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Rainer, Roland
(b Klagenfurt, 1 May 1910). Austrian architect, urban planner, writer and teacher. He studied architecture (1928–33) at the Technische Universität, Vienna, and then worked from 1937 at the Deutsche Akademie für Städtebau in Berlin. After World War II he began writing books that proposed solutions to urban planning and housing problems. He also established a practice as an independent architect in Vienna, working mainly in the functionalist tradition. During his career he completed more than 50 projects of the most diverse kinds and scale: office buildings, schools, kindergartens, swimming-baths, churches, multi-purpose halls, factories, a radio and television centre and numerous residential buildings including an influential estate of prefabricated detached houses (1954; with Carl Auböck), Vienna, that served as a model for much post-war reconstruction work in Austria. Other well-known examples of his work are his multi-purpose halls: the Stadthalle (1952–8), Vienna, the Friedrich-Ebert-Halle (1962–5), Ludwigshafen am Rhein, and the Stadthalle (1963–4), Bremen, incorporating new construction techniques such as steel suspension and concrete shell roofs. The Puchenau garden city (1964–7) near Linz, also received international recognition. With its houses built round central courts or in terraces, it follows the tradition of the Viennese garden city movement after World War I and is an example of building adapted to the needs of living. From 1958 to 1961 Rainer was chief urban planner for the city of Vienna, producing the first comprehensive plan for the city in the 20th century. He was also an influential teacher, particularly in his work (1956–80) at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Vienna, where he trained a generation of architects. Of great significance for his teaching was his interest in the vernacular buildings of all countries and periods; he analysed similar types, studying functional order, scale and other elements that characterize them as successful examples of humane architecture. Rainer made a significant contribution to the development of Austrian building and architecture after 1945. In 1980 he became president of the Austrian Kunstsenat, a state advisory body.
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