This architect, born in Tyrol and based in Paris, has been developing a unique vocabulary since launching her agency in 2013. Portrait.
In the beginning, there was the history of art. “From the age of 13, I went on Interrail trips to Italy to visit museums – I dreamed of the Uffizi in Florence in particular. I was fascinated by the painting, the composition, the light… Ultimately, architecture became my focus, because it allows me to connect the artistic gesture to materiality and lived space. This perspective on art history still informs my work every day.”, says the woman who grew up in a small village in Tyrol, Austria, surrounded by mountains and forests. "My childhood revolved around skiing. It was a very physical, free life, deeply connected to nature.", she recalls. “I lived on the edge of the forest, in an environment without constant supervision. With the neighborhood children, we spent most of our days outside, exploring, building, imagining. This instinctive relationship to the landscape, to the body in motion, to intuition, profoundly marked me. It still influences my approach to architecture today – as a sensory experience, rooted in a place.”
When asked about her intellectual mentors, the young woman does not mention the usual names like Le Corbusier, or even a certain Josef Hoffmann, whom one is tempted to see in some of her furniture designs. “I feel close to phenomenological thinkers who question our sensory relationship to the world, to space, and to memory. This approach profoundly influences my conception of place: not as a simple formal composition, but as an experience to be lived. Umberto Eco also made a mark on me, particularly his way of analyzing “voids”—that which is not stated but structures the reading. In architecture, emptiness creates rhythm, silence, and anticipation.” Later, she readily cites the Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen. “His work touches me deeply, and in particular this sentence which says: “Always design a thing by considering it in its next larger context”. It's a lesson in humility and responsibility: every project is part of a larger story, a social fabric, a landscape. This rejects architecture as an isolated act, to fully embrace its cultural, civic, and poetic dimensions. In my practice, this translates into attention to all scales: I design the building, oversee the construction sites, and when possible, I also create the furniture and functional details. This continuity allows me to create coherent, inhabited, and sensitive spaces. For her friend Mathieu Boncour, former communications director at the Palais de Tokyo and now communications director at Sacem, Katja Pargger's practice is "deeply rooted in a dialogue between past and present, rehabilitating forgotten skills, drawing on the history of art and architecture, and weaving together multiple references, both historical and geographical." Far removed from fleeting fads or trends, her approach aims for lasting impact. She pays particular attention to lines, materials, negative space, and how spaces are inhabited. Each project stems from a reflection on their uses, with the constant aim of creating enduring spaces, designed to last.
Sustainability, a term that has a strong hold on the architect's work design. “Sustainability begins with a concrete and contextual approach. We prioritize local materials—stone, wood, lime—and collaborate with local artisans and businesses, each possessing valuable expertise. On many projects, we seek to reuse existing materials. Brick is ideal: it can be dismantled, reused, and ages beautifully. For example, for a project in Sologne, we worked exclusively with companies located within 50 kilometers. Earthenware, bricks, lime, wood: everything comes from the region.” This local focus creates an architecture that is not only ecological but also fairer, more coherent, and more humane.
In addition to architecture, Katja Pargger works as a designer, notably for the fashion house Chloé. “I was able to transpose my architectural reflections to the scale of the object. It was a way of condensing my principles: materiality, the sensuality of textures, the harmony of lines. The pieces created are not simply pieces of furniture, but fragments of space. They extend an idea of soft and enveloping domestic architecture, where form and gesture are linked. The sofas, composed of two brown leather semicircles, evoke a conversation pit Intimate and warm, playing on the tension between welcoming curves and the formal rigor of modernist architecture. The coffee table, handcrafted in black lacquered ceramic, creates a striking contrast with the softness and warmth of the leather. The bench and stool, with their slender stainless steel legs and brown leather seats, also play on the interplay between metallic lightness and the sensuality of natural materials.
Another string to his bow is these "items", which are far removed from the world of architecture, such as this amazing latex kimono. “It’s neither a collection nor a work of art in the strict sense, but a personal expression. It’s a way of giving form to intuitions and materials that inspire me, without responding to a specific commission or function. […] I’ve dreamed of creating a kimono for years, but for lack of time I had put it aside. It was thanks to Aurore Lameyre that this project came to fruition for a recent photoshoot. The latex is alive, consistent with the material, but also with the idea of not making an ordinary garment, but rather a prototype.”. » An exciting world, oscillating between luxury, sophistication, sustainability and innovation.
Lisa Agostini
