Josef Hoffmann (1870-1956)
The pupil of Otto Wagner was a founder member of the Vienna
Secession (1897), of the WW ("Viennese Workshops") (1903) [4], of
the Austrian Werkbund ("Austrian Association of Craftsmen") (1912)
as well as of the Österreichische Werkstätten ("Austrian Workshops")
(1948).
As a professor at the Kunstgewerbeschule ("Vienna
School of Arts and Crafts") he encouraged the creative-intuitive talents
of his students.
Hoffmann was an untiring pioneer in the use of geometrical shapes and he characterised
the Vienna style, a style ahead of its time, like no other architect of his
era. We find the artistic refinement of the minutest details both in Hoffmann's
architecture and also in his works for the WW.
His nickname "Quadrat'l" ("square") stems from the most
frequently used element in his designs; his critics claimed that he got inspiration
for his specific style from the squared paper he drew on.
Hoffmann's House
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