Deutscher Werkbund Movement

 The Deutscher Werkbund Movement was influenced by the fathers of modernism. This movement ranged from the years of 1892-1910 and took place in Germany and Austria, but was founded in Munich, Germany. The purpose of this movement was to have the highest quality design to the mass produced output. An important difference about this time period was that this era embraced the use of the machine. Another important fact to point out was that this movement was equivalent to the Arts and Crafts movement, accompanied by the act of protesting against artistic establishments. The Werkbund movement also set the stage for the International Style and Art Deco style. Also, the collaboration between design professional with product manufacturers was used  to improve competitiveness of German design. Furthermore, in 1903 Hoffman established the Vienna workshop, also known as the Vienna Secession. The Vienna Secession was a movement that was certainly idealistic with the act of artists withdrawing from academics. The Vienna group included: Olbrich, Klimt, Loos, Hoffmann and Koloman Moser. Lastly,  people protested against historicism but did not embrace the period of Art Nouveau.



Moving forward, one of my favorite artists during this time period would be Gustav Klimt. Gustav was an australian symbolist, painter, and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna group. He believed that there should be a union of art and design together by using gold paint in his work for a dramatic effect, to show that his subject matter dealt mainly with the subconscious mind. His most famous piece of artwork was his painting know as "the kiss."






Another artist that was a big part of the Vienna group was Otto Wagner. He was an architect from Austria and taught at the Vienna Academy. He also believed in staunch functionalism and designed furniture to relate to his architecture. One of his most famous pieces of furniture was the post savings bank armchair created in 1905. It was made out of dark stained beach wood with a plywood seat, metal braces and aluminum/ brass shoes.









As we know Joseph Hoffmann created the former known Kubus Chair in 1910. This chair was square and angular , upholstered in leather and repeated a cube shape. This modern club chair resembles and carries on Hoffmann's design of the Kubus Chair.



Another famous artist during this time period was a man names Koloman Moser. He created some beautiful patters that are definitely still being shown today especially through this retro flower pattern that is a perfect example of a modern application of his work based on the pale and simpleness of the pattern.




I reviewed Rachael's blog and she really has a good understanding of Joseph Hoffmann's furniture design based on her pictures demonstrating this era, also her examples of his modern Kubus chair is very on point!

I also reviewed Ali's blog and I feel that she really enjoyed learning about the furniture by Adolf Loos using his curvilinear furniture and dark stained wood, and also the angular shaped chair modern looking chair by Joseph Hoffmann.

Below is an example of a youtube clip demonstrating Gustav Kilmt process of designing his work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz4dB8KVdzs