Glass: Material for Handicrafts and Design

(Source: Vienna Tourism)

The glass creations of young architects of the Viennese Modern Age greatly influenced the development of artistic glass production throughout the 20th century. This can be seen in an exhibition at Vienna’s MAK Austrian Museum of Applied Arts.

By 1900 Austrian glass art had flourished into an incredibly opulent industry. It was a time in which a group of young architects, Otto Wagner’s students at the Vienna Academy, students at the arts and crafts school, and at the technical university became particularly interested in glass design. Abiding by an ethos of equal cooperation between designer and craftsman, they worked not only on the design process, but also on the production process itself. This proximity to the production process, which was also advocated by Adolf Loos, allowed them to explore more fully the possibilities offered by the medium of glass.

The exhibition “The Glass of the Architects. Vienna 1900–1937” covers this fascinating period of Austrian crafts. Featuring more than 300 works from the famous collection of the MAK (Austrian Museum of Applied Arts) as well as private collections, it offers a close look at the history of glass production in Austria around the turn of the century, as well as an insight into the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy and the First Republic.

The MAK (Austrian Museum of Applied Arts) presents this in close proximity to the exhibition “Glasses of the Empire and Biedermeier Period. From the MAK collection and the glass collection of Christian Kuhn.” At the same time, along with the exhibition “handWORK. Traditional skills in the digital world” (Dec. 14, 2016-April 9, 2017), it highlights glass as a significant material for handicrafts and design throughout many different periods.

(Source: Vienna Tourism)

The glass of the architects. Vienna 1900–1937

Jan. 18 - April 17, 2017

Glasses of the Empire and Biedermeier period. From the MAK collection and the glass collection of Christian Kuhn

Feb. 1 - April 17, 2017

MAK - Austrian Museum of Applied Arts/Contemporary Art

Stubenring 5 , 1010 Wien

www.mak.at

+43 1 711 36 0

office@MAK.at