August Sarnitz

One of Austria's most influential architects, Otto Wagner played a key role in modernizing urban architecture. Forming an approach described as structural rationalism, Wagner pioneered use of materials such as glass, steel, and especially aluminum. He was associated with the Viennese Succession, a group of artists and designers headed by Gustav Klimt that initiated a departure from the conser...

The influence of the Austrian architect and designer Josef Hoffmann (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 propo...