Vienna EOOS

One day, over 20 years ago, three men met while applying for admission to the University of the Applied Arts in Vienna.  Out of this chance meeting blossomed Vienna’s EOOS design firm.  EOOS, which derived its name from one of the four winged horses of Aurora, has a steadfast reputation for never doing a project they’re not interested in.  While this caused some lean times for the three founders in the beginning, it also garnered Gernot Bohmann, Harald Gründl, and Martin Bergmann a respected reputation, which after years of struggle not only paid off, but also allowed them to develop their signature approach – Poetical Analysis.

Design is a poetic discipline for EOOS.  Through their trademarked Poetical Analysis, they examine every project through the rituals of the human experience.  In their attempts to discover the related myths, contemporary perspectives and roots related to an idea they have developed a database of thousands of images to call on, tagged with words like rituals, ancient hi-tech, archetypes, and simultaneity.  They’re also tuned in to environmental needs in contemporary design, as can be witnessed in the proposal for the Algae Skyscraper.  The 32-floor apartment building would use algae bioreactor tubes to produce energy and reduce CO2 emissions.   It is their belief that the way to move forward is by examining the past of our human consciousness.

EOOS has carefully selected the firms they’ve worked with, which has led to some incredible and long-standing collaborations.  One of the first of these collaborations was with German furniture manufacturer Walter Knoll.  One of their biggest projects to date for Walter Knoll was the design of the armchairs and sofas in Germany’s Reichstag.  They’re not just working with traditional firms either; EOOS’s partnership with Giorgio Armani lead to “flagship design”, a concept based design of retail spaces.  An example of which can also be seen at Berlin’s Adidas Originals Store, which used flea markets as a concept for product presentation.  (If you are in Berlin, a stay at Lux 11 gets you 15% off purchases in the store).  EOOS thrives on the chance to work on contemporary concepts, one of which is the Kube auditorium designed for Matteo Grassi, which won the Compasso D’Oro in 2004.  This auditorium looks amazing whether the seats are up or down, like solid black lines with a cushy interior.  They’ve also won the 2010 German Design Award in Gold for their design of a Bulthaup produced kitchen workspace.  With EOOS people are the focus, and the design is a means to allow communication between them.

Vienna is rich in design, if you’d like to check out more, book a few nights at White Line Hotel’s Hollmann Beletage.  There’s a cinema, a garden to relax in, bicycles for rent to tour the city, a spa and of course every imaginable comfort in the rooms.   You can hang out in the living room and discuss the art of Vienna or escape to the comfy game room for a few rounds of chess.  Much like EOOS, the core concept at White Line Hotels Edit Hollmann Beletage is on people.

More information about EOOS can be found on the website: www.eoos.com

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Contributing writer: Alicia Reuter 

Photos: EOOS