Adolf Loos Research Notes PDF

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These are research notes for the first assignment of semester 2 where I had to research a designer/decorator from the past (which happens to be Adolf Loos for me)....

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Biological Info

● born December 10, 1870, Brno, Austria-Hungary now in the Czech Republic ● died August 23, 1933 ● Educated in Dresden, Germany, Loos practiced in Vienna, although he spent extended periods in the United States (1893–97) and in Paris (1924–28) ● Austrian architect and theorist who spent a lot of time in America and Paris ● the founder of Modern architecture ● His planning of private residences strongly influenced European Modernist architects after World War 1 A quote ● Be truthful, nature only sides with truth. ● The work of art shows people new directions and thinks of the future. The house thinks of the present. ● “Search the beauty in the pure form and don’t allow it to depend from the ornament.” ● Supply and demand regulate architectural form. ● It does not do to use it with forms whose origin is intimately bound up with a specific material simply because no technical difficulties stand in the way. ● Be not afraid of being called un-fashionable. ● The house has to please everyone, contrary to the work of art which does not. The work is a private matter for the artist. The house is not. ● Architecture arouses sentiments in man. The architect's task therefore, is to make those sentiments more precise. Style & time they worked in

● Style ○ he intended to avoid the use of unnecessary ornament ○ his buildings often consisted of clean white walls and pure forms and were justified by their economic practicality and utilitarian qualities (focus on economic practicality and functionalities) ● Work ○ His first building, the Villa Karma, Clarens, near Montreux, Switzerland (1904–06), was notable for its geometric simplicity ○ the Steiner House, Vienna (1910), which has been referred to by some architectural historians as the first completely modern dwelling;the main (rear) facade is a symmetrical, skillfully balanced composition of rectangles. ○ The best-known large structure is the Goldman and Salatsch Building, Vienna (1910), in which a little classical exterior detail is offset by large areas of blank, polished marble. It was strongly criticized by Loos’s contemporaries because of the unadorned façade. ○ Numerous private residences such as the Villa Müller in Prague. ● Greatest contribution ○ one of the most influential European architects of the late 19th century ○ Ideas in his essay ‘Ornament and Crime’ laid the foundation for the entire modernist movement ○ the title of his lecture-essay “Ornament and Crime” (1910) became one of the most famous dictums (mottos) in architecture ○ He had a significant impact on the development of 20th C architecture ○ Le Corbusier himself considered Loos’ Ornament and Crime "an Homeric cleansing" of architecture, revealing the magnitude of his impact on modernist ideology. ○ His intellectual contribution has been crucial to the arrival of the Modern Movement. He was and remains one of the most important promoters of architectural rationality and can be considered in all respects as a pioneer of modern architecture and design.

● Time = Art Nouveau and Beaux-Arts historicism ○ Late 19th C ○ opposed to both Art Nouveau and Beaux-Arts historicism ■ Art Nouveau is the ornamental style of art that flourished between about 1890 and 1910 throughout Europe and the United States. ■ Beaux-Arts architecture is classical in nature with Greco-Roman styling. The Beaux-Arts Movement was popular in the United States from about 1880-1930 and reflected the wealth accumulated during

the Industrial Revolution. ■ opposition to ornament extended to anything that could not be justified for its rational function. Develop an opinion It is a personal taste, building with enormous ornaments or buildings without any unnecessary extras. Beauty vs. economic and functionality

Examples of Work Loos, Adolf: Goldman and Salatsch Building The Goldman and Salatsch Building, Vienna; designed by Adolf Loos.

staircase in the Hôtel Tassel Staircase in the Hôtel Tassel, Brussels, designed by Victor Horta in the Art Nouveau style, 1892–93.

Steiner House, Vienna, Austria, 1910

Scheu House, Vienna, Austria, 1912-13 http://www.designculture.it/profile/adolfloos.html

Library in Villa Karma, library, Montreaux, Switzerland, 1903-06

Café Museum, Chair, 1899 Special design for the Café Museum.

Café Museum, Vienna, Austria, 1899 Interior Café Museum, Vienna, Austria, 1930

Sources ● The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (2019). Adolf Loos, Austrian Architect. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adolf-Loos ● Evan Rawn (2019). Spotlight: Adolf Loos. Retrieved from https://www.archdaily.com/576187/spotlight-adolf-loos ● Adolf Loos: Biography, Architecture & Buildings. (2015, September 18). Retrieved from https://study.com/academy/lesson/adolf-loos-biography-architecturebuildings.html. ● Nicola-Matteo Munari (2014). Adolf Loos. Retrieved from http://www.designculture.it/profile/adolf-loos.html ● The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (August 30, 2019). Art Nouveau. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/art/Art-Nouveau ● Beaux-Arts Architecture: Definition, Characteristics & Style. (2016, August 21). Retrieved from https://study.com/academy/lesson/beaux-arts-architecturedefinition-characteristics-style.html....