Like fellow Vienna Secession member Joseph Maria Olbrich and Wiener Werkstätte co-founder Kolomon Moser, Josef Hoffmann was an exceedingly versatile artist whose work extended across media. As an architect, Hoffmann believed that art and design could play a role in shaping people’s lives. He not only created designs for the Wiener Werkstätte but also originated furnishings intended for the interiors of his own buildings. A case in point is his work on the Purkersdorf Sanatorium (1904–05), located near Vienna. Because this private facility treated affluent patients with nervous conditions, Hoffmann conceived of the architecture and interior decor holistically as a calming place. Notschrei was one of the fabrics that decorated interiors of some of the buildings within the Purkersdorf complex. Its pattern exemplifies the abstract, linear, and vertical motifs favored by Hoffmann.