After fleeing Nazi persecution in the 1930s, Felix Augenfeld, best known for the chair he designed for Sigmund Freud, came to New York. Among his architectural projects is the beach house he designed for himself on nearby Fire Island
Like the fictional protagonist of the recent award-winning film The Brutalist, many architects forced to leave Central Europe in the late 1930s to escape Nazi persecution chose to emigrate to the United States.
Geographically distant from expansionist Germany and from the theatre of the imminent conflict, the country offered them safety and the opportunity to rebuild their lives and their careers.
One of these architects was Austrian-born Felix Augenfeld (1893-1984), who had studied at the Technische Hochschule in Vienna and then established a successful practice with Karl Hofmann.
In addition to the practice’s architectural work, Augenfeld also designed interiors, textiles and furniture. His best-known work is perhaps the desk chair designed for Sigmund Freud, whose son Ernst, also an architect, was a close friend of Augenfeld.
In 1938 Augenfeld, who was of Jewish ancestry, decided to leave Vienna for London and, a year later, for New York.
Most of his work in the United States consisted of interior design and furniture. Among his architectural projects is the beach house he designed for himself on Fire Island, an island not far from New York City.