Josef Hoffmann and the emergence of

Transcription

Josef Hoffmann and the emergence of
Gesamtkunstwerk in 20th century architecture
Timothy J Barnes
May 2009
Abstract: The development of the idea of Gesamtkunstwerk is traced from its origins with
Richard Wagner’s approach to music-theater, through its most important architectural protagonist: Josef Hoffmann. The lasting ideas of the total work of art in architecture are discussed, and
evidence of their continuing importance is presented.
The concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk, or
total work of art, was originated in the
1850s by the Bavarian composer Richard
Wagner. In searching for a more authentic
and satisfying form of music-drama, he
contrasted the original Greek plays of
Aeschylus and Euripides with the evolution
of Western European opera, which had its
antecedents also in Greek drama. Richard
Wagner observed that opera had become
mannered and superficial: an entertainment
rather than a profound expression of human experience and truth through art. In
Figure 1: Illustration for the 1876 premier of Richard Wagner’s
his desire to re-create a more holistic form,
Die Walküre, Bayreuth Festpielhaus.
the composer defined a multi-dimensional
approach to opera that encompassed all
aspects of the production: the leitmotif to express the character of individual actors or plot elements; a new
late-Romantic style of harmony and orchestration; set and costume design; the libretto and production directions. He wished to leave nothing to chance—to minimize the opportunity for his art to be mis-represented or
demeaned by insensitive production values. In fact the term Gesamtkunstwerk was not Wagner’s first choice:
he would instead use terms like Gesamtvolkskunst, implying a connection to the people, or even das
Kunstwerk des Gesamtvolkes—the work of art of an entire people 1. This distinction seems relevant as the
architectural realization of the total work of art was in fact a collaboration between the members of an artistic
community, loosely organized in the Vienna Workshop and Vienna Secession. Wagner speaks of “artistic
man” thus:
Tim Barnes / ARH 641 / Anne-Catrin Schultz / Spring 2009 / Page 1 of 14
“Artistic man can be wholly satisfied only by the unification of all forms of art in the service of the
common artistic endeavor; any fragmentation of his artistic sensibilities limits his freedom, prevents
him from being fully that which he is capable of being.”2
The musical and theatrical revolution instituted by the composer Wagner was to be repeated in architecture
some fifty years later, when the Viennese architect Otto Wagner became dissatisfied with the Beaux Arts approach that was de rigeur at the time. He felt, along with many others, that the values of Classical and Renaissance culture needed to be rethought and redeveloped in response to changes in social, cultural, and industrial conditions.
Otto Wagner’s most famous student was the
Moravian-born architect and designer Josef Hoffmann, whose passion for the pursuit of beauty led him
to an all-encompassing approach that embraced architecture, art, furniture, silverware, lighting, and interior decoration. In addition to his highly developed
aesthetic sensibilities, Hoffmann was also charming
and persuasive, and it seems that his personal and
social skills were very helpful as he worked with the
Figure 2:: Josef Hoffmann:
team of collaborators who together delivered the ex-
Bowl, silver, approx. 1919.
perience of the Gesamtkunstwerk.
In seeking to understand this movement and Hoffmann’s role in it, we must look at the conditions and ideas
that were current at the turn of the century in Vienna specifically, and more generally across Europe. We will
also consider the creation and products of the Vienna Secession and the Wiener Werkstätte, or Vienna
Workshop, through which many of the artistic ideas of the time were given a voice. We will also briefly examine the views of one important critic of the idea of Gesamtkunstwerk: the architect and essayist Adolf Loos.
Finally we will look for evidence of the continuing importance of the ideas of the total work of art in modern
architecture.
Questioning received artistic values
Otto Wagner began his career as an exponent of the then-traditional Beaux Arts style. However, in his work
with the Viennese subway, he became vividly aware of the impact of the industrial revolution on manufacturing and construction techniques, and was persuaded that a new style was needed. This was also consistent
with a secularization of society and a turn-of-the-century optimism about the future. His contribution was less
to the idea of the total work of art, but more in his willingness to question the historical precedents, and to
search for new, authentic methods and expressions of architecture.
