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Adolf Franz Karl Viktor Maria Loos (; 10 December 1870 – 23 August 1933) was an Austrian and Czechoslovak architect, influential European theorist, and a polemicist of

modern architecture Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that for ...

. He was an inspiration to

modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

and a widely-known critic of the Art Nouveau movement. His controversial views and literary contributions sparked the establishment of the

Vienna Secession The Vienna Secession (german: Wiener Secession; also known as ''the Union of Austrian Artists'', or ''Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreichs'') is an art movement, closely related to Art Nouveau, that was formed in 1897 by a group of Austr ...

movement and postmodernism.Vienna Secession The Vienna Secession (german: Wiener Secession; also known as ''the Union of Austrian Artists'', or ''Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreichs'') is an art movement, closely related to Art Nouveau, that was formed in 1897 by a group of Austr ...

movement"> Loos was born in Brno to a family of sculptors and stonemasons. His almost deaf father, a stonemason, died when he was 9 and played a role in Loos' interest in arts and crafts. Loos later presented with his father's hearing impairment and other health-related issues. His lack of hearing contributed to his solitary personality. Loos had three tumultuous marriages that all ended in divorce and was convicted as a pedophile in 1928. With changing interests, Loos attended multiple colleges also due to his poor academics and his different desires, which proved to be useful by providing him a diverse skillset for architecture. After leaving his last university, Loos visited America and became strongly impacted by the Chicago School of Architecture, being inspired by the architect

Louis Sullivan Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago School, a mentor to Frank Lloy ...

and his

form follows function Form follows function is a principle of design associated with late 19th and early 20th century architecture and industrial design in general, which states that the shape of a building or object should primarily relate to its intended function ...

philosophy. Loos then went on to write many literary pieces including the satirical piece '' The Story of a Poor Rich Man'' and his most popular manifesto, ''

Ornament and Crime "Ornament and Crime" is an essay and lecture by modernist architect Adolf Loos that criticizes ornament in useful objects. History Contrary to popular belief that it was composed in 1908, Adolf Loos first gave the lecture in 1910 at the Akadem ...

'', which advocated for smooth and clear surfaces in contrast to the lavish decorations of the

fin de siècle () is a French term meaning "end of century,” a phrase which typically encompasses both the meaning of the similar English idiom "turn of the century" and also makes reference to the closing of one era and onset of another. Without context, ...

, as well as the more modern aesthetic principles of the

, exemplified in his design of

Looshaus The Looshaus is a commercial and residential building at 3, between Herrengasse and , in Vienna. Designed by Adolf Loos and completed in 1912, it is considered a major building of Viennese Modernism. Building The modernist design of the L ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Loos became a pioneer of modern architecture and contributed a body of theory and criticism of

Modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

in architecture and design and developed the "Raumplan" (literally ''spatial plan'') method of arranging interior spaces, exemplified in Villa Müller in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

. He died aged 62 on 23 August 1933 in Kalksburg near

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Early life

Youth

Loos was born into a family of artisans on 10 December 1870 in Brno, in the

Margraviate of Moravia The Margraviate of Moravia ( cs, Markrabství moravské; german: Markgrafschaft Mähren) was one of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown within the Holy Roman Empire existing from 1182 to 1918. It was officially administrated by a margrave in cooper ...

region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, today the eastern part of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. His father Adolf Loos was a German stonemason who died when Loos was nine years old. His mother, Marie Loos, was a sculptor who later continued to carry on the stonemason business after her husband's death. Young Adolf Loos had inherited his father's hearing impairment and was significantly handicapped by it throughout his life, contributing to his solitary character.

Education

Loos attended several Gymnasium schools and sought a variety of programs. In 1884, Loos began his studies at the

Stiftsgymnasium Melk Stiftsgymnasium Melk (german: link=no, Melk Abbey's gymnasium) is a Roman Catholic Benedictine-run gymnasium located in Melk, Austria. The gymnasium is located within and run by the well-known monastery Melk Abbey. Founded in the 12th century as ...

for only a few months after failing an exam. He then studied mechanics at the Royal and Imperial State Technical College in Liberec, but dropped to pursue building technology. He then returned to mechanics again at State Crafts School in Brünn in 1889, and changed to architecture by studying at

Dresden University of Technology TU Dresden (for german: Technische Universität Dresden, abbreviated as TUD and often wrongly translated as "Dresden University of Technology") is a public research university, the largest institute of higher education in the city of Dresden, th ...

from 1890 - 1893.Tournikiotis, Panayotis (2002). ''"Adolf Loos"''. Princeton Architectural Press. pp. 9–10.

ISBN The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency. An ISBN is assigned to each separate edition an ...

