We Günther Domenig: Reevaluation of a Legend

Expands popular understanding of Günther Domenig’s work to include his architectural collaborators and partners.

We Günther Domenig is an attempt to correct traditional biographies on architects. The case at hand is Günther Domenig (1934–2012), a towering figure of twentieth-century Austrian architecture. This book does not question his outstanding ability to invent complex sculptural architecture, his obsession with total control of space, and his fighting power to enforce his ideas (with inevitable collateral damage). Yet, it does make clear: he was not on his own—Günther Domenig was many!

We Günther Domenig charts his career from the perspective of clients, partners, employees, and collaborators from other professional fields. Just as they were inspired by him, they also shaped the personality and the designer Günther Domenig. They all sought and found in him an occasionally stubborn partner to realize their own visions.

The book showcases “his” buildings and unrealized projects, supplemented by short biographies of the key participants, reflecting their respective roles in joint undertakings. Moreover, it explores Domenig’s two decades as a professor at Graz University of Technology’s Faculty of Architecture (1980–2000). Teaching boosted his career and induced a back-and-forth flux of knowledge and people—students and employees of different generations—between his studio and the university.

Wolfdieter Dreibholz held leading positions in the Austrian federal state of Styria’s department of building and construction and was chief executive of Vienna-based architecture firm Coop Himmelb(l)au. In 2022, he initiated the exhibition Wir Günther Domenig at Kunsthaus Muerz, Austria.

Michael Zinganel is an architectural theorist, cultural historian, artist, and curator based in Graz and Vienna. In 2022, he was curator of the exhibition Wir Günther Domenig at Kunsthaus Muerz, Austria.