Dark bar with gold accents, green bar stools and modern lights--Man with beard and black clothes, in front of a dark gray curtain--Golden ladder on a black shelf with square gold accents--Golden ladder next to a black metal and wood shelf with large wall art and a long table in a room

Art of Pioneering

The fun is in the details

In 2003, Daniel Hora achieves what architecture students around the world dream of: he wins his first architectural competition. And so, the founding year of Megatabs and the year of Hora’s diploma exam are the same. The South Tyrolean, who studied in Vienna, is in his mid-20s at the time.

Credits Photos: Hilzensauer Leonhard

Credits Design: MEGATABS architects

Daniel Hora

From the very beginning, the office works on all scales. A city development project in Greece is just as much part of their early work as a highly-publicized room in a senior citizens' home. The name says it all. "We wanted a name that expresses that we want to do mega-projects, but also small tabs. As long as it has potential," says Hora. To this day, the office works very successfully in two areas: architecture and interior design. For the architect, the two levels are inseparably linked: “When I approach a building, I see it as a total object.”

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That his approach works not only for him and his clients is demonstrated by the positive attention they generate and the numerous awards Megatabs continues to receive. For example, the office is a double winner of the State Design Award, for both the Hotel Josefine in Vienna and the wine bar Maria & Josef. Hora says that awards are good for recognition, but what’s more important to him is that users feel comfortable.

The fun is in the details

Does good design also need to dare to push boundaries – to explore limits?

Daniel Hora

Definitely. Otherwise, everything would look the same. And if you don’t actively work and try things out, you’ll eventually end up building uniform nonsense. We want and need to put something into the world that makes us think, something we try, design, and get the best out of it. I think you always have to push the boundaries. But that’s the fun part.

But this requires the right clients…

Daniel Hora

Yes, it requires clients who allow this. With the Maria & Josef bar, it was really like that. The client said he wanted a wine bar where you felt it had always been there. That was pretty much the only thing he said.

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With the Josefine, it was similar. It is an old house, and there are many old elements inside that had been terribly remodeled. We brought the house back to life. Of course, we built on it with a more modern approach. And then the playful theme came in. It is a fine line. It should never be too frivolous or kitschy. But you do have to push the boundaries. The client, on the one hand, allowed that, the hotel director is someone who really pushed the project and loves every detail.

Daniel Hora

Where design meets pleasure

Speaking of details: How important are the little things for the big picture?

Daniel Hora

It’s all about the details. When everything comes together, you feel comfortable. It pays off, even if many people may not even notice it. I don’t do standard details. We work for weeks on a shadow gap, and everyone says, "No one’s going to notice that." And that might even be true, but you feel good about it, and it just works. That’s also a huge point where we have a lot of fun working with Josef Göbel because they are on the same page, and they care about it. We often make it complex because we really want to express something specific, and they play along, understand the details, and either execute them the way we want or even develop them further. That’s why we complement each other so well.

Daniel Hora