Riepl architects and Ella Raidel proposed for 2026 culture prize

Architects Peter and Gabriele Riepl of Linz and filmmaker Ella Raidel of Gmunden have been proposed for Upper Austria’s Grand State Prize for Culture in 2026, ORF reported. The Upper Austrian state government is due to decide on the awards on Monday.

The Riepls have jointly run the Riepl Riepl Architekten office in Linz since 1985. Their firm has completed projects in cultural, religious, residential, industrial and educational construction.

Among their best-known works is the conversion of the Ursuline school in Linz into the Open Culture House, known as OK, run by the Upper Austrian State Culture GmbH. The project received the Central Association of Austrian Architects’ client award in 1998.

Raidel, who was born in Gmunden, studied and completed her doctorate at the University of Art and Design Linz. She has taught at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore since 2019.

She is internationally known in part for her 2014 documentary film Double Happiness, which examines the replica of Hallstatt in China. The film has been shown at more than 60 international and national festivals, conferences, workshops and exhibitions.

The Grand State Prize for Culture carries an award of 11,000 euros for each recipient. In the architecture category, it is awarded as the Mauriz Balzarek Prize.

The 2026 Upper Austrian Folk Culture Prize is set to go to the Association of Danube Swabians in Upper Austria. The award is to recognise the First International Danube Swabian Congress, held in 2024.

Governor Thomas Stelzer said art and culture made Upper Austria “lively, distinctive and open to new ideas”. He described the awards as a thank-you to those who shape the state’s cultural life through creativity and skill.