Hoffmann, Josef

(1870–1956)

   An architect and interior designer, Hoffmann was one of the founders of the Secession, with which his name is still closely associated. He studied both in Italy and at the Vienna Academy of Art. Here he came under the influence of the architect and urban designer Otto Wagner. Hoffmann began his professional career in the latter’s studio. From 1899 until 1937, he taught at the Vienna School of Applied Arts. After 1920, he served as the building supervisor for the municipality of Vienna. He developed plans for the city’s massive public housing projects after both World War I and World War II.

   Like almost all of the members of the Secession, Hoffmann was enormously versatile. His most important architectural project was the Palais Stoclet (1905–1911) in Brussels, which encapsulates his architecture at its most mature, a blend of linear severity offset by the disciplined curves in the decorative features. Several villas he planned still stand in Vienna’s 19th District, in the Hohe Warte and Kaasgraben areas. The depressed economy in Austria after World War I sharply reduced Hoffmann’s professional commissions. The work he did during the period was increasingly influenced by Cubism and DeStijl, the latter coming from the Netherlands. A very private personality, Hoffmann left little in the way of personal papers or theoretical expositions of his work. He was awarded the Austrian State Prize in 1950.