Furniture Designs IV

Bed, Desk, and Chair. Designed by Alexander O. Epstein.

Window Renderings

By Alexander O. Epstein

Furniture Designs III

Bookcase design by Hannah Lawler, Rendering by Alexander O. Epstein

Furniture Designs II

Handle design by Katherine Ross, Dresser design by Hannah Lawler, Renderings by Alexander O. Epstein

Furniture Designs

LIGHTING

When designing the lighting, an important distinction was made by including a more organic feel to the strict structural divisions. These light covers provide a solution to the harsh lighting of fluorescence, allowing the user to either cover the raw light for a more soft look or open the shade to provide a brighter light.

HEAD BOARD

When designing the head board, the use of repetition acted as a key aspect. This repetition was broken up by the angle changes the various crevices and projections provided. This repetition was also broken up by the various materials used, such as metal and wood, alternating in a pattern that was both repetitive but unexpected.



Designs by Katherine Ross, Images by Alexander O. Epstein

Furniture Concept Sketches

Window concepts for Dorm Room: The mullions recall the Nautilus pattern. In addition, the glass is broken up in a way that is both serves a function as well being aesthetically pleasing.

The pattern of the dresser's drawers again recall the golden-ratio Nautilus motif. The solid form is broken up by the protruding legs, which makes it more volumetric and interesting as a shape. Likewise, the drawers are designed with artists in mind, the bottom two are flat-files for housing drawings safely.

The bookcase is rotated 45 degrees when placed on the wall, ensuring that books do not fall out. The bottom compartment is designed with over-sized artist's books in mind.

Designed and written by Hannah Lawler

Materials and Color Palatte for Dorm Room

(Eucalyptus Wood Sample)


(Cork Sample)


(Bamboo Wood Sample)


(Color Swatches)


For our materials, we wanted to put an emphasis on sustainability. Unlike the oak used in the current dorm room furnishings, all the woods above are fast-growing species that are considered sustainable resources. Eucalyptus wood is a hard wood, like oak, but grows much faster. To offset the blond wood in the furniture, we would make the floor out of cork. Cork is more aesthetically pleasing than linoleum, and also more environmentally friendly.

Our color palette would be mostly neutral, as a dorm room that is designed for diverse occupancy should be. The walls wouldn't be painted stark white, however, but instead, a light warm gray, which adds some visual interest without overpowering the color taste of the occupant.

Written by Katherine Ross and Hannah Lawler

Textile Design, Freshman Dorm (Final Project)

In designing these textiles it was important to keep in mind several of our groups goals. In particular the idea of Gestamtkunstwerk that took hold during the Vienna Succession. Many of the designs are meant to “fit in” and belong only in the space that we had created, and not for mass production with various other designs.

The patterning and designs reflect our ideas in highlighting the simple lines and shapes that make up a room. The significance of extracting the simple linear and curvilinear shapes emphasize the unification of all parts of the room, rather than a disjointed collection of object and shapes.

"Gesamtkunstwerk" the Philosophy of the Wiener Werkstätte

The workshops designed interior spaces collaboratively, using a design philosophy of the "total work of art," or in German the "Gesamtkunstwerk." This idea of a Gesamtkunstwerk permeated the creative processes of the Werkstätte. They created projects collectively, and designed and fabricated everything for the interiors themselves, from silverware to upholstery. The Perhaps the most famous example of this creative process is the Palais Stoclet in Belgium, which was commissioned by Adolphe Stoclet and built between the years of 1905 to 1911. The building's rooms are designed so that the lines created by furniture and architectural elements are proportional to one another, and so that the materials and color palette feels unified. Additionally, shapes such as the square repeat throughout the entire building.


Likewise, they believed in treating the materials in an honest fashion. Many pieces were made by staining wood black, and then rubbing white pigment into the grain. This was done to make the surface more interesting and lively. Hoffmann and the Wiener Werkstätte rejected the idea that wood should be stained for the sake of making it appear as if it was another kind of more expensive wood. They allowed their materials to stand on their own, becoming a motif in and of themselves.

Furniture Designers of The Wiener Werkstätte

Around the year 1895, there was a search for an autonomous, national, and modern style which would therefore break the historicizing approach that dominated Vienna for the past 60 years. Natives of the city felt that the historical approach was dishonest, and represented aspects of aristocratic and court culture which most of the public could not relate to. Otto Wagner was the first to publicize this negative reaction, and therefore helped it gain acceptance among a wider audience. As a result, he acted as the artistic father to architects and designers who implemented his ideas. However, among this group of followers came about two distinct groups. The first, led by Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser, was by far the larger of the two. This group revolved around Vienna's School of the Arts and Crafts, The Wiener Werkstatte, and the Vienna Secession. To realize modernism, the first group wanted to invent a new style, which would still fit within the realms of a traditional social system.


Josef Hoffmann:
Was the founder of the Wiener Werkstätte in 1903. Josef Hoffmann was trained as an architect, but he made many different objects, including furniture. He is perhaps best remembered for his objects for the bent-wood industry. Most of these designs were designed to be mass produced. Some of his items are still in production today. His designs were considered very avant-garde for his time.


