Hoffmann, Josef

(b. Dec. 15, 1870, Pirnitz, Moravia—d. May 7, 1956, Vienna, Austria) Austrian architect and designer. He studied under Otto Wagner in Vienna but in 1899 helped found the Vienna Sezession, which broke free of Wagner's Classicism. He cofounded, and for 30 years (1903–33) directed, the Wiener Werkstätte (Vienna Workshop), an important centre for arts and crafts. Stoclet House (1905) in Brussels is considered his masterpiece; the exterior of this opulent structure achieved an elegance not often associated with design based on straight lines and white squares and rectangles. He designed the Austrian pavilions for the 1914 Deutscher Werkbund Exhibition in Cologne and for the 1934 Venice Biennale. In 1920 he was appointed city architect of Vienna.