Vito Acconci, USA (2003) In 2003 it was installed as a temporary eye-catcher but has now been given unlimited permission to stay. An artificial, shell-shaped island attached to the banks by means of two bridges. Its complex structure of steel tubes serves as both a vaulted roof for the caf and a concave receptacle for an open-air stage. The island can deal with high water as the two bridges are attached to moveable joints and the floats are located on poles. Island or ship, that is the question. 5 mursTeG
Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Kai, Mariahilferplatz | Gnther Domenig & Hermann Eisenkck (1992) no illustration

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Sackstrasse 7-13, Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Kai | Szyszkowitz & Kowalski (1991-2003), Nieto Sobejano, E (2010)

A clever expansion policy allowed the traditional department store to grow into a business empire. The purchase of many properties around the original building of Helmer & Fellner demanded structural renovation and the art of merging. During many years of reconstruction activities, Szyszkowitz & Kowalski showed extreme sensitivity. Light glass roof structures fit in confidently, bridges of fine steel-glass construction and glass-roofed courtyards form delicate links within the heterogeneous structure. The sports shop by the river shows the architects typical vocabulary of form: powerful sculpting, playful attributes and pastose colouration. The underground parking garage bright and customerfriendly was realised largely beneath the 400 year old building of Admonter Hof. The realisation by 2010 of a spectacular roofscape, designed by Spanish architects Nieto Sobejano, is a quantum leap of further expansion.
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7 lifT im BerG (lifT inside The hill)

Schlossbergplatz | Reiner Schmid (1999)

Thanks to new gastronomic attractions the Schlossberg or castle hill recently has become a must. The square at the foot also serves as a gateway to a widespread labyrinth of former air raid shelters. Two of these were transformed into the Dom im Berg (Dome inside the mountain), a sound-proof room of archaic ambiance that serves for events of all kinds. It was necessary to blast 5000 cubic metres of rock out of the mountain to accommodate the most rapid aid to ascent, the glazed lift. The effort has paid off. 8 caf-Bar aiola upsTairs
Schlossberg 2 | Siegfried Frank & Michael Rieper (2003)

A place of enormous urban quality was created here. Light and transparent, whilst bounded by a generous terrace, a space is created using but a few elements. A flat roof on slender steel supports, glass frontage of room height, which silently disappears into the floor at the push of a button, allowing inside and outside to merge. What more could you want? 9 schlossBerG resTauranT
Schlossberg 7 | Christian Andexer & Georg Moosbrugger (2007)

This restaurant was always recognisable for its exposed position. Now, after refurbishment, the place itself has been turned unto something special. The architects reacted both to the view the city below and to sunlight by using glazing of full room height. The generous space is subdivided into sought-after window seats and secluded areas by means of a lean and clear language of forms. The building is crowned by the Skybar offering all-round panoramic views. The uncovering of the remaining bastion walls reminds us of the historic soil on which we stand. 10 VolKsKundemuseum (folK life museum)
Paulustorgasse 11-13 | BEHF Architekten (2003)

For quite a while the museum, which was founded in 1913, had been skated around. This has changed since the entrance area was re-created to be more open and the exhibition surfaces more attractive. A visible sign of modernisation is the tube-shaped glass bridge combining the structures from different epochs into one building complex.

Tip: Check whether the folk life museum currently shows a special exhibition: www.museum-joanneum.at

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11 forum sTadTparK
Stadtpark 1 | Ernst Giselbrecht & Peter Zinganel (2000)

As a cultural institution the Forum Stadtpark is almost venerable, yet as a home to avant-garde artists it is as fresh and cheeky as ever. After years of throbbing vitality the building had become too small and some clever thinking was required because the general ban on construction in the Stadtpark forbade any kind of horizontal extension. So it was vertically extended. The new offices on the top floor are part of a dominant, brilliant white body composed of steel girders and horizontal lamellae. A widely visible sign expressing the versatility of the building. 12 oranGerie dor
Burggarten | Splitterwerk, Grabner & Partner, Brands United (2005)

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Splitterwerk work with surfaces and patterns. The architects, who refurbished this classical greenhouse and turned it into an event location, wish to put conventional points of view in question. Thus the central main space of the Orangerie was clad with one and the same ornamented wallpaper pattern ceiling, wall and floor fused into a golden mirror hall flickering, with blurred edges. Rather confusing, altogether. 13 old uniVersiTy
Freiheitsplatz, Hofgasse 14 | Alfred Bramberger (2007)

