Curves constantly appear in Josef Frank’s designs, not the least in his mirror from the 1930s, with a calyx-like mahogany frame and a convex mirror. The inspiration came from the Renaissance period, a time when people often used convex mirrors to capture the entire room as if in a painting.

Designer

Josef Frank

Josef Frank grew up in Vienna and studied architecture at Technische Hochschule (the Vienna University of Technology) in 1903 – 1908. In the 1920s he designed housing estates and large residential blocks built around common courtyards in a Vienna with severe housing shortages. In 1925, he founded the Haus & Garten interior firm together with architect colleague Oskar Wlach. Svenskt Tenn hired Josef Frank in 1934 and just a few years later he and Estrid Ericson made their international breakthrough. Although he was already 50 when he left the burgeoning Nazism in Vienna for Sweden, Frank is considered one of Sweden’s most important designers. Read more