Frederik Kiesler

1890 – 1965

Architect and Designer, he distinguished from his contemporaries for taking design beyond the limits that functionalism had imposed, by pursuing the target of endless spatial continuity.

The influence of the figure of Kiesler on the twentieth-century design goes far beyond his creations in this field. Well known for his methodological position aimed at taking design beyond the limits that functionalism had imposed, by pursuing the target of endless spatial continuity, asserting through concise slogans that “form does not follow the function, the function follows the vision, the vision follows reality”. Amongst his main works we can record the design of the first circular theatre in Vienna, the Wiener Konzerthous, in 1924, the one for the Film Guild cinema in 1929, as well as his most important work, represented by the “Shrine of the Book”, the sanctuary built in Jerusalem to house the Dead Sea Scrolls. The table was part of the furniture designed for the apartment of Marguerita and Charles Mergentime in New York. The existence of a previous design characterized by simple conical legs is known from a design of 1935. The final version, in a unique example, was anyway made between 1935 and 1936, the year when Kiesler showed the apartment to Philip Johnson and to John D. Rockfeller II.

Suggested readings
Frederick Kiesler, Monika Pessler, Harald Krejci,Tulga Beyerle, “Friedrich Kiesler, Designer: seating furniture of the 30’s and 40’s” Hatje Cantz, 2005

Maria Bottero, “Frederick Kiesler, Arte Architettura Ambiente”, Electa, 1995