Page 49 - Studio International - April 1971

he was invited to take part in a Secession
exhibition. He replied, shall exhibit only
when trunks by Würzl and dresses by Frankl
(two Viennese firms known for their high
quality goods) are shown.' His reply triggered a
storm of indignation. In the same year Loos
rebuilt the Cafe Museum, situated at another
corner of the Karlsplatz. It was the first work
executed by an architect without a single
`architectural' element; Loos used only chairs
by Thonet and naked bulbs hanging from flexes.
The Viennese christened the result 'Cafe
Nihilism'.
Olbrich lost the free, creative spirit of
Vienna when he went to Germany at the
invitation of Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of
Hessen, who was promoting an artists' colony in
Darmstadt. He became absorbed in the empire
classicism of imperial Germany (Haus Feinhals,
built in Cologne-Marienburg in 1908).
Hoffmann went the same way, only much later.
After the annexation of Austria his German
embassy residence in Vienna—completed in
194o—was altogether superfluous. Main façade from the design for the Wienzeile 4 The Secession building as it is now—after being
Only the truly great architecture with which (Karlsplatz) site. Approved on 6 April 1898. renovated in 1962.
Loos had been able to infuse his small buildings Coll : Secession Archives 5 Model (1:5o) of the Secession building as it was in
remains—their message even today ignored or 2 Sectional view. Approved on 6 April 1898. 1898, built by architect Peter Hautmann, Vienna, in
Coll : Secession Archives 1970, and exhibited at the Royal Academy exhibition
not understood. q 3 Part of sketch by Olbrich. Coll : Secession Archives `Vienna Secession—Art Nouveau to 1970'.