Mischer'Traxler

Katharina Mischer (b.1982, Vienna) and Thomas Traxler (b.1981, Vienna) form mischer‘traxler studio. Based in Vienna they develop and design objects, furniture, processes, installations and more, thereby focusing on experiments and conceptual thinking within a given context. Balancing between handcraft and technology, they envision whole systems, new production methods and kinetic or interactive installations that question topics, tell stories or open up new ways of doing things. Influencing and complementing each other, Katharina and Thomas examine, experiment, analyse and reject. Their results are often playing with uniqueness and some of their projects are poetic records that interact with the viewer and evoke unexpected reactions. By using their outcomes as well as a mean of communication, the studio tries to show that Design can be functional, good and beautiful not just in objects but as well in the ideas they represent.
Katharina Mischer and Thomas Traxler already met whilst studying. They completed their BA-degrees in product and furniture Design at the NDC St.Pölten and at Kingston University London and continued to study in the IM-masters programme at the Design Academy Eindhoven. After graduating in June 2008 and several years of collaborating on various projects, Katharina and Thomas founded studio mischer‘traxler in 2009.
Exhibitions on contemporary Design and Art displayed their projects in Museums such as the Boijmans van Boiningen, the Design Museum London, the Triennale Milano, Cafa Art Museum Bejing, Mudac Lausanne and more as well as on International festivals and fairs. Projects by mischer’traxler are to be found in the permanent collections of the Art institute Chicago, the Vitra Design Museum and the MAK Vienna, among others.
Their work has won several awards, for example the Wu Guanzhong Art & Science Innovation Award 2012, the Austrian Experimental Design Award 2009, an honorary mention at Prix ArsElectronica 2009 and the DMY-Award 2009. As a studio, mischer’traxler was honoured with the ‘W-hotels designer of the future award’ by Design Miami/Basel and W-hotels in 2011 and recently with the ‘Young talent award’ by the Be-open foundation.