Josef Hoffmann: 1870-1956: In The Realm of Beauty

<div id="description_text_headlines"><div><strong>The avant-gardist</strong></div><div>&#160;</div></div><div id="description_text">The influence of the <strong>Austrian architect and designer Josef Hoffmann</strong> (1870-1956) is extraordinary: for a period of over 60 years he kept up an aesthetic dialog with Modernism, the International Style, and Art Deco. Before being rediscovered in the 1980s by the Post-Modernists, his work was nearly forgotten; now his importance is unquestioned. As a designer he was one of the leading proponents of the Wiener Werkst&#228;tte, with its close connection to the Arts and Crafts movement. As an architect, he built the first modern buildings in Europe, such as the <strong>Purkersdorf Sanatorium</strong> (1904) and the <strong>Palais Stoclet</strong> (1905-1911). Traversing several styles and schools during his lifetime, his work shows a consistent Formalism. He abandoned Functionalism long before it became obsolete. In a historic sense, Hoffmann was doubly avant-garde: in both the rise and fall of Modernism.</div><div>&#160;</div><div id="series_text" style="display: block;"><strong>About the Series:</strong><br>Each book in TASCHEN&#8217;s Basic Architecture Series features:<ul><li>an introduction to the life and work of the architect</li><li>the major works in chronological order</li><li>information about the clients, architectural preconditions as well as construction problems and resolutions</li><li>a list of all the selected works and a map indicating the locations of the best and most famous buildings</li><li>approximately 120 illustrations (photographs, sketches, drafts and plans)</li></ul></div>