Our highlights - The 20th and 21st century
Our highlights - The 20th and 21st century
Fauteuil „Galaxy 1“, Walter Pichler
Fauteuil „Galaxy 1“, Walter Pichler
Wien, 1966
Vom Grafiker und Bildhauer Walter Pichler stammt der futuristische Fauteuil „Galaxy“ aus vernieteten, teils perforierten Alublech-Elementen. Diese an den Leichtbau von Flugzeugen erinnernde Konstruktion macht das Sitzmöbel zu einem Beispiel des auf die Weltraumfahrt der 1960er Jahre reagierenden internationalen „Space-Age-Designs“. Auch die Namensgebung drückt dies aus.
© BMobV/SKB Foto: Lois Lammerhuber
Chest of drawers
Chest of drawers
Vienna, c. 1925
This chest of drawers is a typical example of Josef Frank’s light, formally diverse and detailed designs. He was a defining figure in the interwar period. Although influenced by Loos, he took an undogmatic approach to interior design, rejecting the concept of a dwelling as a ‘total work of art’. In exile in Sweden Frank continued to design for the famous Stockholm store Svenskt Tenn.
© BMobV/SKB, Photo: Edgar Knaack
Kitchen furnishings
Kitchen furnishings
1950s
These kitchen furnishings are still quite traditional in that they consist of separate pieces of furniture. However, they already feature the colourful Resopal® (laminate) surfaces that were commonly used for post-WW2 fitted kitchens. Intended to convey modernity and positivity, these pastel tones are also found on the popular ‘Lilienporzellan’ crockery of the time.
© BMobV/SKB, Photo: Lois Lammerhuber
Bedroom in the Lucie Rie apartment, Ernst Plischke
Bedroom in the Lucie Rie apartment, Ernst Plischke
Vienna, 1928
In planning the ceramicist Lucie Rie’s small apartment in Vienna, the architect Ernst Plischke made economical use of space, designing fitted units instead of free-standing cupboards in order to keep the layout as uncluttered as possible. The fact that it could be dismantled stood Rie in good stead when she emigrated to London, taking the furnishings with her, after the Anschluss in 1938.
© BMobV, Photo: Margerita Spiluttini
‘Idea of a Tree’ seating object, mischer'traxler
‘Idea of a Tree’ seating object, mischer'traxler
Vienna, 2011
Experimental furniture design based on resource-conserving production processes, dreamed up by designer duo Mischer‘Traxler: powered by solar electricity, a machine winds cotton thread soaked in dye and glue to form a tubular seating object, making its construction visible, like the growth rings of a tree. The result also varies according to the intensity of the light and length of the day.
© SKB
One can use everything that can be used (Josef Frank)
After the end of the Monarchy, Vienna went its own way in furniture design. Josef Frank set his stamp on this ‘other Modern movement’ which foregrounded individuality, superior design and local traditions of craftsmanship. Comfort had primacy over formality or ostentatious display of wealth. On display at the Imperial Furniture Collection is a key work from this time, the Vienna apartment designed by Ernst Plischke for the ceramic artist Lucie Rie, a modern, open-plan space with ingenious built-in storage fittings.
In the post-Second World War era the focus was above all on reconstruction. Architects such as Roland Rainer designed economically priced furniture that almost everybody could afford. A typical example of the furniture of this time is the pastel-coloured kitchen, constructed from new, man-made materials.
In the 1960s renowned architect-designers such as Hans Hollein and Coop Himmelblau introduced a mood of innovation and new departures. Design blasted off into the space age, as evinced by the futuristic ‘Galaxy’ aluminium armchair, the brain-child of sculptor Walter Pichler.
Although the destination was not the moon, Austrian design after 2000 had the future firmly in its sights. New technical colleges, interesting syllabuses and highly qualified lecturers have ensured that today Austrian design is once again internationally renowned. The Imperial Furniture Collection provides a comprehensive panorama of contemporary Austrian design.