May 19, 2006
Austrian Outlook
Austrian designer, architect, artist, and theorist Friedrich Kiesler had little use for Louis Sullivan’s famous dictum “Form follows function.” Writing in 1949 Kiesler responded, “Form does not follow function. Function follows vision. Vision follows reality.” At this year’s ICFF Vienna-based manufacturer Wittmann celebrates Kiesler’s idiosyncratic vision by presenting reeditions of his “pseudofunctionalist” furniture, including the […]
Austrian designer, architect, artist, and theorist Friedrich Kiesler had little use for Louis Sullivan’s famous dictum “Form follows function.” Writing in 1949 Kiesler responded, “Form does not follow function. Function follows vision. Vision follows reality.” At this year’s ICFF Vienna-based manufacturer Wittmann celebrates Kiesler’s idiosyncratic vision by presenting reeditions of his “pseudofunctionalist” furniture, including the Correalistic Rocker. Wittmann is but one of eleven companies participating in the Austrian Trade Commission’s inaugural exhibition at the ICFF; other products on display range from natural-wood office furniture by Team 7 to handmade designer rugs by Geba and leather-and-feather curtains by Ronin 27. Whether these forms follow function, vision, reality, or something else entirely is your call.
