Hans Hollein
Hans Hollein (30 March 1934 – 24 April 2014) was an Austrian architect and designer and key figure of postmodern architecture. Some of his most notable works are the Haas House and the Albertina extension in the inner city of Vienna.
Hans Hollein

Public domain
- Name
- Hans Hollein
- Born
- 30 March 1934
- Birthplace
- Vienna, Austria
- Education
- Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
- Died
- 2014
- Nationality
- Austria
- Occupation
- architect · designer · university teacher · draftsperson · jewelry designer · professor · sculptor
- Movements
- Postmodernism
- Known for
- Museum für Moderne Kunst · Abteiberg Museum · Museum Niederösterreich · Haas House
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Documentary summary
Hans Hollein (30 March 1934 – 24 April 2014) was an Austrian architect and designer and key figure of postmodern architecture. Some of his most notable works are the Haas House and the Albertina extension in the inner city of Vienna.
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Authority files
wikidata · Q78884 · wikipedia · Hans Hollein
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Hans Hollein • Born — 30 March 1934 • Birthplace — Vienna, Austria • Place of death — Vienna, Austria • Education — Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
Biography
Biography
Hollein was born in Vienna, and graduated in 1956 from the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, where he studied in the master class of Clemens Holzmeister. During 1959 he attended the Illinois Institute of Technology and then in 1960, the University of California, Berkeley, where he completed his Master of Architecture degree. During these years he met Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright and Richard Neutra. In 1963 he exhibited, Architecture, along with Walter Pichler at Galerie nächst St. Stephan in St Stephen Vienna, highlighting their ideas for utopian architecture. Afterwards, he worked for various architectural firms in Sweden and the United States before returning to Vienna, founding his own office in 1964. Hollein's early works were small scale designs, such as the Retti candle shop in Vienna, which notably featured a facade constructed of anodized aluminum. In 1972, Hollein designed a series of glasses for the American Optical Corps. Hollein was a guest professor at Washington University in St. Louis on two separate occasions, the first being 1963–64 and the second in 1966. During this period he was also a visiting professor at the Yale School of Architecture. He was a professor at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf between 1967 and 1976, after which he became a professor at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. Hollein worked mainly as an architect but also established himself as a designer through his work for the Memphis Group and the Alessi Company. Additionally, he contributed to various exhibitions, including an architectural facade for the Strada Novissima in The Presence of the Past exhibition at the 1980 Venice Biennale. In 1980 he designed the stage for a production of Arthur Schnitzler's drama Komödie der Verführung (Comedy of Seduction) at Vienna's Burgtheater. In 1985 Hollein was awarded the Pritzker Prize. Hollein achieved international fame with his winning competition designs for the Abteiberg Museum in Mönchengladbach (1972–82) and an underground Guggenheim Museum branch in Salzburg (1989). The later hasn't been built, but his ideas for an underground museum still materialised in the Vulcania European Centre of Vulcanology in Auvergne in France (1997–2002). Starting from the late 1990s, Hollein designed large-scale projects, including bank headquarters in Lichtenstein, Spain and Peru. Starting from 2010 he worked with Ulf Kotz and Christoph Monschein at the Hans Hollein & Partner ZT GmbH. Hollein died on 24 April 2014 in Vienna, after a long illness, at the age of 80. His son Max Hollein is the Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Previously he was Director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the umbrella organization of the de Young Museum and Legion of Honor Museum. He is the former Director of the Städel Museum, the Liebieghaus and the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Main works
Main works
• Illustration — Retti candle shop, Vienna, 1964–65 • 1964–65: Retti candle shop, Vienna, Austria • 1967–69: Feigen Gallery, New York, USA • 1972–74: Schullin Jewellery shop, Vienna • 1972–82: Abteiberg Museum Mönchengladbach • 1977–78: Glass and Ceramics house, Teheran, Iran • 1979–90: Ganztagsschule, Vienna • 1983–85: Rauchstrasse apartments in Berlin, part of the International Building Exhibition • 1985–90: Haas-Haus in Vienna, Austria • 1987–91: Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt am Main, Germany • 1989: Guggenheim ('Museum im Mönchsberg'), Salzburg, Austria (unbuilt) • 1992–2002: Niederösterreichisches Landesmuseum, St. Pölten, Austria • 1994–2000: Generali Media Tower Donaukanal, Vienna, Austria • 1996–2001: Austrian Embassy in Berlin, Germany • 1996–2000: Interbank Headquarters, Lima, Peru • 1997–2002: Centrum Bank in Vaduz, Liechtenstein, in collaboration with Bargetze+Partner • 1997–2002: Vulcania – European Centre of Vulcanology in Auvergne, France • 2001–03: Albertina Museum extension, Vienna, Austria • 2004–08: Hilton hotel, Vienna, Austria • 2004–07: Sea Mio, Apartment-Towers, Taipei, Taiwan • 2006–11: Pezet 515, Lima, Peru • 2011–2013: Kaohsiung Apartments | Gate to the Muesum, Kaohsiung, Taiwan • Illustration — Abteiberg Museum, Mönchengladbach, Germany, 1972–82 • Illustration — Haas-Haus in Vienna, 1985–90 • Illustration — Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, 1983–91 • Illustration — Austrian Embassy in Berlin, 1996-2001 • Illustration — Soravia-Wing of the Albertina, Vienna, 2001–03 • Illustration — Car Building, Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany, 2011
Career and activity
Career and activity
Hans Hollein worked in architecture and design. His work is associated with Postmodernism. He was employed by University of Applied Arts Vienna. Recorded position is full professor. He belonged to European Academy of Sciences and Arts and Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts. He worked at Vienna.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
Explore 1934–2014
The full dated record · 3 entries
1934
Hans Hollein was born in 1934.
