Domenig died on June 15, 2012 in Graz, less than a month before his 78th birthday. He belonged to the most important Austrian architects of the 20th century. Since the middle of the last century, he has managed to go from post-war modernism - "structuralism" through brutalism to his own deconstructionism.
Since 1980, Domenig taught at the Technical University of Graz, from which he graduated in 1959, was considered the leading representative and head of the Graz School of Architecture.
Deconstructivist associate Wolf D. Prix (Coop Himmelb (l) ay) likened his design style to boxing, calling him a master of skillful close combat. He also noted Domenig's innovation in working with form: even before the advent of "parametric" computer programs, he created metal facades of complex three-dimensional outlines - for example, in the building of the Central Savings Bank on Favoritenstrasse in Vienna (1975-1979).
The work of life for Gunther Domenig was the project of his own Steinhaus house in Carinthia, which he built and completed almost until the end of his life, from 1986 to 2008, embodying his interpretation of the gesamtkunstverk in it.
The architect's most famous later work was the Information Center for the Nazi Party Congress Zone in Nuremberg (1998-2001): a deconstructivist rebuilding of the neoclassical ‘convention hall’ of the Fascist era.
Domenig also worked on stage design, creating sets and costumes for the opera house in Graz, for example for productions of Elektra by Richard Strauss and Moses and Aaron by Arnold Schoenberg.
N. F.