Josef Hoffmann came to Vienna in 1893, and studied first
under one of the ‘Ringstrasse’ architects Carl Freiherr von
Hasenauer. His origins were therefore also in the Beaux Arts
tradition. Working with Otto Wagner following von Hasenauer’s death, Hoffmann ’s talents led to his winning a Prix
de Rome, with the concomitant opportunity to travel and
study classical architecture. There was a broad interest in
questioning the received values in art and architecture, and
so in 1895 Hoffmann became a founding member of the
“Severner’s Club” that was formed to discuss new trends in
art. This was a predecessor of the better-known Vienna Secession, created in 1897 by a group of artists including Gustav Klimt, Koloman Moser, Josef Maria Olbrich, Max Kurtzweil and Josef Hoffmann. Their primary goal was to explore
the limits of art outside the received traditions of the 19th
century. Their slogan, printed on the Olbrich-designed Secession building was “to every age its art, and to art its
freedom”.3
Following his return from his studies, Hoffmann taught at the
University of Applied Arts Vienna from 1899.4 This, in addition to his participation in the Secession, brought him into
Figure 3: Josef Hoffmann:
Vase, silver, 1909.
contact with many of the leading artists of the day, and was
no doubt a contributor to the breadth of his vision and artistic expression. During this period, Hoffmann also
came into contact with the work of the English Arts and Crafts movement, from William Morris to John
Ruskin, and in particular with the Scottish Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who developed a close relationship
with the Secession, and whose work was displayed in the Secession exhibitions 5.
It appears however that Hoffmann was not satisfied with the traditionalist elements of the Arts and Crafts
movement: his work is more formal and austere, with a greater focus on materiality than was common in Arts
and Crafts designs. He did however adopt a central principle of the Arts and Crafts movement, which was
the celebration of the skills of the artist and the artisan as essential elements of the design. Hoffmann’s interest, however, was in taking materials and exploring their potential for beauty in the context of the most modern manufacturing techniques, not simply as the craftwork of a few expert artisans. Where the Arts and
Crafts movement looks back to traditional building techniques, Hoffmann looks forward to modern building
techniques, but with a similar sense of the beautiful and the personal. Examining his designs for silverware,
or lighting fixtures 6, we can see the attention to detail and the love of the craft, but there is no sense of creating individual, unique pieces. His designs are capable of mass-production (subject of course to the economic
constraints of the market within which he operated).
The Total Work of Art
The idea of the Gesamtkunstwerk in architecture and craftsmanship seems to have come both from this sense of taking
advantage of the intersection of materials with industrial
processes on the one hand, and with his own pervasive sensitivity to beauty on the other. Hoffmann was extremely sensitive to his surroundings, and on one occasion is said to have
abandoned a favorite cafe because the proprietor would not
remove a fake palm tree. 7 He believed profoundly in the importance of beauty, and his pervasive enthusiasm led him to
design as many aspects of the buildings and environments in
which he was involved as possible. In some sense therefore
Figure 4: Josef Hoffmann: Decorative border
Hoffmann came to his own understanding of the idea of the
for a composition by d’Albert, published in
total work of art, driven less by philosophy or the influence of
Ver Sacrum, 1901.
Richard Wagner, and more by the demands of his own na-
Palais Stoclet exterior view
ture. Certainly Hoffmann was aware of, and involved with music, which features in his designs and in the
work published in the artistic journal Ver Sacrum.
So we can see that the development of the idea of the total work of art in architecture and design was the
result of several things: the growing dissatisfaction with received artistic values; the development of new industrialized manufacturing techniques; the artistic ferment of fin-de-siècle Vienna; and not least the specific
vision and drive of a very talented architect and designer: Josef Hoffmann. The combination of Hoffmann’s
vision with the artistic abilities of collaborators like Gustav Klimt has given us buildings of outstanding quality
that demonstrate the reach of the Gesamtkunstwerk ideal—for example Palais Stoclet.
Palais Stoclet
This large and luxurious house is perhaps the most fully developed example of the Gesamtkunstwerk ideal.
Naturally such a building is rare, because of its very high cost, and the challenge of bringing together worldclass artists and designers at one time and place.
