Architekturführer Graz
Anselm Wagner/Sophia Walk (eds.)
in cooperation with HDA
Berlin: DOM publishers, 2019
German, 456 pages, softcover
ISBN 978-3-86922-577-7
EUR 38.00

In the 2017/18 winter semester, students of the master studio at the Institute of Architectural Theory, Art History and Cultural Studies produced texts for approximately 250 buildings, streets and squares. The aim of this studio was the creation of an architectural guide for Graz—one that deals with all epochs, from the Middle Ages to the present. The guide was published at the end of 2018 by the Berlin publishing house DOM publishers. Students learned architectural research methods, acquired knowledge about the urban-historical and cultural heritage of Graz, dealt with the medium of architecture guides, and practiced the writing of texts in architectural criticism.
The buildings and themes covered range from the medieval courtyards to the important Renaissance palaces of Landhaus and Schloss Eggenberg, the Graz Gründerzeit block, the experimental buildings of the Graz school, the “friendly alien” Kunsthaus and recent projects such as the Princess Veranda and the MedUni. In addition to the well-known buildings, the architectural guide also contains many discoveries that have never been published, such as the brutalist market hall in Eggenberg by Gustav Madritsch. Eleven tours lead through the old town, the Gründerzeit district and the outer districts of the former suburbs. In particular, the juxtaposition and intertwining of old and new, which is so characteristic of the UNESCO World Heritage zone of Graz's Old Town, and which keeps the city from becoming a historic open-air museum, is highlighted.

Anselm Wagner is deputy dean of studies and university professor at Graz University of Technology. He also heads the Institute of Architectural Theory, Art History and Cultural Studies.
Sophia Walk is an research associate in the Institute of Architectural Theory, Art History and Cultural Studies.