Studio

The studio has a multicultural team from more than 15 countries and is over 150 people strong. With over 50 years in practice, Coop Himmelb(l)au is an expert in developing and executing complex, timely and highly meaningful projects in the fields of architecture, urban planning, design and art worldwide.

The team believes in Architecture as a three-dimensional expression of society and therefore must present a social portrait that embodies societal, political, cultural, energetic and economic forces.

Coop Himmelb(l)au is currently working on a wide range of international projects throughout Asia, the Middle East, and Europe including the Central Bank of Azerbaijan in Baku, the Kemerovo Museum and Theater Complex, and the Sevastopol Opera and Museum Complex. Recently completed works include a Five Star Luxury Hotel in Changsha, the BelView Tower in Vienna, and the SCA Arena Sports and Concert Complex and Park in St. Petersburg.

Coop Himmelb(l)au is globally recognized for its innovative design approach and stands for dynamic, multi-layered, and complex design. The studio’s most well-known international key projects include the Rooftop Remodeling Falkestrasse in Vienna, Austria (the first deconstructivist building in the world); the master plan for the City of Melun-Sénart, France; the Groninger Museum, East Pavilion, The Netherlands; the design for the EXPO.02 — Forum Arteplage in Biel, Switzerland; the multifunctional UFA Cinema Center in Dresden, Germany; the Academy of Fine Arts and the BMW Welt in Munich, Germany; the Akron Art Museum in Ohio, USA; the Central Los Angeles Area High School #9 of Visual and Performing Arts in Los Angeles, USA; the Martin Luther Church in Hainburg, Austria; the Busan Cinema Center, South Korea; the Dalian International Conference Center in China; the House of Music in Aalborg, Denmark; the Musée des Confluences in Lyon, France; the European Central Bank in Frankfurt/​Main, Germany; the Museum of Contemporary Art & Planning Exhibition (MOCAPE) in Shenzen, China, and the PANEUM – Wunderkammer des Brotes (House of Bread) in Asten, Austria.

With Coop Himmelb(l)au, Wolf dPrix has been the recipient of numerous awards and other design recognitions among others; American Architecture Award, International Architecture Award, RIBA International Award, RIBA European Award, World Architecture Festival Award, Wallpaper Design Award, MIPIM Architectural Review Future Projects Award, Dedalo Minosse International Prize, Red Dot Award, Guinness World Record, Danish Annual Building Award, The International Architecture Award, China Architecture Design Silver Reward, Liang Ning Provincial Excellent Engineering Survey and Design Award 1st Price, China National Excellent Engineering Survey and Design Award 1st Price, The Committee for Building Awards in Aalborg, 2A Asia Architecture Award, IES Illumination Award, 2A Continental Architectural Award, Guangdong Excellent Engineering Survey and Design Award, the Digital Futures Project Award, and just recently the Trezzini Award (Gold Certificate of Achievement).

Coop Himmelb(l)au gained widespread attention in 1988 with an exhibition entitled ​“Deconstructivist Architecture” in New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Recognized as seminal for the architecture of the future, the works of Coop Himmelb(l)au have continually been the subject of international exhibitions. Among the largest and most widely known are the solo retrospectives Construire le Ciel in 1992 at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, France, and the exhibition entitled ​“Deconstructivist Architecture” held in 1988 at the MoMA Museum of Modern Art, New York, under the curatorship of Philip Johnson and Mark Wigley. Internationally renowned institutions such as the Getty Foundation in Los Angeles, the MAK Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna, and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris display the works of Coop Himmelb(l)au as part of their permanent exhibitions.

In 1996 Coop Himmelb(l)au was invited to represent Austria at the 6th International Architecture Biennale in Venice. In 2006 Wolf dPrix was commissioner for the Austrian contribution to the 10th Venice Biennale. Overall, the studio has been invited nine times to participate in the Venice Architecture Biennale.