Press conference new Director Doris Kleilein
© Photo: eSeL.at - Lorenz Seidler
Doris Kleilein, the future director of the Az W, was presented to the public by Hannes Swoboda, Chairman of the Board of the Architekturzentrum Wien, and Veronica Kaup-Hasler, Executive City Councillor for Cultural Affairs and Science, at a press conference held at 10.30 am on Wednesday 22 April 2026 in the library of the Architekturzentrum Wien.
Doris Kleilein was selected from 44 applicants from Austria and other countries, and is accordingly to succeed Angelika Fitz, who is stepping down from her position as director at the end of 2026 after 10 years, for health reasons. The appointment is the result of an international multi-stage selection process. From 2027, Kleilein will lead the Az W alongside Executive Director Karin Lux. The main funding bodies for the Architekturzentrum Wien, which was founded in 1993, are the City of Vienna and the Federal Government of Austria, while the work of the Az W is also made possible by the partners of the Architecture Lounge and numerous other private sponsors.
Doris Kleilein will take over the leadership of a well-established institution with an excellent national and international reputation, the Architekturzentrum Wien, one of the most influential architecture museums in the world. While the focus has always been on the social dimension of architecture, increasing emphasis has been placed on environmental and feminist perspectives in more recent years. With its international thematic exhibitions and educational formats ranging from excursions to film screenings, workshops and programmed events for all generations, the Az W regards itself as a bridge between the professional world and everyday experts, as well as between local and global issues. It houses the most significant and comprehensive collection of 20th and 21st century Austrian architecture. With its permanent collection, public library, Research Center in the Collection Depot and online resources, the Az W provides a comprehensive range of services for researchers and anyone interested in architecture and building culture.
“I feel sure that Doris Kleilein will continue to engage with and present the impact of architecture on the built environment to the public as well as its impact on social coexistence, building on the work of Dietmar Steiner and Angelika Fitz — and the entire Az W team. There is no doubt that the Az W will continue to make a particularly potent contribution to the architectural debate in this country and on an international level!”
Hannes Swoboda, President of the Architekturzentrum Wien Board
“I would like to thank Angelika Fitz for the wide-range of impulses she has given the architecture world in Vienna with her global perspective. When she goes, Vienna loses an enthusiastic champion of architecture. She has brought issues of deep concern relating to urban architecture to the fore at the Architekturzentrum Wien. She has also connected Vienna with architectural pioneers and in doing so strengthened awareness of environmental and social issues within Vienna’s architectural scene. In addition, she has championed architectural gems such as Villa Beer and campaigned for the preservation of and public access to the Schütte-Lihotzky apartment. I wish her all the best for this new chapter in her life.”
“I welcome Doris Kleilein as the new director of the Architekturzentrum Wien, she has many years of experience as an architect and her own extensive network, so I’m looking forward to a lively and stimulating programme with a focus on architectural education— bringing with her, as she does, a wealth of perspectives and professional expertise to the role. The Architekturzentrum is a valuable platform for exploring the relationship between architecture and social and political issues — I am convinced that Doris Kleilein will raise the Az W’s profile in Vienna and beyond, and establish it as a place of encounter and debate for an even wider audience.”
Veronica Kaup-Hasler, City Councillor for Cultural Affairs and Science
“I am delighted that we have been able to appoint Doris Kleilein as the future director of the Architekturzentrum Wien, she is an international expert with a particular focus on matters relating to housing and social cohesion.
With her wide range of professional expertise, she is ideally placed to work with the team to further develop the Architekturzentrum Wien as a vibrant hub for exchange, dedicated to communicating topical issues of concern in the building culture, as well as our architectural heritage.
I would also like to extend my special thanks to the outgoing director of the Architekturzentrum Wien, Angelika Fitz, for her many years of commitment to the job, she has significantly shaped the Architekturzentrum Wien and raised its international profile.”
Andreas Babler, Federal Minister for Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport
Doris Kleilein will continue to develop and position the Az W’s programme with her team: “I am delighted to be taking over the helm at the Az W from 2027 and to be able to bring 25 years of experience as an architect, architecture critic and publisher to a new context. I see the Az W as an ideal platform for linking architectural education even more closely with social debates — from the issues of housing and climate-friendly construction, to migration. In doing so, I wish to build on the strengths of the institution, combining exhibitions, the archives and discourse, its roots in Vienna and international visibility, as well as valuable collaborations in the fields of research and teaching.
At the same time, I see potential in developing new formats — both digital and analogue — to reach an even broader audience. At a time when trust in democracy is waning, coming together in analogue spaces is gaining in importance again — while parallel to this, digital access is the key to visibility.
I bring an outsider’s perspective from my adopted home of Berlin: on Vienna’s pioneering role in social housing, urban regeneration and neighbourhood development; but also on the high standard of the Austrian building culture, the country’s vibrant architectural scene and its architectural heritage.”
The Architekturzentrum Wien is delighted to have appointed Doris Kleilein as its new director. She is an outstanding architecture expert and communicator who enjoys a great reputation throughout the German-speaking world. She will bring her international network and her long-standing journalistic ties to the Austrian architectural scene to bear in her work at the Architekturzentrum Wien, providing new impetus for the institution.
Brief CV
Doris Kleilein (born 1970 in Kronach) is a German architect, architecture critic and publisher. Having studied architecture at the Technical University of Berlin and the University of Manitoba (Winnipeg, Canada), she co-founded the architectural practice bromsky (Berlin/Hamburg), which specialises in the renovation of buildings. As a long-standing editor of Bauwelt und Stadtbauwelt (2005–2018), she has a broad overview of the architectural realm and current discourses. From 2019 to 2026, she was head of the architectural publishers JOVIS in Berlin, which has become an international platform for the promotion of topics relating to transformation in architecture with its award-winning publications. She is sought after as a speaker and as a presenter, she sits on advisory boards and competition juries, and has been writing as a freelance journalist on architecture and urbanism since 1996 — including for Baunetz, Bauwelt, Archithese, Arch+, Hochparterre, taz, Deutschlandradio and rbb. In 2020 and 2022 she conducted research at the Thomas Mann House in Los Angeles on participatory projects.