Coop Himmelb(l)au

COOP HIMMELB(L)AU, founded in 1968 by Wolf dPrix, Helmut Swiczinsky, and Michael Holzer (left in 1971) in Vienna, Austria. Since Helmut Swiczinsky retired in 2001 from the firm’s day-to-day operations, and his departure as a partner in 2006, Wolf dPrix is leading the studio as CEO and Design Principal.

"Himmelblau is not a color but an idea, of creating architecture with fantasy, as buoyant and variable as clouds."

- Wolf dPrix

The studio has a multicultural team from more than 15 countries and is over 60 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' means cooperative and ​'HIMMELBLAU' means sky blue. We started building in 1978 and so set the ​'L' in brackets meaning the blue turns into ​'sky building'.”

- Wolf dPrix