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Cathedral, mausoleum, castle, the late-gothic spiral staircase or the old Jesuit University: each of these historical buildings of the Crown of Graz shows the genius of old masters. Architects, builders and craftsmen, all of them contributed, and still do, to the brilliance of this city. The most recent example is the adaptation of the old university in its splendid library as a prestigious event centre. 14 Johan
Hofgasse 4 | Claudio Silvestrin, GB (1993)

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This mens fashion shop is anything but blatant. The shop designed by the renowned London architect is a solemn temple in which the art of selling is celebrated. Walls, shelves, changing rooms and the floor, all in grey, as though cast in one mould. Clearly evident: the architect stages the space elegantly, with subtle use of light.

Tip: On all the main routes through the inner city you can discover beautifully designed new shops. The contrast with the often centuriesold building substance is particularly attractive.

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15 haupTplaTz (main square)

Hauptplatz | Markus Pernthaler (2002)

Faades that date back to the Gothic period enclose a surface, which daily is filled with busy activity. It was necessary to clear out, apply order and zoning in order to give back to the square the full effect of its impressive triangular shape. Shifting the tram tracks at last yielded a satisfactory paved area in front of the Weikhardt watch shop, long a particularly popular meeting point for people from Graz. The uniform design concept for tram shelters and kiosks, using steel and glass, has a calming effect. The same is true of the mobile market stalls. The lighting arrangements are clearly finely-tuned to complement the squares faades and paved areas. 16 herzoGhof, GemalTes haus (painTed house)
Herrengasse 3 | Hans Gangoly (2002)

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17 sTeiermrKische sparKasse (BanK sTyria)

Sparkassenplatz | Reiner Schmid (Bar), Szyszkowitz & Kowalski (2006)

Those who do not know it would never suppose a building from the 1970s lies behind the finely structured crystalline shimmering faade. So what was needed was not only a significant face-lift of the banks headquarters but also a general renovation, which would cover both energy saving measures and altered functional requirements. Indeed the latter led to the installation of the Blounge, an altogether urban caf and restaurant at the equally newly designed square, where not only bankers would be able to have lunch. Currently a gap between this square and Andreas-Hofer Platz square is being filled by a new building planned by Szyszkowitz & Kowalski architects. Tip: Dont ignore the building of the Graz Stadtwerke (Graz AG), just because it is already 80 years old. It pays to have a closer look at this jewel of modernism (architect Rambald von Steinbchel-Rheinwall). Its worth seeing the cunning way in which an impression of greater height was achieved by distorting the scale in the staircases. 15

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Neutorgasse I Arge Nieto Sobejano & eep architekten (by 2011)

2011 a very important date for Graz: the Joanneum, Austrias oldest and second largest museum will be 200 years old. This important event has precipitated not only a re-thinking of the structure of the collection but also the tendering of an international architectural competition. Three historical buildings from different epochs are to be brought together in a functional and architectural whole, complemented by a new entrance for visitors. The solution by the Spanish architects makes the basement an attractive, light-flooded zone similar to the new entrance to the Louvre in Paris.
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WestWard
or: reaching modern architecture by tram

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By tram one can experience a representative cross section of quality construction in Graz. The stops on our excursion are like pearls threaded on a string: the technical college, dwellings, fine cultural buildings, hospitals, buildings for infrastructure and leisure facilities. Designed by architects who read like the Whos Who of the scene. Internationally of course.

Tip: Get on tram line 1 towards Eggenberg either at Graz Hauptplatz or at the Kunsthaus Graz (stop called Sdtirolerplatz / Kunsthaus).