9781568983424. Loos ultimately did not receive any academic degree due to his sporadic education pursuits, poor academics, and his enrollment to the Austrian military in 1889. His enrollment however also sparked some of Loos' interests, joining a dueling club in college. Loos' diverse educational background provided him with a vast skillset which proved to be useful. For example, he could comprehend masonry and craftsman work and its impact on architecture. He additionally was acknowledged by many scholars and was treated highly in the architectural field due to his experience.

Career

United States

Post college, Loos traveled to the United States and stayed there from 1893 to 1896 in desire to live auspiciously and to learn about outside architecture. He started in New York and financially supported himself by working as a mason, a floor-layer, and a dish-washer.Tournikiotis, Panayotis (2002). ''"Adolf Loos"''. Princeton Architectural Press. pp. 9–10.

9781568983424.Benedetto Gravagnuolo, Adolf Loos, Theory and Works (London: Art Data, 1995), 29. These jobs allowed Loos to move to the Philadelphia countryside with his uncle Benjamin, where he worked as a watchmaker. Living on the countryside made Loos admire America's rural culture, but he later traveled to New York and Chicago to explore American architecture. On his first visit to Chicago, Loos was immediately inspired by the new American skyscrapers and the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

in 1893.Bototin, Norman & Laing, Christine, The Chicago World's Fair of 1893 The World's Columbian Exposition from Washington, DC: Preservation Press, 1992, pg. 20. Specifically, he was inspired by the architect

and the Chicago School of Architecture, being in content with Sullivan's concept of

in the literary piece Ornament in Architecture. Although Loos left America in 1896, he later became involved with Chicago in 1922. Inspired by Sullivan, Loos submitted a column building design for the

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

Tower Competition, where his design proposal followed a

Doric column The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of c ...

as the building's top, known as the Column Tower proposal. While he did not win, his architecture inspired post modernism ideas.

Vienna

Loos returned to Vienna in 1896 and made it his permanent residence. He was a prominent figure in the city and a friend of

Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He is con ...

Arnold Schönberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

Peter Altenberg Peter Altenberg (9 March 1859 – 8 January 1919) was a writer and poet from Vienna, Austria. He played a key role in the genesis of early modernism in the city. Biography He was born Richard Engländer on 9 March 1859 in Vienna. The nom de p ...

and Karl Kraus. Inspired by his years in the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

he devoted himself to architecture. After briefly associating himself with the

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.

Architectural theory

Loos authored several polemical works. In ''Spoken into the Void'', published in 1900, he attacked the

, at a time when the movement was at its peak. In his essays, Loos used provocative catchphrases and is noted for the essay/manifesto entitled ''

'', given in a lecture in 1910 and first published in 1913. He explored the idea that the progress of culture is associated with the elimination of ornament from everyday objects, asserting, "''the evolution of culture is synonymous with the removal of ornamentation from objects of everyday use.''" 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 Design theory is a subfield of design research concerned with various theoretical approaches towards understanding and delineating design principles, design knowledge, and design practice. History Design theory has been approached and interp ...

). 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" decoration, such as that created by indigenous cultures (Loos mentions African textiles and Persian rugs), 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. His glassware, produced by Lobmeyer, is still in production today. He also enjoyed fashion and men's clothing, designing the famed Kníže of Vienna, a

haberdashery In British English, a haberdasher is a business or person who sells small articles for sewing, dressmaking and knitting, such as buttons, ribbons, and zippers; in the United States, the term refers instead to a retailer who sells men's clothing ...

. His admiration for the fashion and culture of England and America can be seen in his short-lived publication ''Das Andere'', which ran for just two issues in 1903 and included advertisements for 'English' clothing. In 1920, he had a brief collaboration with

Frederick John Kiesler Frederick John Kiesler (September 22, 1890 – December 27, 1965) was an Austrian-United States, American architect, theoretician, theater designer, artist and sculptor. Biography Kiesler was born Friedrich Jacob Kiesler in Czernowitz, Austro-H ...

, an architect, theater and art-exhibition designer.

Loos House and other projects

From 1904 on, he was able to carry out big projects; the most notable was the so-called "

" (built from 1910 to 1912), originally for the Viennese tailor Goldman and Salatsch, for whom Loos had designed a store interior in 1898, and situated right across from the Habsburg city residence

Hofburg Palace The Hofburg is the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty. Located in the centre of Vienna, it was built in the 13th century and expanded several times afterwards. It also served as the imperial winter residence, as Schönbrunn ...

