Adolf Loos

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE IV

Module 1(e)
History of Architecture IV
Faculty - Ar. Laxmi Menon
Assistant Professor
Adolf Loos
• Adolf Franz Karl Viktor Maria Loos
• Australian Architect
• Born : 10 December 1870
Brno, Austria Hungary
• Died : 23 August 1933 (aged 62)
Vienna, Austria
• Nationality : Austria, Austria – Hungary
• 1880 – 1893 : He attends series of Austrian
and Czech technical colleges, including
architecture at Dresden Technical University.
• 1893-1896 : Travels and works as a mason
and floor layer in the US where he becomes
enamored with the efficiency of American
Architecture. In particular he admires Louis
Sullivan works whose aesthetics was based
on the premise that form should follow
function.
• He was an influential European
theorist of modern architecture.
• His essay Ornament and
Crime advocated smooth and clear The Scream (1893),
surfaces in contrast to the lavish an expressionist painting
decorations of the fin de siècle, as by Edvard Munch is a
well as the more modern aesthetic prominent cultural
symbol of fin de
principles of the Vienna siècle era.
Secession(art movement, closely
related to Art Nouveau,),
exemplified in his design
of Looshaus, Vienna.
• Loos became a pioneer of modern
Vienna Secession -
architecture and contributed a body
Floral design by
of theory and criticism Alois Ludwig on the
of Modernism in architecture and facade of one of
design and developed the the Linke Wienzeile
Buildings by Otto
"Raumplan" (literally spatial plan) Wagner (1898)
method of arranging interior
spaces, exemplified in Villa
Müller in Prague.
• After briefly associating himself with the Vienna Secession in 1896, he
rejected the style and advocated a new, plain, unadorned architecture.
• A utilitarian approach to use the entire floor plan completed his concept.
Loos's early commissions consisted of interior designs for shops and cafés
in Vienna.
• In his essays, Loos used provocative catchphrases and is noted for the
essay/manifesto entitled Ornament and Crime, given in a lecture in 1910
and first published in 1913.
• He explored the idea that the progress of culture is associated with the
deletion of ornament from everyday objects, and that it was therefore a
crime to force craftsmen or builders to waste their time on ornamentation
that served to hasten the time when an object would become obsolete
(design theory).
• Loos's stripped-down buildings influenced the minimal massing of modern
architecture, and stirred controversy.
• Although noted for the lack of ornamentation on their exteriors, the
interiors of many of Loos's buildings are finished with rich and expensive
materials, notably stone, marble and wood, displaying natural patterns and
textures in flat planes, executed in first rate craftsmanship.
• The distinction is not between complicated and simple, but between
"organic" and superfluous decoration.
• Loos was also interested in the decorative arts, collecting sterling silver
and high quality leather goods, which he noted for their plain yet
luxurious appeal.
• He also enjoyed fashion and men's clothing, designing the famed Kníže
of Vienna, a haberdashery.
• Loos visited the island of Skyros in 1904 and was influenced by the cubic
architecture of the Greek islands.
• Loos had an admiration for classical architecture, which is reflected in his
writings and his entry to the 1922 Chicago Tribune competition. Loos's
submission was a massive Doric column.
• His work includes the store of the men's fashion house Knize (built
1909–13), Am Graben 13, Café Museum (built 1899), Operngasse 7,
Vienna, and the "American Bar" (built 1907–08), Kärntnerstrasse 10,
Vienna.
Looshouse, Vienna
• The Looshaus is a building in Vienna designed by Adolf Loos, regarded
as one of the central buildings of Viennese Modernism. It marks the
departure from historicism, but also from the floral decor of Secession.
• Despite its aesthetic
functionalism, the building is not a
simple purpose building;
especially the materials have not
saved costs or effort.
• The contrast between the marble-
clad lower facade area and the
simple plaster façade of the
above-mentioned residential
floors is striking.
The Looshaus at Michaelerplatz
• The business area is preceded by a
colonnade with Tuscan columns,
designed as an allusion to the portico
of the Michaelerkirche.

• Instead of ornaments, the upper

storeys have flower boxes in front
of the windows; according to the
legend, the form should remind the
Archduke and be an allusion to the
Hofburg.
Skylight at the main staircase
• After its completion, the house caused a

shock in the city, which was still characterized
by its historical taste. It was called by the
Viennese "a house without eyebrows", since
the window-roofing which was usual at that
time was completely missing.
The room heights vary according
to the requirements
Villa Muller
• The Villa Müller is a Modernist villa in Prague, Czech Republic built in
1930. It was designed by Adolf Loos as a residence for František Müller,
co-owner of the Kapsa-Müller construction company from Pilsen.
• The exterior displayed Loos'
theory discussed in his 1908
essay, "Ornament and Crime".
In the essay, Loos criticized
decorated surfaces.
• For the exterior of the Villa
Müller, Loos designed a white, Main entrance on the street side
cubic facade. He also wanted
to distinguish between the
outside, where the view could
be seen by the public eye, and
the inside, the private spaces of
those who lived there.
• The interior is lavishly decorated with comfortable
furniture and marble, wood, and silk surfaces. Front side facing the city view
PLAN
• The spatial design, known as Raumplan, is evident in the multi-level
parts of individual rooms, indicating their function and symbolic
importance. Raumplan is exhibited in the interior as well as the exterior.
• My architecture is not conceived in plans, but in spaces (cubes). I do not
design floor plans, facades, sections. I design spaces. For me, there is
no ground floor, first floor, etc. ... For me, there are only contiguous,
continual spaces, rooms, anterooms, terraces, etc. Storeys merge and
spaces relate to each other. --- Loos theory
Café museum
• Café Museum is a traditional Viennese café located in the Innere
Stadt first district in Vienna. The café opened in 1899.
• The original interior was designed by renowned architect Adolf Loos.
• The café became a meeting place for Viennese artists.
• Adolf Loos, architect of the café´s
original furnishings, had the
opinion that an architect had to
focus on the functional aspects
and not on the artistic ones.
• He concentrated on a very plain
design for the Café Museum,
Café Museum, view from
which was revolutionary in the outside,
time of its opening
Café Museum in the

1930s (original
furnishings by Josef
Zotti)

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HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE IV

• Instead of ornaments, the upper

• After its completion, the house caused a

Café Museum in the

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