WERKGRUPPE GRAZ: 1959- 1989. ARCHITECTURE AT THE TURN OF LATE MODERNISM

Few architectural firms were more important or influential in postwar Austria than Werkgruppe Graz. The four principals'Eugen Gross, Friedrich Gross-Rannsbach, Herman Pichler, and Wenrer Hollomey'began working together in 1959, after being educated at the Technical University in Graz, and they completed their first building in 1963. Working from socially progressive principles, and utilizing an unusually participatory approach to design, the firm built such groundbreaking buildings as the Terrace. House Estate in Graz-St. Peter (1965-78) and the students hostel Am Hafnererriegel (1961-64). But even as their style became widely emulated'known as the Graz School'the quartet didnt limit themselves to architecture: along the way they also edited a series of poetry books that brought in contributions from their wide circle of artistic acquaintances. This book is the first comprehensive look at the groups work. Built around detailed presentations of more than thirty buildings and projects, it also features a conversation among the architects and two essays by scholars steeped in their work. A complete catalog rounds out the volume.