1890
Frederick Kiesler is born on September 22 in Chernivtsi (Ukraine, then part of Austria-Hungary).
1908–09
Studies architecture at the College of Building, part of the Imperial and Royal Polytechnic Institute, in Vienna.
1910–13
Studies painting and engraving at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna.
1914
Is drafted for military service following the outbreak of World War I.
1924
Serves as artistic director of the International Exhibition of New Theater Technology in conjunction with the Music and Theater Festival of the City of Vienna. Develops the L- + T-System and the Raumbühne (space stage).
1925
Designs the theater section of the Austrian contribution to the Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes in Paris. Further develops the L- + T-System to create the City in Space.
1926
Moves to New York.
1929
Opening of the Film Guild Cinema with a changeable projection screen (Screen-o-scope), New York.
1935–36
Designs an apartment for the Mergentimes in New York, complete with furniture including the Nesting Table.
1937
Founds the Laboratory for Design Correlation at Columbia University, New York.
1942
Designs Peggy Guggenheim’s gallery-museum Art of This Century, New York.
1947
Designs the Salle de superstition for the Exposition internationale du surréalisme, Paris. Creates his first autonomous, sculptural works of art, including Totem for All Religions.
1949
Publishes “Manifeste du Corréalisme.”
1950
Presents the first model of an Endless House at the Kootz Gallery, New York.
1952
Presents the Galaxy for Nelson Rockefeller and the painted, nineteen-part Galaxy in the exhibition 15 Americans at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
1957
Founds the architectural firm Kiesler and Bartos Architects (dissolved in 1962).
1958
Receives the commission to construct the Endless House as a full-scale model in the garden of the Museum of Modern Art, New York (unbuilt).
1960
Presents the large model for an Endless House in the exhibition Visionary Architecture at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
1961
Begins work on the group of Landscape Sculptures, including The Marriage of Heaven and Earth 1961–62/1964 and The Saviour Has Risen, 1964.
1962
Begins design of a Grotto for Meditation for the New Harmony Community, Indiana (unbuilt).
1963
Walter Pichler visits Kiesler.
1965
Opening of the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem.
Frederick Kiesler dies on December 27 in New York.
1936
Walter Pichler is born on October 1 in Deutschnofen / Nova Ponente, Italy.
1952–55
Attends the Bundesgewerbeschule in Innsbruck for training in decorative and lettering painting.
1955–59
Studies graphic design at what is now the University of Applied Arts Vienna.
1960
Creates his first sculptural works, including Alte Figur (1960–63).
1962
Meets Hans Hollein at the Galerie St. Stephan in Vienna. Both share an interest in antifunctionalist architectural concepts.
1963
The exhibition Hans Hollein—Walter Pichler: Architektur; Work in Progress is held at the Galerie St. Stephan. The Museum of Modern Art in New York acquires some of the drawings presented.
Stays from May to November in New York, where he meets Frederick Kiesler.
1965
Begins to collaborate as an editor and designer for the architectural journal Bau: Schrift für Architektur und Städtebau.
1966
Works as a member of the editorial board of the magazine Bau (until mid-1967).
The Galaxy 1 armchair is commissioned by the company R. Svoboda & Co. Creates the first prototypes, including Großer Raum (Prototyp 3).
1968
Participates in documenta 4, Kassel.
Presentation of the Galaxy 1 at the first UN space conference UNISPACE I, Vienna.
1970
Creates the Sitzgruben in Breitenbrunn, Burgenland, and Tragbarer Schrein.
1971
First comprehensive solo exhibition at the Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts in Vienna. Partitioning of the ground floor with textile walls.
1972
Purchases a farm in St. Martin an der Raab, southern Burgenland. In the following decades, carries out numerous conversions and extensions for his own sculptures.
1977
Participates in documenta 6, Kassel.
1982
Austrian Pavilion at the 40th Venice Biennale.
1990
The permanent work Tor zum Garten is created for MAK—Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna.
1993
Construction of the Halle in Syros, Greece.
1994
Start of the construction projects Haus neben der Schmiede (completed in 2002) and Plattform über dem Bach (completed posthumously in 2014) in Eggental / Val d’Ega, Alto Adige, Italy.
1996
Construction begins on the Passage, Aldrans near Innsbruck (completed in 2011).
1998
Exhibition Pichler: Prototypen 1966–69, Generali Foundation, Vienna.
2001
Exhibition Walter Pichler: Drawings, Sculptures, Architecture, Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York.
2011
Exhibition Walter Pichler: Skulpturen Modelle Zeichnungen, MAK—Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna.
2012
Walter Pichler dies in Vienna on July 16.
Sonia Leimer
Born 1977 in Merano, Italy. Lives and works in Vienna.
Education
1996–2000
Studied architecture at the TU Wien, Vienna
2001–04
Studied architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
Teaching
2012–16
Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
2017–18
“Installation and Architecture,” Department of Architecture and Art, ETH Zurich
2019
Project collaboration with Alessandra Cianchetta, The Cooper Union—The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture, New York
Awards (Selection)
2011
Art Cologne Award for New Positions, Cologne
Paul-Flora-Preis, Bolzano, Italy
2017
Quivid First Prize, Art in Public Space, Munich
2018
Fourth edition of the Italian Council, Directorate-General for Contemporary Art and Architecture and Urban Peripheries, Rome
Solo Exhibitions (Selection)
2024
Sonia Leimer, The Cosmic House, Jencks Foundation, London
Space Dust, Heldenplatz, Vienna
2023
Platzhalter, MuseumsQuartier Wien, Vienna
2022
Eroberung des Nutzlosen, Neuer Kunstverein Wien, Vienna
2021
Via San Gennaro, MAN_Museo d’Arte Provincia di Nuoro, Italy
2020
Space Junk, Museion, Bolzano, Italy
2017
Autoterritorium, Galerie im Taxispalais, Innsbruck
2014
Wow!, Los Angeles Museum of Art, Los Angeles
2012
Along those lines, Museion, Bolzano, Italy
2011
uns so weiter, Kunstverein basis, Frankfurt on the Main
2010
Neither in Motion nor at Rest, BAWAG Contemporary, Vienna
No Site to Fall in, Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg
Group Exhibitions (Selection)
2024
Genossin Sonne, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna
2023
Landscapes of Desire, 4th Industrial Art Biennial, Labin, Raša, Pula, and Rijeka, Croatia
2022
LIAF 2022, Lofoten International Art Festival, Svolvær, Norway
Faking the Real: The Art of Enticement, Kunsthaus Graz, Austria
2021
How will we live together?, Venice Architecture Biennale, Venice
PLANET LOVE: Climate Care in the Digital Age, Vienna Biennale for Change 2021, MAK—Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna
2020
Artissima Unplugged, GAM—Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Turin
2019
Ticket to the Moon, Kunsthalle Krems, Austria
Fly me to the Moon, Kunsthaus Zürich and Museum der Moderne Salzburg
