Open to the public, Villa Beer by Josef Frank and Oskar Wlach

Josef Frank (1885-1967) was an Austrian-Swedish architect, designer, and theorist. He was born on July 15, 1885, in Baden bei Wien, into a Jewish family with roots in Heves, Hungary. His father, Ignaz (Isak) Frank (1851-1921), was a textile merchant, and his mother, Jenny Frank (1861-1941), was born in Vienna. He was the brother of the physicist, mathematician, and philosopher Philipp Frank.

He studied architecture at the Vienna University of Technology and, between 1919 and 1925, taught at the city's School of Arts and Crafts. He also participated in the founding of the Austrian Werkbund and maintained a close professional collaboration with Oskar Wlach, with whom he was a partner in the firm "Haus & Garten."

His work during the 1920s and 1930s was particularly focused on modern housing. In 1927, he had the opportunity to design a house for the Werkbund residential complex in Stuttgart. Later, he played a central role in the Vienna Werkbundsiedlung, promoting and directing its construction until its completion in 1932. Between 1929 and 1930, he worked with Oskar Wlach on the overall concept of the Villa Beer in Vienna, including its interior design.

The political situation in Austria had a decisive impact on his life. In 1933, he moved, initially temporarily, to Stockholm with his Swedish wife, Anna. He obtained Swedish citizenship in 1939 thanks to the intervention of the politician Malte Jacobsson and the poet Anders Österling.

In the early 1940s, he lived for a time in Manhattan, New York. However, a fundamental part of his career remained linked to Svenskt Tenn, a Stockholm design firm founded by Estrid Ericson. For the company, he created furniture and numerous textile designs. Among her works are chairs, sofas, and wardrobes, as well as floral prints that achieved widespread acclaim and helped solidify her international reputation.

After 1945, she remained in Sweden. Her work, encompassing architecture, interior design, furniture, and textiles, occupies a prominent place within the modern movement that is most attentive to the domestic character of spaces and their inhabitants.

She died at the age of 81 on January 8, 1967, in Stockholm, Sweden.

Oskar Wlach (1881-1963) was an Austrian architect, interior designer, and designer associated with Viennese modernism in the early decades of the 20th century. He was born in Vienna on April 18, 1881, into a Moravian Jewish family. He studied architecture at the Vienna University of Technology from 1898 to 1903 and, after a study trip to Italy, earned his doctorate in 1906. He completed his training at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, where he studied under Friedrich Ohmann.

From 1907, he worked as an independent architect alongside Oskar Strnad, with whom he participated in various competitions and residential projects. In 1913, Josef Frank joined the firm, beginning a collaboration that marked a significant part of the three architects' careers. World War I temporarily interrupted this activity, and Wlach was stationed in Constantinople, where he participated in various projects, returning to Vienna in 1919.

During the 1920s, he developed a close professional collaboration with Josef Frank. In 1925, they founded the company Haus & Garten, dedicated to the design of interiors, furniture, textiles, and garden elements. The firm played a prominent role in disseminating a modern and comfortable conception of Viennese domestic space.

Among his most important works is the Beer Villa in Vienna, designed with Frank between 1929 and 1931. They jointly conceived the architecture, interiors, and furnishings, seeking a modern solution that avoided both traditional ornamentation and the rigidity of strict functionalism. Wlach also participated in the 1932 Vienna Werkbundsiedlung, for which he designed two terraced houses.

After Josef Frank left for Sweden, Wlach continued to lead Haus & Garten and maintained his practice in Vienna until the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938. Because of his Jewish heritage, he was persecuted and forced to flee the country with his wife, the painter Klari Haynal. After passing through Switzerland and London, they arrived in the United States in 1939.

In 1940, he obtained his license to practice architecture in the United States, although he was unable to regain the professional standing he had achieved in Vienna. He undertook some architectural and interior design projects, but received few commissions. He died in New York on August 16, 1963.

Although his work was somewhat overshadowed by Josef Frank's greater international renown, Wlach played a significant role in residential architecture and interior design in interwar Vienna.

Christian Prasser (1969) is an Austrian architect and designer specializing in architecture, interior design, exhibition design, and furniture. He was born in Bregenz, Austria, but grew up and completed his early education in Salzburg. Before beginning his university studies, he trained as a carpenter, an experience that helped develop his interest in materials and construction processes.

Between 1990 and 1996, he studied architecture at the University of Applied Arts Vienna under the direction of Hans Hollein. After graduating, he completed his civil service at the Leo Baeck Institute in New York, where he participated in the creation of the Austrian Heritage Collection. He later collaborated with director and artist Robert Wilson, first at the Watermill Center on Long Island and then as an independent professional.

In 1999, he founded his own studio, cp architektur, in Vienna. Since then, he has developed architecture and interior design projects, working particularly in areas such as hospitality, renovation, and housing, in addition to creating exhibition installations and product design projects.

His works include interventions in hotels, restaurants, homes, and existing buildings, such as the Arthotel Blaue Gans in Salzburg, various residential projects, and the renovation of rural buildings. The studio has received recognition in fields such as hotel architecture, renovation, timber construction, interior design, and product design. These include the 2010 Red Dot Design Award, as well as other Austrian and international architecture and design awards.

Prasser has also been actively involved in teaching. Between 2008 and 2011, he taught at the New Design University in St. Pölten and subsequently became a professor of interior design at the same institution, where he continues to teach. In his teaching, he pays particular attention to the relationship between design, production techniques, and material execution.