Otto Polak-Hellwig

Otto Rudolf Polak-Hellwig (born May 24, 1885 in Vienna ; † December 26, 1958 in Sydney ) was an Austrian architect .

education

Polak-Hellwig was born as the son of the court architect Rudolf Pollak and grew up in Vienna. After graduating from high school in Vienna- Josefstadt around 1903 , he studied at the Technical University of Vienna between 1903 and 1908 , studying with Karl Mayreder , Karl König and Karl Holey . In addition, he continued his education at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna from 1908 to 1909 , where he attended Friedrich Ohmann's class . He had two sons, Otto Heinrich (1911–1996) and Wolfgang (* 1915).

Professional career

Polak-Hellwig worked in the offices of Walcher von Moltheim, Fellner & Helmer and also worked for Viktor Kovacic in Zagreb . In 1913 he became head of the municipal building department in Mödling, where he held this position until 1915. He later became director of the Austrian Institute for Image Statistics and in 1937 was appointed technical building officer. Due to his Jewish belief, Polak-Hellwig had to emigrate to Sydney in 1939, where he worked for the state housing sites and the railroad in Adelaide and Hobart from 1940 .

From 1909 Polak-Hellwig was a member of the Austrian Association of Engineers and Architects, from 1920 a member of the Central Association of Architects in Austria and from 1920 a member of the Austrian Werkbund. From the late 1920s he wrote articles on new building in specialist journals.

Polak-Hellwig worked for the non-profit housing cooperative "Heim" and dealt in particular with the rationalization of apartment and household planning. For example, he designed small kitchens and planned the “Heimhof” family kitchens at Pilgerimgasse 22–24 in Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus , which was implemented between 1921 and 1922 for working couples. The only residential complex with a central kitchen was run by employees who had to be paid by the tenants, thus making housework easier for the working women. There was also central heating, a dumbwaiter, a central laundry and a garbage chute. There were also lectures and events in the common dining room.

In his Heimhof Polak-Hellwig proved his progressive thinking, while his L-shaped holiday homes followed a constructive objectivity and the classic Viennese single-family house. Polak-Hellwig also planned classically conservative villas, while his residential complex in Vienna-Hernals has a Biedermeier feel.

Works

Model drawing Heimhof (1922)

• Family kitchen house “Heimhof”, Vienna- Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus , Pilgerimgasse 22–24 (1921–1926, with Carl Witzmann )
• Housing complex of the municipality of Vienna, Vienna- Hernals , Hernalser Hauptstrasse 54 (1924–1925)
• Schlosserhof, Vienna Inner City , Seilerstätte 22 (1928, renovation of the facade, adaptation)
• Exhibition pavilion for Insulite wood fiber insulation panels from Reichraminger Holzindustrie AG, Vienna Autumn Fair (destroyed)
• Wiener Werkbundsiedlung, Vienna- Hietzing , Veitingergasse 111–113 (1932)
• Reconstruction of Schielleiten Castle , Styria (around 1938)
• Thonet Manor, Moravia (1936, near Bistritz or Korytschan)
• Residential building, Vienna- Liesing , Kriegergasse 73

Web links

Commons : Otto Polak-Hellwig  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Otto Polak-Hellwig. In: Architects Lexicon Vienna 1770–1945. Published by the Architekturzentrum Wien . Vienna 2007.
• Otto Polak-Hellwig. In: arch INFORM .