Felix Augenfeld architectural records and papers, 1910-1972

Summary Information

Abstract

Felix Augenfeld (1893-1984) was a Viennese architect and designer active in Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Croatia prior to 1938, in London from 1938-1939, and in the United States from 1939 until his death. His work consists primarily of residential projects, including apartments, weekend homes, beach houses, and residences, and includes both architecture and interior design. Like other architect-designers of the time, his work included original furniture and textiles to create a cohesive design experience. Augenfeld's design for Sigmund Freud's desk chair, now at the Freud Museum in London is probably his most well-known work. This collection contains photographs, drawings, blueprints, and sketches of over eighty of Augenfeld's projects with the majority focused on his years in America but with a substantial photograph collection that illustrates his Viennese work. Beyond project records, the collection includes a number of Augenfeld's professional papers that contextualize his work through his research material, portfolios, and scrapbooks, and his personal papers which include his own writings, poetry, correspondence, and photographs of friends and family.

At a Glance

Arrangement

Arrangement

The collection is made up of three series: Series I: Project Records; Series II: Professional Papers; Series III: Personal Paper

• Series I: Project Records
• Series II: Professional Papers
• Series III: Personal Papers

Description

• Series I: Project Records

  Arranged chronologically by project, from Augenfeld's years in Vienna with Karl Hofmann as Hofmann & Augenfeld (1924 - 1938) to his work in the United States, primarily in New York City, but also extending to the Virgin Islands and Havana. The projects within this section include architecture, interior design, and furniture design (for Henredon Modern and the American Chair Company, as well as private furniture commissions). The series is composed primarily of photographs, plans, and perspectives, but also include blueprints, negatives, and occasionally correspondence. The largest collection of material in this series documents the Joseph and Muriel Buttinger Residence & Research Library at 10 East 87th Street in New York City.

  Projects listed prior to 1938 are the work of Augenfeld and co-creator, Karl Hofmann. Any additional creators beyond Hofmann are listed, and most notably include Oskar Strnad and Walter Sobotka. However, Augenfeld's career in New York is largely an independent practice and additional creators are only occasionally listed, such as Anna de Carmel (Anna Augenfeld), or Jan Hird Pokorny.

• Series II: Professional Papers

  Consists of documents, articles, and images that Augenfeld used as reference or inspiration, as well as scrapbooks that contain articles and clippings on his work, and his portfolios. This material reflects a more general view of his work or process, instead of the project-focused approach of Series I: Project Records. This series also includes a collection of original textiles (both hand painted and commercially printed) that were designed by Augenfeld for specific projects or for general retail. Some of these textiles can be found in project photos of the finished interiors.

• Series III: Personal Papers

  Consists of photographs, correspondence, writings, personal documents, and awards. Of particular interest is the correspondence regarding Freud's chair design, as well as a brief correspondence regarding Augenfeld's friendship with Richard Neutra. The largest part of this series consists of photographs, which are grouped with regard to original order and by subject.

Using the Collection

Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library

Restrictions on Access

This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information and to make an appointment, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Permission to publish must be obtained in writing from the Director, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University,1172 Amsterdam Ave., Mail Code 0301, New York, NY 10027.

Preferred Citation

Felix Augenfeld architectural records and papers. Dept. of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library. Columbia University, New York, N.Y.

Related Material

Trudy Jeremias Collection, 1857-2008, (bulk 1930-1980) at the Leo Baeck Institute, Center for Jewish History.

Gardiner, Muriel. Code name "Mary" : memoirs of an American woman in the Austrian underground. New Haven : Yale University Press, 1983.

Walter Sobotka architectural records and papers, 1897-1971 (bulk 1922-1954) at Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.

Jan Hird Pokorny architectural drawings, 1926-1998, (bulk 1947-1998) at Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.

Acquisition

Gift of Mrs. Augenfeld (accession 1000.040), and Trudy Jeremias (1995.006 and 2002.003).

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Barrett Reiter (Graduate Intern) under the supervision of Shelley Hayreh, Avery Archivist, in 2015.

architectural drawings, photographs, scrapbooks, notebooks accessioned 09/18/2002.

Revision Description

2009-06-25 File created.

2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

All links open new windows.

Genre/Form

Subject

History / Biographical Note

History

Felix Augenfeld, (1893-1984) was an Austrian architect and interior designer who worked on primarily residential projects in Vienna, London, and New York. He studied at the Technische Hoehschule (School of Architecture) in Vienna, receiving his degree after his service in the Austrian Army during World War I. Until 1938, when he left Austria for London and then for the United States in 1939, Augenfeld was active in Vienna with his business partner Karl Hofmann, as Hofmann & Augenfeld, and also worked with Professor Oskar Strnad as a stage designer in both Vienna and London. One of Augenfeld's most well-known pieces is Sigmund Freud's office chair, which was commissioned by Sigmund Freud's daughter Mathilde.

When he arrived in New York City, Augenfeld associated with many similarly relocated Viennese designers and architects (such as Walter Sobotka) and maintained contacts with some of his Viennese clients who had also relocated to New York. Among these clients was Muriel Morris Gardiner Buttinger, who – while originally from Chicago – had been living in Vienna prior to World War II and played an instrumental role in assisting Augenfeld in getting both to London and to New York to escape the Nazi regime. This friendship lasted for the rest of their lives and Augenfeld designed the Buttinger's New York City residence and research library at 10 East 87th Street. This building is now a locally designated landmark.

Augenfeld became an American citizen in 1945. Later in life, around 1960, Augenfeld married Anna de Carmel (née Friedlander), an Austrian designer active in ceramics and modern lamp design. This relationship would last until his death in 1984.