1970
Hans Hollein: alles ist Architektur is dated 1970.
2014
Hans Hollein died at Vienna.
Recognition and collections
Where the work is held
Recognition and collections
Hans Hollein received Deutscher Architekturpreis, Pritzker Architecture Prize, Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Great Golden Medal of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria, Decoration of Honour in Gold for Services to the State of Vienna and Austrian Decoration for Science and Art. Formation and teaching. Hollein studied at Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Illinois Institute of Technology, University of California, Berkeley and University of California, Berkeley College of Environmental Design.
Context
Primary material
Context
The circumstances in which Hans Hollein stands.
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
scholarly publication
- Hans Hollein and Postmodernism, 2017
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2017
- Hans Hollein, Makers of 20th-Century Modern Architecture, 2013
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2013
Institutional database
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q78884: Hans Hollein
Scholarly · Wikimedia Foundation
reference work
- “Hans Hollein”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Prizes
• R. S. Reynolds Memorial Award endowed by the American Institute of Architects (1966 and 1984) • Prize for Architecture of the City of Vienna, (1974) • Grand Austrian State Prize for Architecture (1983) • Pritzker Architecture Prize (1985) • Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (1990) • Gold Decoration for Services to Vienna (1994) • Grand Merit Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (1997) • Officer of the Legion of Honour (France, 2003) • Honorary Medal of the Austrian capital Vienna in Gold (2004) • Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria (2009) • Golden Rathausmann (2009)
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1."Architekt Hans Hollein gestorben" , in Frankfurter Rundshau, 24 April 2014
- 2.Weibel, Peter: "Hans Hollein", Hatje Verlag, 2012
- 3."Wien trauert um Hans Hollein", ORF, 24 April 2014
- 4.Czaja, Wojciech: "Architekt Hans Hollein gestorben", in Der Standard, 24 April 2014
- 5.Jaeger, Falk: "Zum Tod von Hans Hollein: Spiel und Form" in Der Tagesspiegel, 24 April 2014
- 6.The Hyatt Foundation: "Hans Hollein Biography", retrieved 24 April 2014
- 7.Deutsche Bank. Embarking into the Virtual World Walter Pichler's Futurist Visions. ArtMag.
- 8.032c.com. HANS HOLLEIN: The Showroom Master.
- 9.Hans Hollein: "About", retrieved 24 April 2014
- 10.American Institute of Architects. XXXV.
- 11.Preisträgerinnen und Preisträger – Preise der Stadt Wien.
- 12.Österreichischer Kunstsenat – Staatspreisträger.
- 13.Reply to a parliamentary question. 881.
- 14.Austrian Ministry for Education and Women: "Ein Fest für Hans Hollein", 31 March 2009
- 15.Universalmuseum Joanneum: "Hans Hollein: Biografie" , retrieved 26 April 2014
- 16.Reply to a parliamentary question. 1891.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Hans Hollein and Postmodernism, 2017Crossref registry
Verifiedscholarly publication
Hans Hollein, Makers of 20th-Century Modern Architecture, 2013Crossref registry
VerifiedInstitutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q78884: Hans HolleinWikimedia Foundation
Verifiedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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