Education
He studied architecture at the Vienna University of Technology.
He studied architecture at the Vienna University of Technology.
Together with Oskar Strand, he created the Vienna School of Architecture, and its concept of Modern houses, housing and interiors. Josef Frank was of Jewish ancestry. He then taught at the Vienna School of Arts from 1919 to 1925.
In 1933, he emigrated to Sweden, where he gained citizenship in 1939.
He was the most prestigious designer in the Stockholm design company Svenskt Tenn (Swedish Pewter). He remained in Sweden after 1945 despite attempts to return him to Vienna.
He was also the brother of the physicist, mathematician, and philosopher Philipp Frank. Josef Frank dealt early on with public housing and housing estates.
Contrary to most other architects of the interwar period in Vienna, he took the idea of settlement and not the creation of so-called super blocks in the municipal housing.
He also rejected facade decor and clearly preferred functional forms. The Viennese architect and furniture designer Luigi Blue refers to him as one of his idols. In addition to his architectural work he created numerous designs for furniture, furnishings, fabrics, wallpaper and carpet.
He has been a painter, as well.
1965 First Austrian Frank exhibition by the Austrian Society for Architecture 1965 Grand Austrian State Prize for Architecture 1991 The Josef-Frank-Gasse street in Donaustadt Vienna was named after the architect 2007 The exhibition Architect and Outsider, The Jewish Museum Vienna field office Judenplatz 2010 Was honored with a Google Doodle on July 15 in honor of his 125th birthday. Exhibition design of the East Asian Museum in Cologne (1912) House Wilbrandtgasse 12, Vienna (1914) with Oskar Wlach and Oskar Strand Municipal housing Hoffingergasse in Altmannsdorf (Vienna), (1921-1924), together with Erich Faber Residential Building Wiedenhoferhof, Vienna (1924-1925) Residential Building Winarskyhof (1924-1926), together with Adolf Loos, Peter Behrens, Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky Duplex in the Weißenhofsiedlung, Stuttgart (1927) Residential Building Sebastian-cup-Gasse 1–3, Vienna (1928-1929) House Beer (1929-1930 with Wlach) Residential Building Simmeringer Hauptstraße 142–150, Vienna, (1931-1932) with Oskar Wlach Residential Building Leopoldine-Glöckel-yard in Vienna (1931-1932) Management of the Werkbundsiedlung in Vienna and Project for a house at Woinovichgasse 32 (1932) Five villas in Falsterbo, southern Sweden (1927–1936).
The Vienna Circle manifesto lists three of his publications in a bibliography of closely related authors.
He was a founding member of the Vienna Werkbund, initiator and leader of the 1932 project Werkbundsiedlung in Vienna.