Wiener Werkstatte (Vienna's Workshops)

In 1897, in Austria it was founded the Vienna Secession where from the start it had placed special emphasis on the applied arts. By this time Vienna was one of Europe's leading cultural centres and for this reason, members from the secession including Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser, founded the Wiener Werkstatte (Vienna's Workshops) in 1903.

From three small rooms, it soon expanded to a three-storey building which marketed not just furniture but it included designed facilities for metalwork, leatherwork, bookbinding, woodworking, jewellery & clothing and a paint shop.

                                                                                               Wiener Werstatte building in Vienna

The early workshop design was greatly influenced by simplified, geometric shapes of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's designs. Like Mackintosh, Josef Hoffmann favoured cubes and rectangles, but where Mackintosh used patterns that were created by his wife Margaret Macdonald, Hoffmann used minimal decoration and turned to the Byzantine-derived mosaics of Gustav Klimt like the image below. 

Adele Bloch-Bauer I by Gustav Klimt, Vienna, 1907                                 Josef Hoffmann chair design

Among other members, Hoffmann refused to compromise quality for affordability and insisted on using the best available materials. Although this resulted in excellent manufacturing, it lacked financial success, but however two years from its foundation, the Wiener Werkstatte has lead Viennese arts and crafts organisation and consisted from over a hundred employees.

In this era there were inventions that made a huge impact in that time and are still making use out of it in the present. Following the success of Ford's automobile invention the 'Model T', in the early years of these cars if it was raining or snowing, drivers had to stop every few metres to wipe their windshields. This is where Mary Anderson took a notice and invented the wipers in 1903. These were operated manually by pulling down a handle and Anderson was awarded a patent for her invention. However, people thought that it would distract drivers only by ten years later every car used her invention.

In 1917, it was another woman inventor who created the automatic wiper. This was Charlotte Bridgwood and she call her invention the 'Storm Windshield Cleaner'.

References:

Architonic, n.d. Wiener Werstatte 1903 - 1932. [online] Available at: http://www.architonic.com/dcobj/wiener-werkstatte-1903-1932/4650005/2/1 [Accessed 7th November 2013]

Woka, n.d. Wiener Werstatte. [online] Available at: http://www.woka.com/en/design/designer/wiener-werkstaette/ [Accessed 7th November 2013]

designboom, 2010. easy chair history 1900-1930. [image online] Available at: http://www.designboom.com/history/easy3.html [Accessed 7th November 2013]

iWrite, 2010. Raising Vienna - Gustav Klimt 1862 - 1918. [image online] Available at: 

http://only10000hours.wordpress.com/2010/05/ [Accessed 7th November 2013]

MyLikes, 2013. Mary Anderson: The Windshield Wiper. [online] Available at: likes.com/misc/things-you-didnt-know-women-invented?s=eyJleHBfaWQiOiAzNDE5LCAiZl9uIjogImZpbmlzaCIsICJ2X2lkIjogMzcwMDQ3NjI0Nn0&pid=120771&page=4&v=eyJjbGlja19pZCI6IDIzNzMxODUwOTUsICJwb3N0X2lkIjogMjg1MTIxNjIsICJjIjogIm90aGVyX3N1c3BlY3QiLCAiaSI6ICJhcnRlbnRlcnRhaW5tZW50cy5jb20ifQ [Accessed 7th November 2013]

Vienna Secession, 2012. Wiener Werkstatte Postcards. [image online] Available at: http://www.theviennasecession.com/wiener-werkstatte/ [Accessed 7th November 2013]

Fiell C. and Fiell F. 1999. Design of the 20th Century. Germany: Taschen

Ferebee A. and Byles J. 1970. A History Of Design From The Victorian Era To The Present. New York: Litton Educational Publishing.