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Mariahilferstrasse 2 | ifau & Jesko Fezer, D (2007)

A baroque, palatial town house, which was refurbished to house three mutually independent cultural institutions above one another. The new Haus der Architektur (House of Architecture) forms the basis and is the most public institution it serves as a passage way, lecture hall, exhibition space, office and bar all in a very small space. A radical compromise, reduced to a minimum of design, ideally inspiring an up-close discussion of architecture. Tram rouTe 1 To eGGenBerG
H A U P T P L AT Z S D T i R O L E R P L AT Z / K U N S T H A U S

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20 residenz zum weissen elefanTen (The whiTe elephanT)

Sdtirolerplatz 13 | Gnther Domenig & Gerhard Wallner (2010) no illustration

The former headquarters of the trade unions association rebuilt to become a building for living, office and shop spaces, with the addition of a multi-storey residential block in a quiet location. What is special is the new attic structure placed on top a sculpture stylish and streamlined like the body of a sports car. 21 rondo
Marienplatz 1 | Markus Pernthaler (2008)

The first thing catching ones eye is a distinctively bent, backwardleaning skin made of reinforced plastic panels. This skin protects the generously designed entrances to offices, flats and studios, which are also decorated with bushes and trees. Offices, flats and studios spread out over seven storeys above the ground floor. Before this boomerangshaped housing and office building, this was the location of the Graz Marienmhle mill. Living spaces with large glass surfaces and continuous balconies open up towards the garden, through which the millstream runs as in the old days. What was created here, within an urban problem area, has achieved a high quality of life and recreation value alongside big city flair. 22 haupTBahnhof (main railway sTaTion)
Europaplatz 2-10 | Christoph Zechner & Martin Zechner (2003)

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Since its refurbishment in technoid cool architectural language and the addition of a small shopping centre, it enjoys general acceptance, affection even. The large hall, which was allowed to stay as a monument to the 1950s, has become particularly popular with travellers since it was lined in a striking design by artist Peter Kogler in 2003, when Graz was capital of culture. Its popularity was so great that it was decided by vote to let the installation remain after 2003. Now all that is missing is a new development and improvement of the square in front of the station. 23 hoTel daniel
Europaplatz 1 | Refurbishment, design Werner Aisslinger, D (2005)

This typical post-war construction, designed by Viennese architect Georg Lippert, has become a must-visit since the latest refurbishment, which we would also like to recommend to the inhabitants of Graz. The motto: back to retro-styling with strong 1950s designs. The rooms: minimal and stylish. Those who cannot stay the night should visit the Espresso Bar. Coffee service in pastel colours just like the nightly play of lights on the faade and its balconies.

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24 helmuT-lisT-hall
Waagner-Biro-Strasse 98a | Markus Pernthaler (2003)

New life for a former locomotive assembly facility. The requirement was to create a flexible event hall, which would make old and new music sound equally good. A not altogether simple building task that was resolved in an exemplary, integrative way. The central part of the hall was replaced by a new concert hall, a massive twin-shell box with solid wood cladding inside. The slender steel beams were preserved in the foyer, which serves as an airy break area. Materials such as steel and glass highlight the industrial character. Massive bodies in fair-faced concrete, pushed into the hall above the floor on both sides, constitute the readily interpretable contemporary layer. 25 oBersTufenGymnasium (Grammar school)
Dreierschtzengasse 15 I Hans Gangoly (2002) no illustration

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26 fh-campus (uniVersiTy of applied sciences)

Eggenberger Allee 11 | Gonalo Byrne & Thomas Zinterl (2005)

Young blood for the former industrial district! The University of Applied Sciences forms the heart of the still-young campus the design corresponding with the language of new simplicity. Approaching, one sees a strung-out building body with a transparent base. Its partner, placed parallel, shows equally little accentuation toward the north, whilst its rear, directed toward the south, is freed up by two cubes protruding cheekily out of the building body. They house the canteen and auditorium and serve to structure the indifferent environment with a paved sun terrace and a garden with trees, water and plant beds designed by landscape architects ko a la. Mental work needs oxygen too, of course. 27 Bad eGGenBerG (BaThs)
Janzgasse 21 | Hemma Fasch & Jakob Fuchs (2010)

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Protection from the elements, yet generously opening up toward the extensive grounds this is the first impression of the newly built water world at the traditional baths, looking from the edge of the plot by the road. As though moving to embrace, the two building wings house wellness and bathing areas. Standing at the focus, the indoor pool is reminiscent of a slightly open oyster, gently embedded in the grounds, surrounded by grandstands and decking. Surely a treat for body and soul, and yet another highlight for Graz, city of architecture.

