Fritz Eisenhofer

Friedrich "Fritz" Eisenhofer, ONZM (born 1926), is a New Zealand architect based in Waikanae.

Eisenhofer was born in the Austrian town of Spittal in 1926 and studied architecture at the Kunst Academy in Vienna after the Second World War. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1953 in a group of almost 200 skilled Austrian tradesmen contracted to build 500 pre-cut Austrian state houses in Titahi Bay. After the completion of the project, Eisenhofer gained New Zealand residency and began working at the Department of Housing in Wellington. In the late 1950s, he went into partnership with fellow Austrian architect Erwin Winkler, setting up practice at 108 Cuba Street, Wellington. Their style adhered to the principles of the modern movement and they were heavily influenced by architects such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Charles Eames. In recent years, Eisenhofer has been described as a visionary architect who practised ‘uncompromised high-style modernism’.

For much of his career, Eisenhofer's work has focused on solar gain and a relationship to the surrounding landscape.

His own home is dome shaped, built four metres underground and is made from ferro-cement. The large north-facing glass wall regulates the temperature by slowly heating the ground floor through summer. This heat is then gradually released during winter. Inside the home there is a swimming pool and tropical garden.

Eisenhofer was named an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2010 New Year Honours, for services to architecture.