. The house, today located at the address Michaelerplatz 3, Vienna, and under monument preservation, was criticized by its contemporaries. The facade was dominated by rectilinear window patterns and a lack of stucco decoration and awnings, which earned it the nickname "House without Eyebrows"; Emperor

Franz Joseph I of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...

was said to have despised the modern building so much that he avoided leaving the Hofburg Palace through a main gate in its vicinity. His work also 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. Loos visited the island of

Skyros Skyros ( el, Σκύρος, ), in some historical contexts Latinized Scyros ( grc, Σκῦρος, ), is an island in Greece, the southernmost of the Sporades, an archipelago in the Aegean Sea. Around the 2nd millennium BC and slightly later, the ...

in 1904 and was influenced by the cubic architecture of the Greek islands. When the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Loos was awarded

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

n citizenship by President Masaryk. His main place of residence remained in Vienna. During the First Austrian Republic Loos became interested in public projects. He designed several housing projects for the City of Vienna, which was then nicknamed

Red Vienna Red Vienna ( German: ''Rotes Wien'') was the colloquial name for the capital of Austria between 1918 and 1934, when the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (SDAP) maintained almost unilateral political control over Vienna and, for a sho ...

. From 1924 to 1928 Loos lived in Paris. He taught at the Sorbonne and was contracted to build a house for

Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, comp ...

, which was completed 1925 on Avenue Junot 15, Paris. In 1928 he returned to Vienna. 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.

Private life

Marriages

Loos was married three times. In July 1902, he married drama student . The marriage ended three years later in 1905. In 1919, he married 20-year-old Austrian-born

Elsie Altmann Elsie Altmann-Loos (27 December 1899 - 19 May 1984) was an Austrian dancer, actress and autobiographer. Biography Altmann's debut concert was in 1919. Later that year she became the second wife of modernist architect Adolf Loos, who was 29 years o ...

, a dancer and operetta star and daughter of Adolf Altmann and Jeannette Gruenblatt. They divorced seven years later in 1926. In 1929 he married writer and photographer Claire Beck. She was the daughter of his clients Otto and Olga Beck, and 35 years his junior. They were divorced on 30 April 1932. Following their divorce, Claire Loos wrote ''Adolf Loos Privat'', a literary work of snapshot-like vignettes about Loos's character, habits and sayings, published by the Johannes-Presse in Vienna in 1936. The book was intended to raise funds for Loos's tomb.

Poor health

All his life, Loos suffered from a hearing impairment. When he was a child, he was deaf. He only acquired partial hearing at the age of 12. In 1918 Loos was diagnosed with cancer. His stomach, appendix and part of his intestine were removed. By the time he was 50 he was nearly deaf.

Child sexual abuse

In 1928 Loos was disgraced by a pedophilia scandal in Vienna. He had commissioned young girls, aged 8 to 10, from poor families to act as models in his studio. The indictment stated that Loos had exposed himself and forced his young models to participate in sexual acts. He was found partially guilty in a court decision of 1928. In 2008 the original case record was rediscovered and confirmed the accusation.

Death and legacy

Adolf Loos exhibited early signs of dementia around the time of his court proceedings. A few months before his death he suffered a stroke. He died aged 62 on 23 August 1933 in Kalksburg near

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Loos's body was taken to Vienna's

Zentralfriedhof The Vienna Central Cemetery (german: Wiener Zentralfriedhof) is one of the largest cemeteries in the world by number of interred, and is the most well-known cemetery among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries. The cemetery's name is descriptive of its ...

to rest among the great artists and musicians of the city, including Schoenberg, Altenberg and Kraus, some of his closest friends and associates. Through his writings and his groundbreaking projects in Vienna, Loos was able to influence other architects and designers, and the early development of Modernism. His careful selection of materials, passion for craftsmanship and use of 'Raumplan'—the considered ordering and size of interior spaces based on function—are still admired.

Major works

* 1899 Café Museum, Vienna * 1904 Villa Karma,

Montreux Montreux (, , ; frp, Montrolx) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and has a population of approxima ...

, Switzerland * 1907 Field Christian Cross, Radešínská Svratka, Czech Republic * 1908 American Bar (formerly the Kärntner Bar), Vienna * 1910 Steiner House, Vienna * 1910 Goldman & Salatsch Building, overlooking Michaelerplatz, Vienna (a mixed-use building known colloquially as the "Looshaus") * 1913 Scheu House, Vienna * 1915 Sugar mill, Hrušovany u Brna, Czech Republic * 1915–16 Villa Duschnitz (re-model), Vienna * 1917 House for sugar mill owner, Hrušovany u Brna, Czech Republic * 1921 Mausoleum for Max Dvořák (unbuilt) * 1922 Rufer House, Vienna * 1925 Maison Tzara, house and studio,

Montmartre Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...

