Tyrol, with its provincial capital Innsbruck, has experienced a recent architectural breakthrough. Over the past few decades, a third independent architecture scene has been established in the west of Austria, alongside those more widely known in Vienna and Graz. The result has been an avalanche of new and exciting buildings that have put architecture back on the public agenda, a late renaissance that began with the foundation of a new architecture course at the University of Innsbruck in 1969. Since then Josef Lackner, among others, has educated several generations of architects, and built a range of buildings, such as the Ursulinen Schule and the Bartenbach light laboratory, which underpin his theories. Historically, though, both public and private sectors have been slow to join the initiative. Politicians and private businesses have widely ignored the potential of local architects, resulting in the region having had few noteworthy buildings, despite having hosted the Olympic Games twice in 1964 and 1976. In the 1920s, pioneering architects of the Tyrol chose to take the Modern Movement to the most remote valleys of the eastern Alps where they defined a new architectural language. By combining local techniques and cultural traditions with the International Style, architects such as Bau-mann, Welzenbacher, Mazagg and Holzmeis-tcr not only produced several noteworthy buildings, but also sought to refine the alpine topography with their architecture, equalling the quality of more widely known examples from Switzerland.
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