Joseph Hoffmann

Joseph Hoffmann was an Austrian architect known for major works of the cubistic- geometric phase of the Viennese Art Nouveau (“to the Age its Art –to Art, its Freedom.”). His vocabulary of grids and squares, which is showcased in his architectural works of Sanatorium Purkersdorf and the Palais Stoclet, extended to functional furniture works that seem to blend the line between utilitarianism and the fine arts. All of Hoffmann’s work relied on basic geometric forms of rectangles, squares and spheres and were said to be eminent influences of modernist movement. The sitzmaschine, or “machine for sitting” which seems to ironically imply reliance on technology as a primary concern for function broadly displays Hoffman’s unique aesthetics.