Hollein, Hans

Hollein, Hans, 1934–2014, Austrian architect and designer. He studied with Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Richard Neutra. Opening his own practice in 1964, he established an international reputation with a series of small architectural projects, the first and best known of which was the sleek, aluminum-wrapped Retti Candle Shop, Vienna (1966). A leading practitioner of postmodernism, he combined elements of traditional architecture with modernist touches, often in a witty and playful way. Among his many later and larger buildings are the triangular Museum of Modern Art, Frankfurt (1981), the multicolored Austrian Embassy, Berlin (2001), and Vulcania, a volcanism museum and theme park, Auvergne (2002). Hollein also designed a variety of products, from furniture and doorknobs to sunglasses, silverware, and jewelry. He taught at the Düsseldorf Academy of Arts (1967–76), the Univ. of Applied Art, Vienna (1967–86), and at several American universities. In 1985 he was awarded the Pritzker Prize.

See museum catalog ed. by P. Weibel (2012).

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