Konrad Frey was a pioneer who designed and built solar houses based on data and scientific insights. Yet Frey and his work are largely unknown. A project by the architectural theoretician Anselm Wagner aims to change that. — Phys org
"The architectural designs of Konrad Frey are characterized by the fact that their form is a consequence of function. Had he worked in Vienna, had his activities started in the urban context, his architecture would have become a topic of research long ago," says art historian and architectural theoretician Anselm Wagner.
Frey studied solar energy in the 1960s and designed Austria's first solar house in 1972, together with Florian Beigel, using a combination of active and passive harnessing of solar energy. "The Sun Houses of Konrad Frey: Environmental Research and Solar Design Knowledge", a research project funded by Austrian Science Fund FWF, will produce an online catalogue raisonné and a monograph of Frey work.
For those interested in more images or info on the Grazerschule(including in Frey's own words ) these posts (1, 2, 3) from GAT or this page from TU Graz are your best bet . Unless you read German and want to order this great looking book.
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Wish I would get a second look too since I did all of this stuff from the early 1970s!
But in your bio you state:
"My work is very well known around the world. It has been featured in thousands of articles in books, magazines, newspapers, and on the Web. My work has been shown in many galleries, and on various TV documentaries. It has also been exhibited at the National Building Museum, the Canadian Center for Architecture, the Harvard School of Design and Architecture, the Santa Fe Institute, and at the Museum of Modern Art in New York."
As it is very well known, the second look would be overkill in my opinion. Keep it up though, I find your work very inspirational.
God I love the aesthetic of this funky 70s early hippie work! Lots of it used to exist in Germany and Austria. And some in the US. But a lot of it is gone, sadly.
an unfortunately image-less article...
Thanks! I am referring to my earlier work, most of the press I have received has been on my later work. I think that I have done a lot of very innovative things with alternative energy in the built environment, which have been forgotten about from the early 1970s! Maybe it's time for me to write a book??
Please do, would love to know more about it.
For those interested in more images or info on the Grazerschule(including in Frey's own words ) these posts (1, 2, 3) from GAT or this page from TU Graz are your best bet . Unless you read German and want to order this great looking book.
Thanks for this, Nam!
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