Inside Designer Arthur Arbesser's First Interior Design Project for the Altstadt Vienna Hotel

Yahoo

24-05-2025

MILAN — Fans of Arthur Arbesser's upbeat, sophisticated fashions can now sleep in a haven of his aesthetic.
The Vienna-born designer, a rising player in the home sphere, designed two rooms for the Altstadt Vienna, marking his foray into the worlds of hospitality and interior design. The boutique hotel, located at in Vienna's Spittelberg neighborhood in the 7th district, has come to the fore as a hot spot for art and design enthusiasts, namely for its rooms designed by prominent fashion designers, artists and architects. Among them, Italian designer Matteo Thun and Istanbul-born and Vienna-based designer Atil Kutoglu.
More from WWD
Reiss and Tom Daley Collaborate on Pride Collection
Karl Lagerfeld and Donald Duck Reunite for Capsule
Match Your Stripes While Traveling With My Style Bags' New Collab
Arbesser, who has been based in Milan for 20 years, joined the Alstadt roster of luminaries this month, creating his own 'Viennese-Milanese melange' in two rooms of the family-run hotel, working with furniture and fabrics from the Austrian furniture manufacturer Wittmann.
'I love that it's a family-run hotel and a place for art and design lovers. I filled the rooms with a lot of Wittmann furniture and my favorite design classics. I wanted to make them really cozy and sweet and you can see clearly that someone from Vienna designed those rooms, with a strong connection to Italy,' Arbesser told WWD on Wednesday.
Arbesser designed two rooms: Room 14 and Room 30. In 14, he incorporated his Flower fabric on the Wittmann Spring bed and bench. Flower is an homage to bygone Wittmann collaborator Josef Frank and includes 20th-century scenes and elements like cell phones in a cartoonish splash of shapes and flora. Frank was an Austrian architect and artist of Jewish origins who emigrated to Sweden before World War II, where he became a designer for the Stockholm-based design company Svenskt Tenn. Elsewhere, he enhanced the space with Milanese influences, both modern and retro. Key pieces include the Quaderna desk by Superstudio for Zanotta and the Imbuto floor lamp by late architect and designer Luigi Caccia Dominioni and which is produced by Azucena. It also includes the 1967 Flos' Snoopy lamp by Achille e Pier Giacomo Castiglioni. The bathroom is splashed with Arbesser's signature bold stripes that call to mind Arbesser's fashion designs.
In Room 30, he played with geometric motifs like chessboards and cubes. It includes two colourfully lacquered bedside cabinets, the Atrium modular sofa by Wittmann and Chess carpet. He injected a Bauhaus vibe with Hungarian American architect Marcel Breuer's Laccio coffee table (produced by Knoll) and the Le Grand Bleu lamp by French architect and designer Charlotte Perriand produced by Nemo Group, as well as Austrian American architect Friedrick Kiesler's Freischwinger chair, covered in mint-colored leather and produced by Wittmann. He also included two paintings by Austrian artist Xenia Hausner. Room 30 starts at 244 euros per night, while Room 14 starts at 235 euros per night.
The Alstadt hotel is owned by Otto E. Wiesenthal, who opened the boutique hotel in 1991 and is known for his vast collection of art. The landmark was originally built in 1902.
While his fashion line is still his focus, Arbesser has been diversifying in recent years. A roster of collaborations includes corkscrews for Italian design firm Alessi and another tie up with Denmark-based firm Gubi for his Oca chair, made in collaboration with Italian artisan Alan Zinchi.
Arbesser accepted the role as creative counsel for historic Austrian furniture-maker Wittmann Möbelwerkstätten in 2023, after which he expanded his involvement into supporting Wittmann in the areas of presentation, branding and communication.
Admittedly, this first interior design project presented a few challenges. 'I basically started with a white room.…There were some technical details I wasn't prepared for, like working with curtains for example, but once you start digging in you figure it out,' he said, adding that he's open to working more in the field of interior design.
Arbesser joins a roster of designers delving into the world of home and interiors. Lars Nilsson — the Swedish-born designer whose fashion career included top positions at Bill Blass, Nina Ricci and Gianfranco Ferré, as well as behind-the-scenes roles at Christian Dior and Christian Lacroix — made news with his 2018 textile collection with Svenskt Tenn, and a Vandra Rugs collaboration before that.