Silja Tillner is an architect and head of Tillner & Willinger ZT GmbH, a Vienna-based architecture and urban design studio. Her practice focuses on urban interventions, master plans, membrane structures, and sustainable residential and commercial construction. The architectural firm is known for its sustainable design and integrated design approach throughout the project life cycle: urban design, usage concepts, architectural design, and planning. In recent years, the studio has received widespread recognition for projects such as the revitalization of Gürtel Boulevard (Vienna), the planning of the Urban-Loritz-Platz (Vienna) and the market in Opfikon (CH), the design of the Spittelau business building and offices for the European Union, and the “Linked Living” student housing project in Messekarree. Since its founding, the office has received the AIPA Award (1996), the Bauhaus Award (2000), the ar + d Award, the IFAI Award (both in 2001), and the LEAF Award 2005, as well as a gold medal at the Bienal Miami + Beach 2005.

She studied architecture at TU Vienna and the Academy of Fine Arts, then completed her master’s degree in Urban Design at UCLA. She has taught in Vienna, Nancy, Milan, and Innsbruck, lecturing on urban planning, urban design, and housing construction around the world. She was a member of the board of directors of IBA Stadtumbau (Urban Redevelopment) in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, and a member of the Vienna City Council’s advisory board for urban development and architecture. Since 2013, she has been working on the advisory board for urban planning and development of the “Seestadt Aspern” in Vienna. Since 2014, she has been a member of the Vienna Housing Council.

She enjoys large-scale planning projects and careful interventions in the historic urban fabric. She has been personally responsible for the revitalization of historic neighborhoods and the renovation of numerous protected buildings, where she has developed concepts, designs, and technical solutions. She is professionally and personally committed to the preservation of historic monuments. She renovated the world-famous 1931 Rietveld House in Vienna’s Werkbundsiedlung. She was responsible for all urban planning and architectural projects on Vienna’s Gürtel boulevard, in particular the careful restoration of Otto Wagner’s historic viaduct and the sensitive design of new glass facades and adaptations for new uses. On Vienna’s Ringstrasse, in the heart of the first district, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the office was responsible for the renovation of the listed building at Schottenring 14. Together with her partner Alfred Willinger, she designed an extension to the courtyard of the Luther Museum in Wittenberg. Tillner & Willinger is currently working on a concept for the renovation and reuse of several protected monuments from the 1930s, stands and stables at the Vienna Hippodrome. The office has also designed numerous renovation strategies and studies for buildings in Vienna, Salzburg, Zurich, and Wittenberg.

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