Originally intended for a site near Vienna,
the building was eventually sited in Brussels. This, combined with the intensity of
Hoffmann’s vision, made for a testing
project plan. Every element was to be in
harmony ‘like the organs of a living being’. Each room was completely assembled in Vienna in order to understand the
effect of the integration of all the elements, and then dismantled and
shipped to Brussels. This provided the
design team with the ability to accurately
assess the impact of the total work of art
created through their collaboration. The
building was ultimately the work of many
members of the Secession and the
Werkstätte, including Kolo Moser, Carl
Otto Czeschka, Leopold Forstner, Ludwig Heinrich Jungnickel, Bertold Löffler,
Michael Powolny, and of course Gustav
Klimt.8
Palais Stoclet courtyard
Even before entering the building, we can see the effect of Hoffman’s comprehensive vision. The materials
are characteristic of the era: fine quality marble on the surface and a regular pattern of fenestration. Examining the courtyard (figure 6) we see the careful attention paid to the courtyard’s surface, and the orderly array
of planters with their carefully manicured trees. Accompanying the sense of completeness and order is an
almost painterly sense of stillness. The courtyard appears more as a composition than as a usable space.
Moving into the building, the living room (figure 7) begins to show the extent of Hoffmann’s command of
space and texture. The marble columns match the leather furniture, and the lighting is carefully arranged to fit
in with the organization of the furniture. The careful orchestration of space and tone creates a very formal
space, within which one can only admire the completeness of the architect’s vision. But it is equally hard to
imagine re-organizing the space into something less formal, more intimate. Hoffmann’s vision is very precise,
Palais Stoclet living room
and controls not only the space, but also the mood of the space. In my view there is a fine line between the
architect’s role as facilitator of living space and the prescription of behavior within the space. Hoffmann
comes close to the line in this space and in the design of the dining room (figure 8).
The dining room is perhaps the most famous space in the Palais Stoclet, with its friezes by Gustav Klimt. In
this room we can best see the realization of the Gesamtkunstwerk ideal. This is not the work of a single,
autocratic designer, but an inspired collaboration between a number of great artists, working with the highly
skilled artisans of the Wiener Werkstätte. It is rare to see a truly synergistic collaboration between two great
artists whose skills and interests overlap to such a degree.
Palais Stoclet dining room.
Returning for a moment to the musical
precedent of Richard Wagner, we see a
different approach where the artistic vision
was defined to a very high degree by the
composer, leaving the creation of an individual production or role in the hands of
others. Such an approach was much
more hierarchical than the collaboration
between Hoffmann and Klimt, although
the work of the craftspeople who realized
the objects in the house are more akin to
the implementers of Richard Wagner’s
operas. Richard Wagner did engage collaborators in his productions: for example
for the 1876 production of Der Ring des
Nibelungen he asked a different Josef
Hoffmann—a Viennese landscape architect—to produce sketches for the production, and Carl Döpler created costume
designs.9
Figure 9 shows a detail of the dining room:
we can see the careful integration between the friezes and the architectural
Palais Stoclet dining room detail.
elements of column, wall, ceiling and built-in furniture. The textures of Klimt’s backgrounds seem to fit beautifully with the texture of the marble, and the proportions create a balanced overall composition.
The Palais Stoclet was an expensive building for a wealthy client. It enabled Hoffmann and his collaborators
to test their vision of a new integration between architecture and the arts with few constraints. The result is
not only beautiful, but delivers a powerful emotional impact as a result of the seamless integration of its many
elements. Jacques Stoclet summed it up thus in a memorial speech given in 1955:
“To be able to give free flight to his imagination and his talent as regards the realization of this ensemble, in such a way as to create a perfect unity out of the smallest details of the architecture of
the house and garden, the iron-work, the means of illumination, the furniture and flooring, the carpets and even the silverware, and, moreover, using the most costly materials, represents for an
architect, even for a genius like Professor Hoffmann, an ideal, a dream which one cannot realize
more than once in a lifetime.”10
Purkersdorf Sanatorium exterior view.
