The Stoclet House in Brussels (completed in 1911) is one of the masterpieces of the Austrian architect Josef Hoffmann and testimony to the creative genius of the Wiener Werkstätte, a group of artists and craftsmen. Its highlight is the dining room with the famous mosaic frieze by Gustav Klimt that represents a precious and never withering garden. The utopian idea that art should permeate all walks of life and all human activities, reached its glory in this special ensemble that has been inscribed on UNESCO´s World heritage list in 2009. In her research on Josef Hoffmann´s ensembles, Anette Freytag has brought forward a method to analyze them from a “garden-viewpoint”. During the lecture, the audience is taken on a ‘promenade’ through the Stoclet House that is not open to the public and represents a lost world of utopian ideals that have been developed around 1900.
ABOUT DR. ANETTE FREYTAG
Dr. Anette Freytag is a Professor of the History and Theory of Landscape Architecture at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers University. She is the author of The Landscapes of Dieter Kienast (2021, J. B. Jackson Book Prize 2022), The Gardens of La Gara (2018, European Garden Book Award 2019), and several other books and numerous peer reviewed papers and articles. She is an expert of the work of Josef Hoffmann, Gustav Klimt, and the Wiener Werkstätte, and wrote a highly regarded study on the garden of the Stoclet House in Brussels (1905-1911) that contributed to the inscription of the ensemble on the UNESO World Heritage List. Dr. Freytag’s research focuses on designed landscapes from the 19th century to the contemporary practice with a particular focus on topology, phenomenology, biophilia, and walking. In 2019, she co-founded the Arts Integration Research Collaborative (AIR), which prioritizes creative placemaking to foster spatial justice through projects that seek safe access to nature for all. Before joining Rutgers University, Dr. Freytag taught at the universities of Basel (Institute of Art History), Innsbruck (Institute of Urban Design and Institute of Art History), KU Leuven (MAS Conservation), and the ETH Zurich (Department of Architecture), from where she holds a Doctor of Sciences and the ETH Medal Award for Outstanding Scientific Research.
Image © MAK, Wien