Matthias Hollwich

Matthias Hollwich (born May 1, 1971 in Munich) is principal and founder of New York architecture firm HWKN Architecture (HWKN), a published author, and co-founder of Architizer.com.

Matthias Hollwich is the founder of HWKN, a NY-based collective of architects, sculptors, social strategists and innovators dedicated to use architecture to shape a better world.

Matthias was born and raised in Germany where he studied architecture and brings a dual perspective to all the firm’s designs, combining German precision with American aspiration.

As a member of the Bauhaus Dessau Werkstatt between 2002 and 2006, Matthias worked on multiple projects including design proposals for the new Master’s house in Dessau, Shrinking Cities research, and Geropolis.

In 2004, Matthias finished editing his first book with Rainer Weisbach at the Bauhaus titled ‘UmBauhaus – Updating Modernism’.

During the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, Matthias co-created Architizer, a digital platform to help architects promote their work.

In 2012 HWKN won MoMA PS1's Young Architects Program (YAP) with their project Wendy.

Following the success of Wendy, HWKN received multiple commissions including the Fire Island Pines Pavilion (2013), the University of Pennsylvania’s LEED Gold Pennovation Center (2016), Journal Squared (2017), and the speculative innovation campus 25 Kent (2018).

To increase visibility of global architecture, Matthias co-developed the Architizer A+ Awards in 2013.

In 2017, the firm was included in Fast Company's ranking of the World's Most Innovative companies.