The range is wide: it spans from brutalist churches and icons of Viennese municipal housing to pioneering school and residential buildings. This diversity of 20th century Austrian architecture is now gathered in Kulturpool.

At the heart of the digitisation project are the significant photographic archives of Friedrich Achleitner, Karin Mack and Margherita Spiluttini. Their work offers diverse perspectives on architecture – ranging from precise documentation to personal interpretation and artistic reflection. In this way, their photographs bring Austria's architectural landscape to life.

Friedrich Achleitner studied architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and attended Clemens Holzmeister's masterclass from 1950 to 1953. Starting in the 1960s, he began systematically surveying Austria's built environment. He travelled throughout the country, visiting buildings in person and documenting them through photography.

This resulted in a unique archive of around 78,000 images – as well as his multi-volume 'Österreichische Architektur im 20. Jahrhundert' (engl. 'Austrian Architecture in the 20th century'), which remains influential to this day. Many of the buildings he documented no longer exist or have been significantly altered. His photographs are therefore often the only surviving records of these structures.

In the early years of his architectural travels through Austria, Achleitner was accompanied by his first wife: the photographer and later artist Karin Mack. Between 1967 and 1978, she documented Austrian built environment as an architectural photographer and visual chronicler. Her archive comprises around 1,000 photographs and offers an additional perspective on architecture and its representation.

At the same time, it draws attention to a central theme: the role of women in architectural history. Whilst female architects were long overlooked, they were able to establish themselves earlier as photographers. In this role, they made a significant contribution to showcasing, communicating and interpreting architecture.

Margherita Spiluttini also plays a key role. Her photographic archive comprises over 4,000 documented buildings and ranks among the most significant photographic collections worldwide. The project focuses on her series 'WIEN PLAN' (engl. plan of Vienna): a collection comprising around 3,000 images. The series documents historic buildings in public spaces and draws attention to the process of change and ageing they undergo.

Spiluttini's photographs are characterised by a distinctive, artistic approach – and complement Friedrich Achleitner's more documentary work in a striking way.

Further examples of Austrian architecture can be explored in the Az W's online collection. The collection contains information on around 30,000 buildings. These are linked to some 4,000 individuals and 65,000 images – including photographs, plans, sketches and models.

The collection offers a multi-layered approach to Austrian building culture: as an interplay of images, knowledge and history. It invites visitors to rediscover architecture and its designers.