Helmut Swiczinsky, Co-Founder of the Coop Himmelb(L)AU, Passes Away at 81
Helmut Swiczinsky, co-founder of the Viennese architecture collective Coop Himmelb(l)au and a key figure in experimental and deconstructivist architecture, passed away on July 29, 2025, at the age of 81. Born in 1944 in Poznań, Poland, he studied architecture at the Vienna University of Technology and the Architectural Association in London.
Helmut Swiczinsky in front of the "Musée des Confluences" in Lyon. Image © Adam Wehsely-Swiczinsky under Wikimedia Commons CC4 License
Helmut Swiczinsky, co-founder of the Viennese architecture collective Coop Himmelb(l)au and a key figure in experimental and deconstructivist architecture, passed away on July 29, 2025, at the age of 81. Born in 1944 in Poznań, Poland, he studied architecture at the Vienna University of Technology and the Architectural Association in London.
In 1968, Swiczinsky co-founded Coop Himmelb(l)au alongside Wolf D. Prix and Michael Holzer. The studio quickly gained international recognition for its radical design approach, defined by fragmented geometries, exposed structural systems, and spatial complexity. After Holzer's departure in 1971, Swiczinsky and Prix continued to lead the practice through the 1980s and 1990s, establishing it as one of the most prominent voices of the deconstructivist movement.
