Olbrich, Josef Maria (1867–1908)

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As a founding member of the Secession movement in Vienna, Josef Maria Olbrich devoted his life to the arts, including architecture, interiors, furniture, and functional objects. He epitomized a designer in constant dialogue with his media, and his distinctive sketching style displayed fluid and confident visual expression.

Born in Troppau, he arrived in Vienna in 1882 to attend the Staadtsgewerbeschule, studying in the building department, and obtaining additional education at the Spezialschule für Architektur at the Akademie der Schönen Künste. Olbrich’s skills were recognized by Otto Wagner during an Academy exhibition in 1893. He began work with Wagner, accepting the position of chief draughtsman for the Stadtbahn Project.

Olbrich’s association with the Viennese artists and architects of the Secession proved crucial to his future. The prominence of his design for the Secession Exhibition Building and the group’s ensuing exhibitions led to his invitation to Darmstadt’s Mathildenhöhe by the Grand Duke, Ernst Ludwig, in 1899. Olbrich designed most of the structures on the site, being given the freedom to develop an experimental architectural laboratory. Over the next few years, he designed numerous houses and small projects in and around Germany, his largest being the Leonhard Tietz Department Store in Düsseldorf (Latham, 1980).

Olbrich’s association with the Secessionist artists and his experience in the synergetic activity in Darmstadt demonstrated his commitment to the arts. Olbrich’s architecture was based on abstract geometric forms with sparse appliqué for decoration, unlike the fluid expression of nature, through the entire building, as used by the Art Nouveau architects. He also felt an affinity for the Arts and Crafts movement, having contact with architects in Britain (Latham, 1980).

This quick but elegant sketch confirms Olbrich’s confident control of pen and ink. The expression of movement conjures up the dynamic experience of exhibition, creating a restless quality. The images are executed with near-perfect freehand perspective and the symmetrical façades are guided by just a few horizontals and verticals, sketched without erasing.

When observing a selection of his sketches, several examples show that he often diagrammed twenty or more small, obsessively neat elevation illustrations on a page. Other sketches in his repertoire are incredibly vigorous, lithe, and expressive. Olbrich was passionate about sketching as his sketches emit qualities of quickness, being both fast in a matter of time, intelligent, and thoughtful.

Described by the Italo Calvino as a concept which illuminates the meaning of quickness, Festina Lente literally means ‘hurry slowly.’ An apparent contradiction, the chiasmus inherently has the power to induce a greater understanding. Since Olbrich’s images were sketched quickly, they have more information and may contain greater insight than images produced more slowly. In fact, they do convey something substantially perceptive by virtue of their speed (Calvino, 1988). The exuberance of the lines revealing an illusion may help to seduce and convince the observer of the sketch’s potential. Although this sketch leaves many details vague, the whole impression has been communicated.

As a Roman adage, Festina Lente has had various meanings throughout history, often representing a need to resolve issues from contradictory positions (Lyons and Nichols, 1982). Olbrich may have been trusting the intuition of his subconscious, allowing the images to flow before his conscious mind could evaluate them for appropriateness. Quick lines often designate precise meaning, and in this example Olbrich was demonstrating the quick thinking of his imagination.

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