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Eggenberger Allee 90 | Purpur (2004), BWM Architekten (2007)

Anyone heading for Eggenberg should not miss out on the wonderful palace or its extensive park. Recently it gained an extra attraction: the Lapidarium, a repository of one of the largest collections of Roman stone artefacts in Austria. Quality demands quality. So the design by Purpur, a group of young architects, is more than just a protective shell for the historical finds. One significant design idea behind the airy construction, stretching between shape-determining panels and transparent boundaries, is a pathway through the show on several levels. With cubical, walnut furniture free of embellishment set before classically fine silk damask, clear and well-arranged this is how the palaces museum shop by BWM Architekten presents itself. 29 29 mulTi-purpose hall of The sisTers
Georgigasse 84 | Gnther Domenig & Eilfried Huth (1977)

Dont be shy; ask to be allowed in through the door to the convent. In the internal courtyard you get to see a key construction by the Graz School of architects. The multi-purpose hall, a structure of organic form with ribs and wart-like projections for the lighting, resembles the physiognomy of an animal. A lack of experience in the use of compacting shotcrete made the subsequent encasement in galvanised steel necessary. Astonishing that this bizarre structure functions to this day as a dining room, still with original furniture and still popular. 30 former Teacher TraininG academy
Georgigasse 85-89 I Gnther Domenig & Eilfried Huth (1969) no illustration

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31 landesKranKenhaus Graz wesT (proVincial hospiTal)

Gstinger Strasse 22 | Arge Domenig Eisenkck Gruber (2002)

In synergy with the accident & emergency hospital to which it is physically connected, the hospital expresses all the qualities for which the operator was striving. Economy, greater efficiency in operation and hotel quality not only for private patients. All this was guaranteed by the prize-winning architectural concept. Even the entrance area allows worries to be forgotten. The multi-storey hall and cafeteria, flooded with light, resembles a high-class hotel lobby. This forms the centre of the cross-shaped complex. From here one can make the short trip through the vertical succession of out-patient clinics, wards and treatment facilities. Corridors as bright as day open into friendly common rooms and lead to spacious patient accommodation with balconies. Excellent prospects of recovery.

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SCHLOSS EGGENBERG

EGGENBERG/UKH

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Crowds of students, mansion district and the green valley towards Mariatrost

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That modern architecture in Graz enjoys such a good reputation has for a long time been attributable to two main pillars: residential and university construction. Numerous new buildings for teaching today colour the city just as indelibly as the approximately 40,000 students from three universities and two universities of applied sciences. Graz has long since shed its image as Austrias Pensionopolis. 32 mumuTh house of music and musical TheaTre
Lichtenfelsgasse 14 | UNStudio Ben van Berkel, NL (2008)

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A notable architectural critic once noted that Ben van Berkels spectacular Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart showed similarities to High Baroque architecture. Back then, buildings developed principally from their interior spaces, and their exterior aspect was simple. The same is true of MUMUTH, the long-anticipated new theatre for rehearsals and performances for the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. The shell, a monochrome metal mesh, the interior wow! Flooded with light, the main foyer in front of the large theatre on the upper floor is dominated by the so-called Twist, a massive concrete core with a complicated shape running through both floors. It supports the main joists, conveys students and visitors up and down and - makes you dizzy! Tram rouTe 1 To mariaTrosT
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33 museum of conTemporary German liTeraTure

Elisabethstrasse 30 | Riegler.Riewe (2003)

Handke, Bauer, Frischmuth, Roth. The Literaturhaus offers a stage not only to local writers but also to the whos who of German-speaking authors with delightful regularity. The carefully renovated city-centre palatial building, with its library, exhibition areas and offices, gained a complementary construction in its interior courtyard. A new presentation hall, set at garden level, offers a view of the small park. A 1970s-style caf has been built on top of it (design: Innocad). The minimalist pavilion with large, covered terrace forms an intimate retreat, independent of the pursuit of literature. 34 caValry BarracKs
Leonhardstrasse 82-84 | Sepp Hohensinn (2007)

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A former barracks, long since used for residential purposes mainly opportunistically was converted to new usage as teaching and rehearsal space for the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, for apartments and a caf. Replacing the fencing along the street, a separate gateway structure was erected. Its somewhat rigid-looking aspect from the street, complete with metal trellis, was intended as screening for the offices, nevertheless allowing (judge for yourself here) an unhindered view of street life from within. 35 resowi faculTies
Universittsstrasse 15 | Gnther Domenig & Hermann Eisenkck (1996)

The university as a machine. Exemplary, the way the great old master of the Graz school and his partner executed the gigantic programme to accommodate the 14,000 students at the faculties of law, social science and business studies. Great size requires clear rules so a 300m long, orthogonal block was planned as the backbone. But variation creates excitement in this case through lecture theatres, the cafeteria and the library as independent elements of highly sculpted form. Attached or wham! shoved into the main shape. Refreshingly unacademic.

