Kalmar

(1884 - 1968)

Julius Theodor Kalmar was an Austrian designer and entrepreneur. He attended the Birmingham School of Art, as well as Vienna’s University of Applied Arts under Vienna Seccession architect Josef Hoffmann.

The Kalmar workshop was founded in the 1880s in Vienna by Julius August Kalmar. At first, the company specialized in handmade objects of cast bronze. His son Julius Theodor Kalmar started an Avant-Garde shop for home furnishing in 1925. The shop was to become one of the most important locations of modern Austrian interior and light design. From 1931 onwards, Kalmar only focused on designing and producing high-quality lamps and fixtures in collaboration with prominent designers. Their goal was to stimulate a high appreciation for material, shape and function by producing applied art. By combining contemporary innovation with classic tradition, it was called the 'moderate modernity'.