Cleto Munari. Lady-wristwatch, Hans Hollein 18k gold. Cleto Munari

• Important watch designed by the austrian architect Hans Hollein for the italian jewelmaker Cleto Munari. Hans Hollein, considered one of the fathers of postmodernism, has designed this watch as an element of a classical architecture.
• The watch is new, never worn, with original box, is made of 18 karat of gold, and it comes with a black leather stripes, with a certificate and warranty-card. The dial is also made from gold.

• Hans Hollein. Date: 1988

• Condition: Never worn

Date: 1991
Medium: Gold 18k, electroplate, enamel, and leather
Dimensions: L. 9-1/2, W. 7/8 inches (24.1 x 2.2 cm.)
Classification: Horology
Comment: Article published in New York Times 

• In the mid- to late 1970s, architects around the world began to question the validity of minimal Modernist architecture and design as providing the universal solution to all environments. There was a renewed appreciation of history and historic details and of local and regional historic contexts and a renewed expression of those historicist interests within popular exhibitions of the era, such as MoMA’s renowned display in 1975–76 of 19th-century architectural renderings in watercolour from the École des Beaux-Arts and the First International Architecture Exhibition for the 1980 Venice Biennale, which took as its title and theme “The Presence of the Past.” For this show, contemporary architects were encouraged to create streetscapes that related to traditional architectural environments.
• It was particularly in the postmodern 1980s that architects such as Michael Graves, Stanley Tigerman, and Hans Hollein created home accessories for companies such as Alessi in Milan and Swid Powell in the United States. Certain designers, including Sottsass and his Memphis colleague Matteo Thun of Austria, became household names, much as Mies and Breuer had been in the Modernist era, when their furniture designs were reissued by Knoll Associates and other companies. International exhibitions and publications, such as “Design Heute” (1988; “Design Today”), a traveling show organized by the German Architecture Museum in Frankfurt, displayed these often-outlandish postmodern creations for members of the public and professionals alike.