ÖZKD LXXVII Heft 1 Symposium Josef Hoffmann, pp. 34-44, 2024/04/15
Symposium Josef Hoffmann 2022
The country house near Lake Wörther occupies a special place within Josef Hoffmann’s oeuvre. As well as being responsible for the project commissioned by Viennese concrete producer Eduard Ast in 1923/24, Hoffmann was also in charge of a conversion and an extension of the building in 1934 under its second owner, Friedrich Meyer. While attractions such as the first flat roof on a country house building, a seven-arch reinforced concrete pergola and an exposed concrete relief by sculptor Anton Hanak make clear reference to the first owner in terms of the use of materials, the external appearance of property is today chiefly characterised by interventions made by Hoffmann during the 1930s. Much of the surviving interior by Hoffmann was also designated a protected monument as part of the process dedicated to the protection of monuments between 1978 and 1983. Since then, the aim pursued jointly by the monument owners and monument conservators has been to ensure the long-term preservation of this “total work of art”, as this article demonstrates by drawing upon the restoration work carried out to date.
