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Oerley, Robert
(b Vienna, 24 Aug 1876; d Vienna, 15 Nov 1945). Austrian architect, furniture designer and urban planner. He was the son of a master carpenter and received a thorough training in this craft, later becoming known as one of the ablest furniture producers of his time; an example of his designs is a dining-room chair for the painter Josef Reich (before 1900; see Das Interieur (1900), p. 180). From 1892 to 1896 he studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule, Vienna, and thereafter began to practise architecture. He made an early impact with his ideas on architecture published in his article ‘Moderne Möbel’ (1900). His first projects included a series of residential buildings (1901–6) in Döbling, Vienna, and the Luithlen Sanatorium (1907–8, partially destr. 1969; see Der Architekt, xiv (1908), pl. 42) in Josefstadt, Vienna, one of his most important works; it has an unusually simple, unadorned façade for a Viennese building, above which he boldly placed two operating theatres (destr. 1969) whose silhouettes are clearly visible above the roof line. The expressiveness and clarity of this design ranks him beside Max Fabiani, Joze Plecnik and Adolf Loos. Oerley’s urban houses, for example Haus Wustl (1911–12) in Hietzing, Vienna, are characterized by their precise spatial design and reserved, distinguished atmosphere. He actively supported artistic organizations in Vienna and was President of the Viennese Secession (1912–13), President of the Gesellschaft österreichischer Architekten (1913) and a member of the Zentralvereinigung der Architekten Österreichs (after 1915). Through essays and lectures he also took part in public debate on political issues that affected his art. After World War I he produced a factory building (1917) for Zeiss in Penzing, Vienna, which is one of the most significant examples of industrial architecture in Austria, and public buildings such as George Washingtonhof (1927–30), Meidling, Vienna. He later became increasingly concerned with urban planning and worked in this field in Turkey (1927–32), where he was responsible for the Red Crescent building (1929) and the Numune Hastane Hospital (1932), both in Ankara. On his return to Austria, however, he remained unacknowledged and received few commissions.
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