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Tip: Not to be missed on the way from ReSoWi to the glasshouses and on Schubertstrasse, one of the most beautiful avenues in Graz, is the Werkbundhaus (number 31). Built in 1928 as an exemplar of progressive accommodation and presented as a show home with interior furnishing.

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36 landesKranKenhaus (proVincial hospiTal)

Riesstrasse, Auenbruggerplatz | several architects

Exploring the extensive parkland site of the provincial hospital one can see how an exemplary construction of the early 20th century was able to become an architectural showpiece project of the 21st century. The system of Art-Nouveau pavilion buildings around the main avenue has enabled step-by-step fill-in to this day with plenty of new constructions by Croce-Klug, Giselbrecht, Team A, Windbichler, Zernig and others. 37 insTiTuTe of planT physioloGy
Schubertstrasse 51 | Klaus Kada (1998)

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Once the stately Wilhelminian villa, accommodating teaching and research, was bursting at the seams, Klaus Kada was commissioned to plan an extension. His appointment guaranteed not only the greatest possible care regarding the protected botanical garden but also unconventional architecture. His trick: dividing construction into an extension and a graceful, separate structure for the research laboratories. The curved bridge connecting the two achieves plenty. It preserves the clear view of level ground in the garden, curves elegantly round the sequoia and ginko trees and stands as a masterpiece of structural engineering 36.4 metres without supports. 38 Glasshouses in The BoTanical Garden
Schubertstrasse 59, Holteigasse 6 | Volker Giencke (1995)

Architects burning interest in innovative technologies corresponds with the experience that the story of the glasshouses is characterised by venturous design, a search for dematerialisation and the stage management of nature. Giencke applies knowledge and creativity: to the supporting framework, a highly efficient parabolic arc of aluminium, to the curved acrylic window elements with their ideal light incidence and to the layout of routes that allows different viewpoints and turns a walk between the plants into a real experience. Beautifully contrived, this apparently organic form, which strictly speaking is based on strict geometry (Friedrich Achleitner). No wonder these buildings have been presented in all of the architectural magazines of significance throughout the world.

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Tip: Take a break at the Hilmteichschlssl caf, set amongst flowers and lush greenery. You can purchase anything from plants to garden shears. Those who wish to enjoy the delights of nature can stroll around the lake or go skating, depending on the season.

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From the Hilmteich lake by tram through the valley of Mariatrost. Onward on a journey through time that offers a cross section of local capability in apartment block construction, then inviting one to take a rest at the end of the steep climb to the basilica. 39 KernhaussiedlunG seTTlemenT
Rettenbacher Strasse 5 a-i | Gruppe 3 (1984) no illustration

40 reTTenBach residenTial complex

Rettenbacher Strasse 3 a-f | Bernhard Hafner (1989) no illustration

41 Tiefes haus (deep house)

Teichhofweg 7-55, 57 | Pentaplan (1999)

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This residential building is a rarity from a time of chill wind blowing in the faces of architects at large. A total of 27 apartments of the best terraced housing quality extending over three floors, crowned by an atrium on the roof into which no one can look from outside. Refined in terms of material and execution. All this without causing a stir and without involved frippery. As developers, the architects managed the marketing too. And they were successful. 42 Tannhof i and ii
Tannhofweg 8-26 | Hubert Riess (1988, 1990)

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How does one create the ideal residential environment? Through subdivision into small units, protected green yards, communal facilities, individual apartment entrances and keeping cars out on the periphery of the settlement. Established, atmospheric, simply beautiful. 43 residenTial complex aT mariaTrosT
Kirchbergstrasse 4 a-h | Ernst Giselbrecht (2006)

The basilica, sloping site and fields determined the design, which accommodates the construction of two different building typologies. A long, narrow construction was chosen for the flatter part of the plot in the form of a plateau above the access. Above two storeys there are penthouses distributed individually like ridge turrets. The second construction on the slope consists of four individual tall buildings, each containing seven apartments. In between is green shared between all of the apartments. The clarity and strictness of the buildings, the white colour and generous provision for daylight are all clear references to modernism.
RETTENBACH TEiCHHOF

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Off tO the sOuth!

