About O. Strnad

Strnad was an architect, stage designer, craftsman, and designer. He designed large public structures early in his career; later Strnad increasingly focused his energy on residential, furniture, and interior design. Strnad's stripped classical style stood in marked contrast to the florid Jugendstil creations popular in the late 19th century and early 20th. Strnad's simple, light furnishings became the basis of the Wiener Wohnstil popular in the 1920s and early 1930s. Oskar Strnad was born in Vienna on Oct. 26, 1879 and died in Bad Aussee (Styria) on Sept. 3, 1935; He studied architecture with Heinrich von Ferstel and Karl Konig (1841-1915) at the Technische Hochschule in Vienna, graduating in 1904. He then worked briefly in the offices of Friedrich Ohmann and subsequently for theatre specialists Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer. In 1909 he was appointed to a position at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna where he taught basic design courses. Collaborating with Oskar Wlach (1881-1963) and Josef Frank, he designed several innovative, modern houses in Vienna, including the Villa Hoch (1912) and Villa Wassermann (1914). From 1909 until 1935 Strnad was a teacher at the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts (Kunstgewerbeschule). Strnad, Frank and Wlach also designed interiors for numerous clients. The simple, light furnishings which they created became the basis of the Wiener Wohnstil. After World War I Strnad devoted himself largely to theatre and set design, creating numerous sets for Max Reinhardt's productions in Vienna, Salzburg and Berlin. During the 1920s he also produced sets for the Vienna Burgtheater and for Ernst Krenek's famed jazz opera Jonny spielt auf. From 1918 until 1920 Strnad designed sketches for theatres-in-the-round, 1923 realization of the "Drei-Szenen-Theater" (stage divided into 3 parts; circular auditorium). From 1919 Strnad was stage designer of the Vienna Volkstheater. He was interior designer for films "Maskerade" and "Episode". From 1923 until 1935 Strnad worked with M. Reinhardt and produced operas with B. Walter. His most important architectural works of the post-war period include designs for several unexecuted theatres, a section of the large Winarskyhof housing project (1924-5) in Vienna, and a house for two families at the Werkbundausstellung of 1932 in Vienna.