Gernot Hertl
Gernot Hertl
AUSTRIA - Gernot Hertl was for a long time an insider's tip. Only a few were familiar with his uncompromising and yet sensitive-looking buildings. That may have been because he is based in Steyr, away from the hustle and bustle of the big city and the capital. Nowadays he is widely known but still remains true to himself and his credo: to find the solution that is right and appropriate to the means for every project – no matter how much mental acrobatics that requires.
Biography
Gernot Hertl was born in Steyr, near Linz, in 1971. After studying architecture at the Technical University of Graz and a few years' apprenticeship with an architecture firm in Linz, he returned to his hometown. His practice, established in 2000, has been known as Hertl.Architekten since 2003. He has received many awards and much critical acclaim, and his Ecker Abu Zahra House was nominated for a Mies van der Rohe Award. His home and office are now located in one of his most recent projects, the Südpool, an office, retail and residential building on the edge of the historic town centre.
Profile
Anne Isopp: You have just published a book entitled Space & Texture. Why exactly this title?
Gernot Hertl: Our work is always about textures and space. The title came from Matthias Boeckl, the editor. He thinks that the best way to explain our architecture is through these two concepts.
AI: But aren't those the basic ingredients of any architecture? What's so special about that?
GH: Basically we all work with the same means. But what do we find important? What matters to me is the transformation of space. I try to understand space in abstract terms, not limited to indoors or outdoors. For the atmosphere in question, however, it is not only the spaces as such, with their depth, height and width, that are relevant, but also the textures.
AI: You said that you hardly ever work with models. How do you conceive such a space?
GH: In my head. We talk a lot in the design phase – that is, I talk a lot. That's the tool we employ in the office. At first, when I was still working alone, I wrote a lot of explanatory texts. I often presented the project to clients in the form of a text, without showing them any plans. How does it feel to walk through the house? What do you experience while doing so? The movement through space is a very important topic. After all, there is not just one vantage point from which everything is supposed to work.
AI: You are regarded as one of the most successful young architects in Austria by now, but you do not act as a team – the way most of your young colleagues do – nor do you live in a big city. Is that a coincidence?
GH: It's probably not that easy to work with me in a team. But it's also because no one ever happened to come along with whom it would have worked.
I work in Steyr for personal reasons. But I don't think a regional location is particularly smart – for economic reasons alone. There are no housing developers to provide repeat projects. We obtain our commissions almost exclusively through competitions and these projects also turn out to be further away. Hardly any work turns up in the region. And so far we have only had private projects in Steyr.
Steyr is a working-class town. Most people work for companies like BMW or SKF. They are not the kind of people who engage an architect to design their house. Nor are there any medium-sized businesses in town. The new premises for the Reform window factory (2007) is an absolute exception.
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