Paul Theodor Frankl

Person

Designer

Born 14 October 1886 Vienna, Austria-Hungary Died 21 March 1958 Los Angeles, California, USA Paul T. Frankl studied architecture from 1904 to 1912 at the k. k. Technische Hochschule in Vienna and the Königliche Technische Hochschule in Berlin-Charlottenburg and worked for Otto Rudolf Salvisberg’s architectural office. In 1914 he travelled to the United States and Japan. Following the outbreak of World War I, he remained in New York, where he opened a shop for Japanese imports. After extended stays in Vienna and Istanbul, he returned to the United States in 1920. In 1921 he founded the Frankl Galleries in New York, showcasing European decorative arts and his own furniture designs. His Skyscraper Furniture of 1925 established him as a leading figure in modern American design. In the late 1920s he lectured on modern interiors, published his book 'New Dimensions', and became active in AUDAC, advocating stronger copyright protection. In 1934 he contributed a living-room interior to the exhibition 'Miracles of Chemistry: New Discoveries for Industry and the Home' at the Newark Museum and relocated his gallery to Los Angeles. His clients later included Charlie Chaplin and Alfred Hitchcock. After a trip to Japan in 1936, he designed rattan furniture. From 1939 he created serial furniture for Brown-Saltman, and from 1945 onward focused exclusively on furniture design, including furniture lines for the Johnson Furniture Company.