Martin Eisler (1913 – 1977) architect, furniture designer, interior & set designer
Born in Vienna, Austria in 1913, Martin Eisler was the son of the famous art historian Max Eisler, a founding member of the Austrian Werkbund. He grew up exposed to his father’s progressive ideas on art and design, as well as those of Austria’s leading modernist artists, architects, designers and engineers. Eisler attended the Vienna School of Applied Arts, studying architecture and design under important architects such as Oskar Strnad and Clemens Holzmeister, and graduating in 1936. Fleeing the annexation of Austria by the German Reich, Eisler first moved to Czechoslovakia where his parents were living, then in 1938 he emigrated to Argentina, settling in Buenos Aires.
In Buenos Aires Eisler concentrated on designing furniture and in 1940 held his first exhibition at the Mueller Gallery, aka the National Office of Fine Arts. That same year he married Rosl Wolf, the daughter of German immigrants. In 1945 he formed an interior design firm called Interieur with fellow designer Arnold Hackel, successfully marketing their signature modern furniture and design objects. Meanwhile Eisler outsourced himself as an architect and interior designer. In 1950 he built his own Buenos Aires home with wide open rooms linked to outdoor garden space, utilizing wood and glazed ceramics that echoed his furniture designs. In 1952 he went to Sao Paulo to work on the home he designed for his brother-in-law Ernesto Wolf, for which he also designed the furniture. There he met the Italian designer Carlo Hauner, who had moved to Brazil and was part of the design company Moveis Artesanal. Recognizing that they shared a mutual vision of modern design, in 1953 Hauner and Eisler joined forces to create Forma, the Brazilian counterpart to Interieur. With this new enterprise, and further impelled by the building of the modernist capital Brasilia (1956–1960), Eisler shifted his professional focus to Brazil, where he would continue his dedication to furniture-making through the rest of his career.
Eisler applied his penchant for elegant lines and sinuous curves to the exotic woods native to Brazil, such as jacaranda and caviuna, often combining these with glass, bronze, or cane, and experimenting with lacquered woods and reverse-painted glass. Among the recognizable pieces that he and Hauner designed in the late 50s were the Costela lounge chair, also known as the “Rib” chair, with its evocative curved frame in caviuna wood that embraces the sitter, and the “String” chair, also in caviuna, with its airy, sculptural form. Another chair to achieve iconic status was the Reversível chair, in which a simple curve is the essence of the design. Both the Reversível and the Costela chairs were awarded the Milan Compasso d'Oro. Together with its Argentine counterpart Interieur, Forma became synonymous with modern Brazilian furniture and led to Eisler signing a contract for representation with Knoll International in 1959. This granted Eisler license to sell furniture by other important designers Knoll represented such as Mies Van Der Rohe, Charles Eames, and Harry Bertoia, all contributing to establishing Forma at the forefront of Brazil’s modern furniture market. At the same time, the completion of Brasilia with Oscar Niemeyer at the helm also provided Eisler with successful design projects. As an architect, Eisler was known for working comprehensively, designing every detail from the building structure to its furnishings. It’s not much of a stretch to see how he also worked as a set designer, and even served as opera director, notably at the Buenos Aires Opera in a 1960 production of Die Fledermaus for which he designed everything.
Martin Eisler died in Sao Paulo in 1977. Today he stands out as a leading figure of the midcentury modern movement in Brazil, and Forma remains world renowned for representing the innovative design vision he championed.
Exhibition
Carlo Hauner & Martin Eisler: Modernité du design Brésilien, Galerie Chastel-Maréchal, Paris, 2018
Collections
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Publication
Mid-Century Modern–Visionary Furniture Design from Vienna, Caroline Wolhgemuth, De Gruyter, 2022
