Günther Domenig: the architect and the buildings you can see

Who was Günther Domenig?

Günther Domenig was born in Klagenfurt on 6 July 1934 and died in Graz on 15 June 2012. He studied architecture at Graz University of Technology from 1953 to 1959 and taught there as a professor from 1980.

The building that made his name abroad was a bank branch in the Viennese district of Favoriten, now known as the Domenig-Haus. The client was the Zentralsparkasse under its director general Karl Vak, who wanted a radical building to show the bank’s progressive outlook. He described himself as an “extremist”. In 2004 he received the Grand Austrian State Prize for architecture.

The Grazer Schule and the years with Eilfried Huth

From 1963 to 1975 Domenig worked in partnership with Eilfried Huth. Their exposed-concrete buildings of those years, such as the teacher training academy in Graz-Eggenberg (1963–1969), are among the notable examples of Austrian Brutalism. In 1969 the two were awarded the Grand Prix international d’Urbanisme et d’Architecture in Cannes.

Domenig is counted among the founders of the Grazer Schule (Graz School), a movement associated with strongly individual, sculptural buildings. His Viennese bank branch is cited as its most important work of the early period.

What defines his design language?

Domenig’s buildings look modelled rather than assembled. His work has been linked to structuralism, Brutalism and above all deconstructivism, the label usually given to his major buildings.

The Domenig-Haus in Vienna shows this clearly. The stainless steel façade bulges as if pressed together by its neighbours, and straight lines are rare inside as well; many details were not drawn in advance but improvised on site. Ventilation pipes run through the lower floors like veins. Locals gave the house nicknames such as “Blech-Gaudí”, the tin Gaudí. Werner Kitlitschka wrote that the building’s technology had been turned into an image of bones, sinews, skin, scales, pipes and veins.

Which of his buildings can you see today?

• Domenig-Haus, Vienna (1975–1979): former Zentralsparkasse branch at Favoritenstraße 118, by Keplerplatz station on the U1. The façade and the first two floors have been a listed monument since October 2005, and the building received the Austrian Bauherrenpreis in 1981. The façade can be seen from the pedestrian zone at any time.
• T-Center, Vienna (2002–2004): office building at Rennweg 97–99 in St. Marx, designed with Hermann Eisenköck and Herfried Peyker and awarded the Austrian State Prize for Architecture in 2006. To be viewed from outside.
• Steinhaus, Steindorf am Ossiacher See (completed 2008): Domenig’s own house in Carinthia and his personal magnum opus.
• Documentation Centre Nazi Party Rally Grounds, Nuremberg (competition 1998, opened 2001): a walk-through “stake” of glass and steel cuts through the north wing of the Congress Hall. After several years of rebuilding, the centre reopened in November 2026 with a new permanent exhibition.
• RESOWI-Zentrum, Graz (1993–1996): the University of Graz building for law, social sciences and economics at Universitätsstraße 15, designed with Hermann Eisenköck.
• Other works: the Kunstakademie Münster (completed 2000), the Augartenhotel in Graz (1999–2000) and the Mursteg footbridge in Graz (1991–1992).

Can you visit the Steinhaus?

Yes. The Steinhaus stands on Uferweg in Steindorf am Ossiacher See, on a lakeside plot that had belonged to Domenig’s grandmother. The first sketches date from the early 1980s, the concrete structure went up from 1986 and the house was finished in 2008. Its forms draw on Domenig’s memories of the angular rocks of the Mölltal valley and the gentle hills around the lake. It has been a listed monument since 2012.

The house is run by the Steinhaus Günther Domenig Privatstiftung, a private foundation. It opens to visitors in the warmer months and closes for a winter break, and group tours are available by prior arrangement. Because the season and times change from year to year, check the current details on the Steinhaus website before you travel. The S2 suburban railway stops at Steindorf. The house extends over five levels and has no lift.

Domenig in Vienna: two buildings, one connection

The two Viennese buildings are easy to combine. From Keplerplatz it is one station on the U1 to Hauptbahnhof, where tram 18 leaves for the St. Marx stop by the T-Center. Twenty-five years separate their completion: at one end the bulging bank branch in the pedestrian zone, at the other a “reclining sculpture” about 255 metres long on the site of the former slaughterhouse.

The Domenig-Haus now houses Domenig House – Design Apartments; the Rooftop Suite has a living room with three large roof windows. More stops in the city are described in the architecture tour beyond the Ringstraße.