Purkersdorf Sanatorium
In contrast to the Palais Stoclet, with its affluent client, the Purkersdorf Sanatorium was built to a budget, and
consequently the design solutions are much more modest. More modest, but not less thorough. Still we can
see architecture, interior design, lighting and furniture integrated into a consistent whole.
The exterior is much more modest: no marble, no exuberant tower, and no fancy decoration of the corners of
the building (figure 10). But still a beautiful, balanced composition that testifies to Hoffmann’s abilities as an
architect.
A comparison of the dining rooms of Palais Stoclet (figure 8) and the Purkersdorf Sanatorium (figure 11) is
interesting. Both are highly formal, symmetrical, and designed in every detail. However, the marble, tile and
friezes of Palais Stoclet here give way to a simple floor, painted walls, and an overhead beam grid that provides not only a structural solution, but also a sense of rhythm and organization to the space. This rhythm is
reflected in many aspects of the room’s design: the regular arrangement of windows and doors; the alcoves
and sideboards; the pictures on the walls, and the the lights that preside over the diners. Even the chairs
(also designed by Hoffmann) carry a simple, regular, and restful aesthetic.
Purkersdorf Sanatorium dining room
One of Hoffmann’s collaborators in this building was Koloman Moser, whose chair for the entrance lobby is shown in
figure 12. Its design is perhaps less subtle than we might
expect from Hoffmann, but it still fits well into the architecture
of the building with its strong, simple lines, and reflection of
the black and white materials of the entrance lobby floor.
Furniture in the patient rooms was even simpler: planar
forms in white.
Hoffmann achieved consistency through the building by the
use of square geometries: both practical and distinctive.
Sarnitz describes it thus: “The design of the building is based
on a square, which assumes here the character of a leitmotif—apparent in the floor tiles’ black-and-white quadratic pat-
Figure 12: Koloman Moser:
Purkersdorf Sanatorium chair.
tern, the use of quadratic basic forms for the exposed concrete joists of the walls and ceilings, and in the
design of the windows and doors. Even the ground plan of the ground floor level is composed of two
squares. The strict axial and symmetrical form of the structure is intensified by the square-shaped windows
and tiles.” 11 Of course the leitmotif is also strongly associated with Richard Wagner, who would use characteristic instrumentation and melodic fragments to tie his works together and to orient the listener to the nature of events and emotions at particular points in his operas.
An influential critic
Despite its obvious success in the hands of great artists and designers, the Gesamtkunstwerk approach was
not without its detractors. Of these perhaps the most articulate was the architect and essayist Adolf Loos,
whose “parable of the poor rich man” 12 points to what he sees as a fundamental weakness of the holistic
approach. In essence his criticism is that if you design everything, there is no scope for the owner to evolve,
to acquire, or to enjoy anything beyond the totality provided by the architect. Such an approach is therefore
stultifying and restrictive, and ultimately fails to respond to the organic nature of life.
As is the case with many of Loos’ arguments, he is right in the extreme case. But of course most ideas fail
when taken to extremes. Looking again at Palais Stoclet, it is easy to see Loos’ point. One could hardly dare
to enter the formal dining room unless accompanied by someone of equal size and shape to preserve the
symmetry. Certainly the idea of hanging a new picture, or taking out one of these so carefully positioned by
Figure 13: Philip Johnson:
Glass House.
Hoffmann is not tenable. In the living room, it is inconceivable that one might rearrange the furniture to make
a more comfortable space. And where could we put the barbeque on that so-beautiful courtyard?
The issue of flexibility in the use of space is a perpetual challenge to the designer. Loos saw the total work of
art in its extreme form as a negative (and this position is consistent with his more famous paper Ornament
and Crime). Wherever the architecture imposes itself as a kind of completeness, or final statement, there is a
risk that flexibility is lost, and the space can impose its personality too strongly on the user. One modern example of the same conundrum is seen in Philip Johnson’s Glass House (figure 13): the careful proportions,
clean planes, and fastidious organization of space create a sense of completeness that is not so far distant
from the gestalt of a Gesamtkunstwerk environment. Johnson’s solution was to build a separate art gallery at
the bottom of the garden (even partly underground!) so he could keep his house clear of distractions. This
example is curious in that the building is in other respects a clear implementation of the ideas Loos espoused
in his paper Ornament and Crime,
published in 1908, that we now
know as Modernism.
