Glass Cabinet, 1912

Seen in isolation, the display cabinet seems like a protruding window. This design element, which is British in its influence, was used at the famous Building on Michaelerplatz and played a prominent role in the works of a number of Wagner students. In contrast, the Baroque legs appear like parts of an older piece of furniture; if we didn’t know that the carpenter Josef Veillich made them strictly according to the designer’s instructions, we would think they were spolia. This contradiction in design between the upper and lower parts reminds us of the Building on Michaelerplatz, where Adolf Loos (1870–1933) countered the undecorated facade plaster of the upper floors with a robust base featuring Tuscan pillars.

IR, 2021