(Hoffmann, Sitzmaschine, 1905)

Koloman Moser:
Moser was a founding member of the Wiener Werkstätte, along with Josef Hoffmann. He designed many of the printed materials for the Werkstätte, and Hoffmann helped him to realize his 2D designs as 3-dimensional objects of furniture. He eventually left in 1906, amidst financial difficulties. He concluded that the work being created by the WW was too varied and differed greatly from commissioner to commissioner.

(Moser, Zebra Cabinet, 1904)

Dagobert Peche
Studied Architecture at the Academy of Fine Art, and after four years of freelancing, joined the Wiener Werkstätte. Dagobert joined the Wiener Werkstätte in 1915, during World War I. His work was more ornamental than the work of Moser and Hoffmann, because he came at a later time, when Viennese design was not quite as preoccupied with geometry.


(Peche, Cabinet)

Bibliography

Here is an annotated bibliography of all the sources used to compile the historical information on this blog:

Barnet, Peter, and MaryAnn Wilkinson. Decorative Arts 1900 Highlights from the

Private Collections in Detroit. Detroit: University of Washington Press, 1993. Print.

This work is a catalog for an exhibition shown at the Detroit Institute of Art from November 7, 1993-January 9, 1994. The work includes a comprehensive overview of decorative arts from the turn of the 20th Century from countries such as America, Great Britain, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, and Belgium. Although the work did not have much information about history, instead focusing on individual items, it was a valuable resource. Because the work is not specific to the Wiener Werkstätte, and instead focuses on the broader Arts and Crafts movement, it was useful for researching the influences of the movement. (HL)

Brandstatter, Christian. Wiener Werkstatte: Design in Vienna 1903-1932. 1. New York: Harry H Abrams, 2003. Print.

This book was written by one of Vienna's leading art historians who specializes in Fin de Siecle Vienna culture and art. It served primarily as a picture book to illustrate many of the individual items talked about in other sources. While this book provided a comprehensive overview of the time period it did not offer a detailed history and analysis of what was happening in the movement. This book provided us with a visual language to the time period with little analysis of each piece. (AR)

Dagobert Peche, Peter Noever, and Hanna Egger. Dagobert Peche and the Wiener Werkstätte: [in Conjunction with the Exhibition "Dagobert Peche and the Wiener Werkstätte" Neue Galerie New York, 11 October 2002 - 10 February 2003]. New Haven [u.a.]: Yale Univ. Pr., 2002. Print.

This book provided insight into the life and works of Dagobert Peche, including his upbringing, and his acceptance into the Wiener Werkstätte beginning with his first collaboration in 1911 as a fabric designer. His full induction as a member of the Wiener Werkstätte in the spring of 1915, and later his promotion to Director of the Zurich branch of the Wiener Werkstätte. In addition to the biographical information of Peche's short but incredible life the inclusion of writings about his work and detailed illustrations of his pieces are all included. (AOE)

Decristoforo, Bernadette. Portois & Fix a Viennese Equipment Companies in the Modern. Thesis. University of Vienna, 2009. Vienna: University of Vienna, 2009. Http://othes.univie.ac.at/. Web. 30 Mar. 2010.

This thesis by Decristoforo gave an all encompassing view of the fabricators Portois & Fix, while giving insight to the role they played with those involved in the Wiener Werkstätte, including K. Moser, J. Hoffmann, O. Wagner as well as others. Giving insight to the connection of those in the Wiener Werkstätte and the world of production. As well as the role that production encompassed during the transition between the 19th and 20th centuries in Vienna. (AOE)

Fahr-Becker, Gabriele, and Angelika Taschen. Wiener Werkstätte. 1. New York: Taschen America Llc, 2008. Print.

This book, much like the previous book, provided many detailed illustrations and pictures that aided us in understanding Wienner Werkstatte furniture. Like many Taschen books this book contained many beautiful color and black and white photographs. This book also contained a great deal of analysis on the period and allowed us to further understand some of the ideas within the movement. Including some background history of many techniques and ideas that led to the Wiener Werkstätte. While not as comprehensive, this book still gave a deep overview of the period. (AR)

Josef Hoffmann Designs-MAK-Austrian Museum of Applied Arts Vienna. Ed. Peter Noever.Munich: Prestel-Verlag, 1992. Print.

This is a catalog published for an exhibition on Josef Hoffmann’s designs, which was shown at the MAK-Austrian Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna from April 2, 1987-July 27,1992. The editor, Peter Noever, is himself a designer and architect in addition to curating and designing exhibits. He is also the director of the MAK. The book contains several brief scholarly articles about Josef Hoffmann, but mostly it contains images of his designs, a vast majority of them being sketches and rough drafts for final products. Most of the images of objects are in black and white, whereas the sketches are in color, which seems counter-intuitive to me. The sketches are of interest because they show Hoffmann’s planning process, and many sketches come from the MAK’s private collection. The articles provided some specific information about Hoffmann, but did not contain much general information about the time in which he was working, and when they did, it was brief. The individual images of his work did not contain analysis. This is a book for its pictures more so than for its content. (HL)

Kallir, Jane. Viennese Design and the Wiener Werkstatte. 1. New York: George Braziller, 1986. Print.

