ABSTRACT
Centring on the figure of Hans Hollein, this book examines the way in which the internationally best-known Austrian architect of the post-war era became incorporated into the architectural movement known as Postmodernism. Having trained as an architect in the 1950s, and thus being among the first generation to qualify after the Second World War, Hollein was ideally situated to respond to the curious constellations of cultural conditions that were happening then. He was not only starting his career at a point when Vienna still to a large extent lay in ruins, both physically and culturally, but he also became embroiled in many initiatives that were consequences of what seemed an almost post-apocalyptic situation. This book provides a detailed account of Hans Hollein within post-war Austria, during an era that could no longer be streamlined into clear categories of artistic practices. Artists and writers had trained as architects, architects as sculptors and so on. The stage and performance were no longer sacrosanct to theatre. Everybody was learning from everybody. And all of this was happening in a culture steeped in Catholicism that too was reinventing itself, as part of the Second Vatican Council reforms of 1962–1965 and which in Vienna – to a degree not found anywhere else – enlisted art as a collaborator. It was precisely this cultural fluidity that meant that, once Hollein became internationally known and respected, he appeared to be an obvious figure to rope into the emerging architectural approach known as Postmodernism (Figure I.1).
