Panelist, Professor Dietmar E. Froehlich
A native of Austria, Froehlich graduated with a Diplom-Ingenieur in Architecture from the Technical University Graz, Austria [diploma with Günther Domenig] and is the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship for postgraduate studies at University of Houston.
He received his Doctor of Philosophy [Ph.D.] with distinction from the University of Applied Arts Vienna in Architectural | Art History and Film and Media Theory.
A licensed architect in both the United States and Austria, Froehlich has worked on large scale commercial projects, ranging from hospitals to theaters, and collaborated with various offices [Günther Domenig, TEAM A, Graz, Keyes Condon Florance, Washington, D.C.] on numerous winning architectural competitions before returning to Houston [williams + froehlich]
He is Professor of Architecture at the GD Hines College of Architecture and Design, University of Houston, where he also serves as the Associate Dean.
The focus of Froehlich’s scholarly endeavors is the exploration of cinema, new media and architecture.
His book The Chameleon Effect – Architecture’s Role in Film [Birkhäuser Verlag GmbH. Basel, Switzerland, 2018; ISBN 978-3-0356-1190-8] discusses how film with its multifaceted changing atmospheres reveals new layers of architecture which, outside the cinema, would remain concealed, and how in conclusion, film as a mass medium influences the way architecture is perceived, and its image in society.