The Therapeutic Spectrum
Purkersdorf Sanatorium
Josef Hoffmann, 1904-05; photograph by Sabine Wieber, 2007
Renowned psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing established the
Purkersdorf Sanatorium in woodlands close to Vienna. In 1904, a new
building was commissioned from Josef Hoffmann, a student of Otto
Wagner. Hoffmann provided a radically forward-looking design,
straight-edged, technologically advanced and hygienic. Working with
Koloman Moser and the Wiener Werkstätte, he designed and furnished
interiors that were at once severe and extremely fashionable. The
therapeutic machinery filling a room on the ground floor inspired a
machine-like approach to design.