Born in 1938 in Hermoupolis, the capital of the Cycladic island of Syros, Dimitris Manikas moved to Vienna in 1958. There, he studied at the Technical University under Karl Schwanzer and Erich Boltenstern and participated in the legendary club-seminars for experimental design, founded by Günther Feuerstein. In 1967 he joined, as one of the first collaborators, the practice of Wilhelm Holzbauer, who had recently won the competition for Amsterdam’s Town Hall. Between 1970 and 1971, he was in Amsterdam, where he took part in the planning for the construction of the Town Hall. From the beginning, Manikas was an active participant in city planning and urban renewal projects throughout Vienna, e.g. Spittelberg, Mariahilf. In 1974 and 1982/83, he was one of the still young architects taking part in the avant garde exhibitions entitled ‘Konfrontationen’ (Confrontations) and ‘Versuche zur Baukunst’ (Attempts towards an Art of Building). In 1977, Manikas founded his own practice as an independent architect. In the following year, he was asked by Johannes Spalt to teach at the Academy (today’s university) of Applied Sciences. While starting as an assistant, he later became extraordinary professor, within the master class of Wilhelm Holzbauer.
Already soon after his studies and his work as an independent architect, Manikas designed and constructed buildings in Vienna, Athens, Paris, Berlin, Ios and Syros. In parallel, he also took part in planning and supervising urban renewal projects, reconstructing and extending prominent historic buildings, as well as designing exhibitions for Austria and his home country Greece. The
preservation of important buildings of the turn-of-the-century and post-war period demonstrate his diverse field of activities, e.g. the Vienna Museum, the nursery school Schweitzer Spende (Swiss Donation) and the Viennese Urania.
His participation in competitions and exhibitions —at home and abroad— were and continue to be important areas of his activities. The merging of Old and New as a binding combination remains a central theme throughout much of his work.
All the above were and continue to be complemented through numerous study trips (Holland 1968/1980/1984/1993, USSR 1973, Egypt 1978, Mexico 1978, China 1986, Albania 1989, Finland 1996 – among others), publications and lectures at home and abroad.