Variety suburbs, residential districts, the trade fair and industrial areas.

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Jakominiplatz | Jrg and Ingrid Mayr, Johannes Fiedler (1996)

Move along! It has the highest through flow of pedestrians (and passengers) and is one of the first squares in Graz to have been treated to a new outfit. Its not to everyones liking. Whatever the level of disagreement may be over the functionality and design of this public transport hub - in the night time, thanks to hundreds of individual points of light, it radiates big city flair. Tram rouTe 4 To lieBenau/murparK
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45 auGarTen hoTel
Schnaugasse 53 | Gnther Domenig & Gerhard Wallner (2000)

What to do, when faced with the challenge of building a top class hotel on a difficult site amongst highly heterogeneous surroundings? The architects delivered a tailor-made concept. It uses the advantages and is oriented to the south. It reacts to the surroundings and existing buildings, nevertheless appearing confidently different. Hotel and restaurant / administration were divided into two buildings, unified by a delicately designed outdoor area. The outdoor character of access routes continues with the access balconies. An indoor swimming pool, exquisite furnishings and large number of works of art compensate for the sparing use of space. 46 BrocKmannGasse residenTial consTrucTion
Schnaugasse 54a-b, Brockmanngasse 102 | Innocad (2006)

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This is how modern residential space can be created: Wilhelminian style buildings surrounding a block and including workshops, garages and apartments are gutted, comprehensively restored and rebuilt with new apartment floors. Not least because of the singular grey colour, this yields a harmonious whole. And this, even though there was absolutely no attempt to pay lip service to the existing buildings. In the interior courtyard, towards which most of the terraces and balconies face, old and new merge into a green idyll. Tip: Want to get away from the hustle and bustle for a short while? A walk amongst the greenery makes a change and gives you a chance to recover. The Augarten park is as richly diverse as its visitors, and it is home to an architectural one-off: a building just for children.

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47 childrens museum
Friedrichgasse 34 | Hemma Fasch & Jakob Fuchs (2003)

It is both a place to experience and a space for activity, a dynamic structure tailor-made to suit the requirements of its small users. A sloping floor, stairs, ramps and a bridge connect several levels to form a multi-layered spatial continuum with moveable walls. Space to move is taken literally here. Also suitable for children are the low-set strip windows which, when lying on the tummy, offer a view out into the park. The building is set fairly low and thus nicely ensconced between the trees. A refreshing, unconventional building without a conventional roof, of sculpted form in a contemporary tectonic interpretation. Thus, quite incidentally, the building itself becomes an instructive example of architectural quality.
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48 sTadThalle (eVenT hall)

Messeplatz 1 | Klaus Kada (2002)

A new centre on the axis from Jakominiplatz to the stadium, that was Klaus Kadas dream as he designed this multi-functional hall. Its imposing roof, stretching out over the street, was to give a signal visible from afar and marking urban fill-in. Simple hall construction was too little for the architect; he was looking for challenges in terms of design and form. In evidence is the experienced handling of high-quality materials, bestquality detailing, exquisite feeling for colour. The roof of the 6500 m2 hall stands on just four massive steel-reinforced concrete supports and is cantilevered 46 metres out over the forecourt. Its supports are more than one storey high, its area is equal to that of the plots for 15 detached houses. 11 rotating gates, each 18 metres high, open over the entire width of the hall onto the trade fair park. Enough superlatives? No doubt about it, a centre it is. 49 messehalle (eVenT hall)
Messeplatz 1 | Riegler.Riewe (2008)

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A discreet neighbour, who doesnt want to steal the show from the Stadthalle. Though built onto the latter, it holds back from the obvious linear projection, leaving the Stadthalle, which was there first, with uncompromised visibility from the south. The new building, with two halls arranged one above the other, has an undecorated and functional appearance. Quality is in evidence in the foyers. Strictly demarcated zones for cashiers, cloakrooms and access regulate the urgent flow of visitors and help with orientation. A prime feature is the buildings double skin. Hidden away between the walls encasing the interior and the faade of matt-reflective expanded metal before them are emergency staircases and lifts. The desired effect: distinguished reserve through reduction. 50 insTiTuTe for informaTion TechnoloGy, Graz uniVersiTy of TechnoloGy
Inffeldgasse 16 | Riegler.Riewe (2000)