Jane Kallir's comprehensive work details the rise, success and decline of the popularity of the Wiener Werkstätte and its impact on modern design even today. This book, while somewhat short does a great job of going in depth on many of the ideals of the Wiener Werkstätte. For us, this book provided a great overview of the period and supplied us with many images and some analysis and background information used in the presentation. The images were primarily black and white and the text was dense and informative. (AR)

Neuwirth, Waltraud. Wiener Werkstätte--Avantgarde, Art Deco, Industrial Design.Vienna: Self Published--Dr. Waltraud Neuwirth, 1984. Print.

This book was self-published by Dr. Waltraud Neuwirth who has written many books on Austrian design. The book contains German and English text, side by side. This book was created to be a catalogue for a show put on by the MAK-Austrian Museum of Applied Arts in 1984/85 titled Wiener Werkstätte Avantgarde, Art Deco, Industrial Design. The work is supposed to show the variety of creations made by the Werkstätte over its long history. This book has more images from the later days of the Wiener Werkstätte, and less images from the beginning of the movement, unlike my other sources. However, the images are mostly decorative items, and there is little about individual items of furniture. (HL)

Pichler, Gerd. "Selected Items of Furniture By Kolo Moser from the Production of the Wiener Werkstätte." Koloman Moser. Ed. Sandra Tretter. Vienna: Prestel, 2007. 203-215. Print.

This article is a brief overview and analysis of selected furniture pieces by Koloman Moser, designed during his time at the Wiener Werkstätte. The works are analyzed individually and in depth, which I found useful, because most of my other sources contained general information about furniture design, rather than specific information. The images were also reproduced in color, which was useful and allowed for a better sense of what Kolo Moser’s intent was. (HL)

Schweiger, Werner. Wiener Werkstätte--Design in Vienna. New York: Abbeville Press,1984. Print.

This book is written by Werner Schweiger, who is an art historian specializing in Vienna. The book provided a comprehensive history of the Wiener Werkstätte and the people who were involved in creating it. Although it contained many images, it was more about the history and the design philosophy of the movement than it was about individual works of art. It does have detailed information about the larger design projects undertaken by the group, as well as information on graphic design, glass, ceramics, and fashion, but did not have much information about individual objects of furniture, which is what I was primarily interested in. It was, however, a great resource for the history of the overall movement, and perhaps the most comprehensive source I had. (HL)

Witt-Dörring, Christian, and Michael Huey. Josef Hoffmann. Prestel

Pub, 2006. Print.

Witt-Dorring’s book offers a look into the painstaking process of assembling materials for Josef Hoffmann’s interiors and his final installations. Hoffmann, an Austrian architect, is one of the leading figures of the modern movement of the twentieth century, perhaps the finest furniture designer, and certainly one of the most significant figures in decorative arts. The book is illustrated with color photographs of Hoffmann’s masterpieces, focuses on significant aspects of his career: his early years as a member of the Secessionist Movement and founder of the Vienna Workshops, Wiener Werkstätte, his role in the intellectual rebellion that took place in Austria; and his progression toward a Modernist ethic. Hoffmann saw interior spaces as a place of organic unity wherein all the pieces worked together harmoniously. His four dazzling interiors in this book are furnished with his signature pieces of furniture in each room. The world is transported where form marries function and simplicity and refinement reign supreme. The text was indispensable in my research and for others, of the Vienna Workshop and the role that Josef Hoffmann created. (KR)

An Informational Blog

This blog contains information about Fin de Siècle Vienna and the Wiener Werkstätte. In addition, it also contains student work inspired by the aesthetics and production methods of the Werkstätte. This blog was created for Michelle Duncan's class, "Art and Design in Turn of the Century Vienna" given at the Rhode Island School of Design, Spring 2010.

Rationale for Student Project:

We wanted to expand upon the philosophy of the "Gesamtkunstwerk" which characterized the Wiener Werkstätte's production methods. We applied this philosophy in order to collaboratively re-design the freshman dorm rooms here at the Rhode Island School of Design. We decided to work within a set materials list and a set color palette, as well as within a contained vocabulary of shapes. For this project, we took the perpendicular and decreasing patterns found in the ratio of Nautilus shells--the golden ratio. We used this motif, sometimes adhering to its original proportions, other times abstracting it, in order to create a unified space. This unity is appropriate for the standardization of dorm rooms. Additionally, the unity provides visual cohesion, which helps to create a space in which students desire to both live and work.


The contributors of this blog are:

Alexander Epstein, Industrial Design 2012

Andy Romer, Photography 2012


Katherine Ross, Painting 2012



Hannah Lawler, Illustration 2012