Lounger, Model No. 670, called “Seating Machine”, c. 1905

For the Purkersdorf Sanatorium, Josef Hoffmann (1870–1956) designed an adjustable armchair that was later series-produced by the company of Jacob & Josef Kohn. As early as 1901, in his programmatic text Einfache Möbel (Simple furniture), Josef Hoffmann concisely summarized his notion of material honesty and functionality: “I believe that, above all, purpose and material should be taken into account. A good sense of proportion and an inborn sense of tact in choosing materials will establish value in and of themselves.” The sophisticated functional construction of a piece of furniture is particularly well discernible in this Sitting Machine, as this armchair was also called. It has an adjustable back, an extensible board as a footrest, and a newspaper shelf below the seat. For the first time, construction was made a design principle.

IR, 2021