Ernst Plischke

Ernst Anton Plischke (1903 – 23 May 1992) was an Austrian-New Zealand modernist architect, town planner and furniture designer whose work is well known throughout Europe and New Zealand.

Plischke was born in the town of Klosterneuburg near Vienna, Austria in 1903 to a father that was an architect and a mother from a family of cabinet-makers. From an early age he spent time in workshops and studios, before going to study interior and furniture design at Vienna's College of Arts and Crafts.

At the age of twenty, influenced by his father to become an architect he was accepted into a Master School run by leading architect Peter Behrens. His architecture as a student reflected the dynamic and repetitious nature of the early modernist style.

After graduating from the academy in 1926, Plischke worked in Peter Behrens's private office, and in 1929 travelled to New York to work but the start of the great depression ruined this opportunity.

In 1930, he was commissioned to build the Labour Exchange building in Liesing by the Austrian government. Completion of this in 1931 made him one of Austria's leading architects.

One of the Plischke's early houses The Gamerith House at Lake Attersee, foreshadows his later work in New Zealand. The house fits into the surrounding landscape and holds a boat-like quality.

In 1935, he was married to Anna Lang-Schwizer and awarded the Austrian State Prize for architecture.

In 1938, Germany occupied Austria. German law meant that all architects had to become part of a centralised Chamber of Arts. Because his wife was Jewish, he was not accepted into the Chamber of Arts. This reason along with the banning of modernist buildings by the German occupation led Plischke to move to New Zealand in 1939.

When Plischke arrived in New Zealand in 1939 with his wife Anna, he was already known in architectural circles to be at the forefront of modernist design. He began working for the Ministry of Housing on projects such as the Dixon St Flats. From 1943–47 he worked for the Department of Town Planning producing work in areas including: Naenae, Trentham, Tamaki and Mangakino. He also completed private work during this time, including the Frankl House in Christchurch.

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