In fact, Hoffmann did not continue to pursue the Gesamtkunstwerk ideal much beyond the buildings we have examined. His later buildings have
a greater affinity with a NeoClassical approach. Consider for
example the Ast residence,
1909-11 (figure 14). The interior
still shows the beautiful proportions and understated planar
intersections of his earlier work,
but the level of decoration is
much reduced. Like Palais Stoclet, this house was built with an
essentially unlimited budget, yet
there is a much greater level of
restraint in the development of
the interior, creating a more
flexible and livable space.
Ast Residence: Living Room..
Conclusion
Hoffmann was by all accounts a very successful architect and designer. His influence would undoubtedly
have been felt simply because of his talent and energy. However, the time in which he lived gives great importance to his abilities, because he was able to show par excellence that great architecture was possible
outside the bounds of the received traditions of the Beaux Arts. He left not only a number of great buildings,
but also over 1000 designs for objects small and large that we recognize as being of outstanding beauty. His
special ability to range across multiple domains, coupled with a willingness to collaborate with other artists
has created a synthesis and synergy that is compelling to this day.
His influence is by no means over: many architects since Hoffmann’s time have been moved to create furniture and interior design to complement their most important projects. Frank Lloyd Wright and Green and
Greene emphasized a completely managed experience of architecture and space, implementing designs that
included architecture, extreme attention to interior and exterior detailing; furniture and fenestration. Alvar
Aalto routinely designed furniture to match his buildings. More recent examples include Norman Foster’s
Hong Kong Shanghai Bank in which he delivered furniture design to match the high-technology architectural
approach, and coming from the product design perspective, Philippe Starck’s forays into interior architecture.
It is important however to remember that Hoffmann did not operate in isolation: as the architect he may have
had a greater say in the design of his buildings than did his collaborators, but as we have seen, the number
and quality of his collaborators was a powerful driver of the all-encompassing Gesamtkunstwerk experience.
We now stand at a point where architects are searching for a viable alternative to the traditions of modernism, coupled with new environmental and industrial concerns that mandate change. The emergence of a
new school of 21st Century architecture to match the quality and influence of Hoffmann and his Viennese
collaborators is still ahead of us, but perhaps there are lessons to be learned from the work of this artistic
and architectural titan.
References
The Origins of Expressionism and the Notion of Gesamtkunstwerk. Peter Vergo. Twentieth Century Literary Criticism, Ed. Janet Witalec. Vol. 142. Detroit: Gale, 2003. p11-19.
1
Das Kunstwerk der Zukunft, in W. Golther (ed.), Richard Wagner: Gesammelte Schriften und Dichtungen in zehn Banden, Berlin and Leipzig, III, p. 105 (translated by Peter Vergo).
2
3
Vienna Secession. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Secession.
4
Josef Hoffmann. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Hoffmann
Landmarks of Twentieth Century Design, Kathryn B.Hiesinger, George H. Marcus, Abbeville Press,
1993, p15.
5
6
Silverware illustrations are from Josef Hoffmann, In the Realm of Beauty, August Sarnitz, Taschen 2007.
7
Josef Hoffmann: In the Realm of Beauty. August Sarnitz, Taschen 2007, p7.
8
Art in Vienna 1898-1918, Peter Vergo, Phaidon 1975, p145.
Description of the 1876 Bayreuth Festspielhaus premier of Der Ring des Nibelungen,
www.wagneroperas.com/index1876ring.html.
9
Allocution de M. Jacques Stoclet, séance académique...en homage au professeur Hoffmann et à
la mémoire de Monsieur Stoclet, given at the Palais Stoclet, Brussels, 4 October 1955.
10
11Josef
12
Hoffmann: In the realm of Beauty, August Sarnitz, Taschen 2007, p 48.
Art in Vienna 1898-1918, Peter Vergo, Phaidon 1975, p 164.

Josef Hoffmann and the emergence of

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