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March 5 marked the opening of Dietmar Feichtinger: Architecture of Connection, an exhibition of the titular architect’s work spanning several decades and typologies at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York in Midtown Manhattan. The show sprawls across four levels of Austrian-born New York architect Raimund Abraham’s signature building and is roughly divided by program from bottom to top. Every project provides a series of photographs, models, details, and diagrams, thoroughly explaining each with little aggrandizement. The curatorial framing is made broad to accommodate the wide range of projects, emphasizing three qualities that the curator deems necessary to Feichtinger’s work: community, purpose, and future, which represent social space, functional innovation, and environmental sustainability, respectively.
The Jetty at Mont-Saint-Michel, Normandy, France (2015). Photo © David Boureau
Bridges, the most common typology in the show, occupy the lowest floor of the exhibition. Here, you’ll find some of the Paris-based Austrian’s most notable work, like the Passerelle Simone-de-Beauvoir, an undulating footbridge connecting both banks of the Seine, or the Butterfly Bridge, a three-pronged drawbridge connecting Copenhagen’s Christianshavn and Holmen neighborhoods. The middle two floors house various commercial, institutional, and infrastructural projects, most notable among them the Danube University in Krems, Austria, which exemplifies Feichtinger’s restraint. On the top floor, a film interview with RECORD editor in chief Josephine Minutillo plays on a loop, and stacks of project portfolio books sit on a table, available for visitors to browse.
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Installation view of Dietmar Feichtinger: Architecture of Connection at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York. Photo © ACFNY
The varied cohort that made up the opening night crowd ranged from architecture students to Austrian diplomats. Susanne Keppler-Schlesinger, director of the Austrian Cultural Forum New York, kicked off the opening remarks with a short speech focused primarily on Feichtinger’s bridges and their relevance to the title of the exhibition. She shared a particularly charming anecdote about crossing the Passerelle Simone-de-Beauvoir with her family, where, in watching her four-year-old son skateboard across the bridge, she recognized the bridge’s qualities as a public space rather than just a passage. She was quickly followed by engineer Jens Schneider, who shared anecdotes about his collaborations with Feichtinger, primarily focusing on their work on the jetty bridge at Le Mont Saint Michel in Normandy. Lastly, Feichtinger himself spoke, his plain black t-shirt and pants contrasted with the surrounding elevated attire of the Austrian people of importance, reflecting the no-frills nature of his work and strengthening his image as an architect interested in beauty in utility. Pens and markers were visible in his front pocket.
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Scenes from the opening of the exhibition, which includes a video interview between Feichtinger and RECORD editor in chief Josephine Minutillo. Photos © ACFNY
Feichtinger’s work exudes absolute precision and professionalism and, like the architect himself, embodies the pure essentials of a successful architectural practice. It features little idiosyncratic stylization but is exquisitely designed, documented, detailed, built, and photographed. The construction drawings featured in the project portfolio books, perhaps the most overlooked portion of the exhibition, are among the best-constructed and most organized working drawings I’ve seen. It’s clear in looking through the documentation throughout the exhibition that Feichtinger is an architect who thoroughly understands the processes behind building, and it’s in this absolute understanding that Feichtinger carves out his importance as an architect. Detail drawings make up a disproportionate share of the documentation on display, emphasizing the importance of the engineering and construction processes. The meticulous line weights reflect the high standards of execution, and in this near-perfect execution, every project finds a wealth of complexity without feeling forced. There is little in these projects to indicate they were produced by a particular individual, but each is developed exactly to the parameters of the brief and embodies the three qualities outlined in the exhibition description. Feichtinger and his work might best be described as an amalgamation of the ideal qualities of an architect: easily understood, aesthetically understated, and beautifully efficient.
Dietmar Feichtinger: Architecture of Connection will continue at the Austrian Cultural Forum through September 20, 2026.