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51 residenTial consTrucTion, carl-spiTzweG-Gasse

Otto-Loewi-Gasse 18-42 | Volker Giencke (1993)

52 TerrassenhaussiedlunG residenTial complex

St. Peter-Hauptstrasse 29-35 | Werkgruppe Graz (1978) no illustration

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53 sTadion
Stadionplatz 1 | Team A Graz (1997)

From the very start, the stadium in Graz-Liebenau was to be more than just a place sitting isolated on the edge of town and visited on but a few days each year. So an office tower was added to the side of the outwardly apparently closed oval with its light, cantilevered roof arcs. As an 18storey cylindrical construction it would have been the glorious highlight and conclusion of the axis from the centre to the southern outlying district. Would have been! Because construction was only allowed to half that height. Imposing nevertheless, the shortened version. With the stadium and an office and commercial building marking the corner by the crossroads, it now stands as an ensemble. 54 office and commercial BuildinG
Liebenauer Tangente 4-6 | gs architects with Michael Gattermeyer (2010)

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A business stages its corporate philosophy. It sets it in a building not somehow as content, but rather as a dynamically moving silhouette. An elegant shell of black glass enclosing the companys headquarters, rented office space and a restaurant together with generous foyers, terraces and interior courtyards. An impressive building as entre to the city, as manifestation of urbanity. Unquestionably enriching the outskirts. 55 froG queen office BuildinG
Liebenauer Hauptstrasse 82c | Splitterwerk (2007)

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The unusual name of these headquarters for a company of test engineers can be traced to the architects oeuvre. It has nothing to do with frogs. The intention is to tease. It starts during approach, as the faades shades of grey become raster points, emerging as ornamentation by machine parts. It continues with an entrance, an opening in the facade leading directly into a lift. This leads directly into a multi-storey reception hall in which the walls, floors and parapets are coated in homogeneous silver. There is central access to minimised functional rooms offices that receive their light from several individual windows at differing heights and positions. Oh yes, not forgetting the wallpaper with landscape scenes that turn all the outer walls into works of art. All thats missing is the smell of fresh hay. 54

L i E B E N A U S TA D i O N

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Out Of Graz
Because building culture does not stop at the citylimits

more informaTion on BuildinGs and archiTecTs: http://www.gat.st Styrian internet portal for architecture and living space 56 http://www.nextroom.at General Austrian architectural archive

recommended BooKs: This brochure shows a small selection of examples of contemporary architecture in Graz. For more in-depth information please refer to the following publications, available in bookshops: 57 archiTeKTur_Graz posiTionen im sTadTraum. miT schwerpunKT aB 1990. Published by Haus der Architektur 2003 ISBN 987-3-901174-67-4 (English edition) ISBN 978-3-901174-66-7 (German edition) of people and houses. archiTecTure from sTyria. archiTecTure Graz sTyria yearBooK 2008/2009. Published by Haus der Architektur 2009, ISBN 978-3-901174-71-1 (English/German) peTer Blundell Jones, dialoGs in Time. New Graz Architecture Published by HDA 2000, 2nd edition, ISBN 3-901174-36-2 (English/German supplement)

56 airporT Graz-Thalerhof
Feldkirchen bei Graz | Riegler.Riewe (1994), Pittino & Ortner (2nd extension 2005)

Once a critic wrote if one should fly it should be from here referring to Graz airport, which was given the functional elegance required for a cosmopolitan city like Graz with the first extension in 1994. Pittino & Ortner followed ten years later continuing the extension. They unfolded a significantly curved freely cantilevering roof reminiscent of a wing over the old and the new part. 57 sculpTure parK
Unterpremsttten, Thalerhoferstrasse 85 | Dieter Kienast (1999), Peter Zinganel (architecture, 2000)

Only a stones throw from the airport the sculpture park, a puzzling place full of poetry, surrounded by an embankment overgrown with grass. Artificial hills with precisely drawn ridge lines, water basins in geometric precision, slants and troughs form an artificial landscape, which is completed by numerous large sculptures and Land Art objects.

Guided Tours modern archiTecTure: haus der archiTeKTur vermittlung@hda-graz.at, www.hda-graz.at archiTeKTouren-Graz office@architektouren-graz.at, www.architektouren-graz.at Member of www.guiding-architects.net
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