Opening ASt – Architekturarchiv Steiermark
OpeningOn 30th November the ASt (Architekturarchiv Steiermark) opens at Münzgrabenstrasse 36 in Graz. This newly founded independent and enlarged archive is based on existing architecture material in the archive of Graz University of Technology. The ASt is the result of a cooperation between Graz University of Technology’s archive and the HDA with the expert support of the Institute of Architectural Theory, Art History and Cultural Studies (akk) at Graz University of Technology with the aim of doing justice to the special significance of the region’s architectural heritage.
OPENING:
30th November 2022 at 6 p.m.
BMT lecture hall, Graz University of Technology
Stremayrgasse 16, 8010 Graz, ground floor
Speakers:
Harald Kainz, Rector of Graz University of Technology
Sandra Holasek, member of the Styrian parliament (on behalf of State Governor Christopher Drexler)
Markus Bogensberger, expert team Building Culture, State of Styria
Petra Petersson, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Graz University of Technology
Founding institutions:
Bernhard Reismann, Director of the archive of Graz University of Technology
Beate Engelhorn, Director of the HDA, Graz
Anselm Wagner, Chair of the Institute of Architectural Theory, Art History and Cultural Studies, Graz University of Technology
Architects:
Karla Kowalski, architect, Graz
Konrad Frey, architect, Hart bei Graz
The talks will be followed by a tour of the archive rooms on the ground floor of Münzgrabenstrasse 36
Drinks in the cafeteria, Stremayrgasse 9, ground floor
BACKGROUND
Post-war modernism in Graz has attracted much international attention. The building epoch between approx. 1960 and the 1990s, which became known as the “Graz School,” is particularly significant. Buildings from this period attracted interest from far beyond the borders of Austria and are still among the most stylistically influential works of their time in Europe.
The establishment of the ASt intends to ensure that sources of architectural production, which represent a central distinguishing feature of Graz and Styria, will be preserved in the long term for future generations, as well as being made accessible to researchers and the interested public. Currently, the archive of Graz University of Technology manages the gifts and bequests of 34 Styrian architects and architecture offices, including those of Herbert Eichholzer, Anna Lülja Praun, Hubert Hoffmann, Karl Raimund Lorenz, Ferdinand Schuster, Karl Augustinus Bieber, Sokratis Dimitriou, Michael Szyszkowitz + Karla Kowalski, Konrad Frey, Heinz Wondra, Team A and the architectural photographer Peter Eder. Further premature legacies and bequests will follow and will be collected, indexed and made available to the public at Münzgrabenstrasse 36. It is already possible to consult around 70,000 image documents, 55,000 plans and around 50 architectural models.
The cooperation of the institutions at the newly founded ASt brings together the necessary expertise: The archive will organise, catalogue and archive the documents and models in a professional and appropriate manner. The Institute of Architectural Theory, Art History and Cultural Studies (akk) will continue to ensure that the archival collections are the focus of systematic scientific research and that the results of this research are presented to the public in publications, exhibitions and symposia.
Cooperation with the HDA will enable the ASt to benefit from the former’s professional expertise, involvement in the regional and national architectural discourse, international reputation and, last but not least, its opportunities for presentation.
By securing and organizing the historical material collected in this way at the Graz location, the communication of building culture in Styria can be expanded by adding a further important area from the more recent history of architecture.