Architect. Sobotka was born in Vienna and received a degree in architecture from the Technische Hochschule Wien in 1912. From 1919 to 1923, he worked for the Viennese firm of Karl Korn. After leaving Korn’s firm, Sobotka began receiving commissions for larger and more prominent residential projects, eventually designing the interiors for architect Peter Behrens’s house at the Weissenhof Siedlung (built for the German Werkbund in Stuttgart in 1927). He also designed two large housing projects for the city of Vienna and two houses for the 1932 Austrian Werkbund Siedlung. Sobotka was closely involved with the Austrian Werkbund and served as vice-chairman of the board of directors for two years. In 1937 he designed the Austrian Pavilion for the World Exposition in Paris. When the political situation in Austria became too tenuous for those of Jewish descent, Sobotka emigrated to the United States, arriving in New York in 1938. Three years later, he began to teach at the University of Pittsburgh in the Research Bureau for Retail Training, eventually becoming an Assistant Professor of Textiles and Applied Arts. He also taught architecture at the Carnegie Institute of Technology from 1941 to 1948, the last two years as Assistant Professor for Interior Decoration. Sobotka’s professional practice in the United States focused mostly upon residential interiors and furniture design, for Thonet Brothers (1938-1939) and Russel Wright among others.