, Paris, for

, one of the founders of

Dadaism Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

* 1926 Villa Moller, Vienna * 1927 House (not built), Paris, for the American entertainer

Josephine Baker Josephine Baker (born Freda Josephine McDonald; naturalised French Joséphine Baker; 3 June 1906 – 12 April 1975) was an American-born French dancer, singer and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in her adopted Fran ...

* 1928 Villa Müller, Prague,

* 1929 Khuner Villa,

Kreuzberg Kreuzberg () is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in 1990 it ha ...

, Austria * 1932 Villa Winternitz, Na Cihlářce 10, Praha 5, Czech Republic * 1928–1933 many residential interiors in Plzeň, Czech Republic

Expositions

* Adolf Loos - Exposition Du Cinquantenaire (23.02. – 16.04.1983) Paris (Institut Francais d´Architecture with Austrian Culture Institute, Paris) Ancienne Galerie, 6, rue du Tournon, 75006 Paris * Gründerzeit: Adolf Loos (11.04.1987 – 21.06.1987) Städtische Galerie der Stadt Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany * ADOLF LOOS (02.12.1989-25.02.1990) (joint exposition on 3 locations)

Albertina The Albertina is a museum in the Innere Stadt (First District) of Vienna, Austria. It houses one of the largest and most important print rooms in the world with approximately 65,000 drawings and approximately 1 million old master prints, as well ...

, Historical Museum of the City of Vienna,

, Vienna * Adolf Loos „Private Spaces“ (14.12.2017 – 25.02.2018) Museu del Dessiny de Barcelona, Spain * Adolf Loos „Private Spaces“ (28.03.2018-24-06.2018) Caixa Forum Madrid, Spain * WAGNER, HOFFMANN, LOOS AND THE FURNITURE DESIGN OF VIENNESE MODERNISM (21.03.-07.10.2018)

Imperial Furniture Collection The Imperial Furniture Collection (german: Hofmobiliendepot) in Vienna is a furniture museum that houses one of the most important collections of furniture in the world.

(Hofmobiliendepot), Vienna * Adolf Loos: Private Houses (08.12.2020-14.03.2021) MAK Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna * „Loos2021“ (25.9.2020 – 30.5.2021) Loos Rooms at the Vienna Library, (former Boskovits flat) Bartensteingasse 9/5, 1010 Wien Adolf Loos Einrichtung Knize Filiale Karlsbad - Design Museum Barcelona 2017-2018.jpg, Furnishings Knize, Karlovy Vary branch Barcelona, Madrid 2017 2018 Adolf Loos Armlehnstehl und Tisch Haus Duschnitz 1915 Barcelona 2017.jpg, Furnishing "House Duschnitz 1915" (Barcelona, Madrid 2017 2018) Adolf Loos Schreibtisch 1904 mit Loos Stuhl von F.O.Schmidt.jpg, Adolf Loos Desk 1904 (Barcelona, Madrid 2017 2018) Adolf Loos Schreibtisch Haus Friedmann und englischer Stuhl F.O.Schmidt.jpg, Desk "House Friedmann 1907" (Barcelona, Madrid 2017 2018) Adolf_Loos_Design_Museum_Barcelona_Haus_Rufer.jpg, Furnishing "House Rufer 1922" Barcelona, Madrid 2017 2018 Adolf_Loos_Lampe_Haus_Steiner_Barcelona_2017.jpg, Interior "House Steiner 1910" Barcelona, Madrid 2017 2018 Adolf Loos-Wohnung-Georg-Roy-1901-1904.jpg, Interior "Flat Georg Roy 1904", Hofmobiliendepot, Vienna 2018 Ausstellung Loos2021 Wienbibliothek Wohnung Boskovits 25.9.2020-30.5.2021.jpg, Furnishing "Flat Boskovits" (Loos2021, Vienna Library)

Bibliography

* * * * * *

References

External links

*
Adolf Loos online exhibition
images, podcasts and video about Loos's life and work. Royal Institute of British Architects

TourMyCountry.com
Adolf Loos biography 1870–1933
WOKA Lamps Vienna * {{DEFAULTSORT:Loos, Adolf 1870 births 1933 deaths Architects from Brno People from the Margraviate of Moravia Moravian-German people Austrian people of Moravian-German descent Art Nouveau architects Austrian architects Architecture critics Architectural theoreticians Austrian architecture writers Austrian expatriates in France Austrian expatriates in the United States Modernist architects Austrian people convicted of child sexual abuse Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery

Early life

Youth

Education

Career

United States

Vienna

Architectural theory

Loos House and other projects

Private life

Marriages

Poor health

Child sexual abuse

Death and legacy

Major works

Expositions

Bibliography

References

Further reading

External links