Hans Hollein Console Tables

SCHWARZENBERG Hans Hollein 1981 Console in lacquered wood, glazed with gold leaf and covered with natural wood essence. Schwarzenberg, designed by Hans Hollein, winner of the Pritzker Prize (the “Nobel of architecture”), is astonishing due to its unusual form. The console with its slim pieces becomes immaterial, an idea, an abstraction. The constant interplay between functional performance and its denial through a disembodied presence have made this item a Memphis icon. First produced in 1981, Schwarzenberg is an inimitable console in lacquered wood glazed in gold leaf and covered with natural wood. The fulcrum of the design is the stepped top clad in pink briar, resting on slender cylindrical legs, which in turn rest on the black curves of the base. There is a very strong reference to the Austrian culture of the Secession; the materials, colors and forms link back to the great Viennese masters. As in the other objects produced by the Memphis group, the title is no coincidence. The console by Hans Hollein the only piece he created for Memphis was called Schwarzenberg in honor of the historic French...