Joseph Urban: Architecture, Theatre, Opera, Film

Abstract

This is the first biography of Joseph Urban designer of furniture, stage, opera and film sets, also interiors, decorative objects and buildings. He was a household name in his time and his reputation is now set for a revival. Born in Vienna in 1872, the multi-talented Urban was already enjoying a career in archiecture, stage design, and book illustration before he was brought to America in 1911 to do stage settings for the Boston Opera. By 1914 his highly regarded productions had caught the eye of impresario Florenz Ziegfeld, who lured him away to design nearly all of his shows and Follies on through the 1920s. His lush stagecraft soon revolutionized all of American theatre design, attracting the attention of William Randolph Hearst, who enticed Urban into becoming artistic director for his Cosmopolitan movie studio, where he designed all of the Marion Davies films. During this period he also operated a showcase on Fifth Avenue for the Wiener Werkstatte and was artistic director of the Metropolitan Opera. Many of his original opera settings continued in use well into the New York cityscape, many of which, unfortunately, have been demolished, including the original Ziegfield Theatre and Central Park Casino. However, the Hearst Building and the New School for Social Research, the city's first International Style building, remain. Several of his works in Palm Beach still stand, including his most extravagant extant construction, Mar-a-Lago, the former Post estate now owned by Donald Trump.