Adolf Loos Overview

"The evolution of culture marches with the elimination of ornament from useful objects." Adolf Loos was deeply concerned about the state of architecture in turn-of-the-century Austria. Loos objected to the Art Nouveau movement -- with its stress on the personal and... [more]

"The evolution of culture marches with the elimination of ornament from useful objects." Adolf Loos was deeply concerned about the state of architecture in turn-of-the-century Austria. Loos objected to the Art Nouveau movement -- with its stress on the personal and the decorative, and its rejection of Classicism -- because he felt it was too willful, almost narcissistic. Loos wasn't merely frustrated by his fellow Austrians' apparent lack of taste; rather, he saw unnecessary ornamentation as a sign of moral weakness and as a concern for things irrelevant to true meaning in life. Instead, Loos appreciated the clarity of practicality. Prefiguring Le Corbusier, Loos was fascinated by machinery; for Loos, bicycles and railway cars were unburdened by aesthetics or personality. Their beauty came from their ability to perform a service. Loos designed homes on the simplest of principles. Straight lines, clear planar walls and windows, and clean curves characterized his style. As his theories developed, his conception of the raumplan, or plan of volumes, gradually evolved. The raumplan was a complex system of internal organization that culminated in his split-level house designs. As for decorating the houses, Loos (who started his career as an interior designer) believed that as much furniture as possible should be built-in (again, functionality ruled). If this was not possible or desirable, then the furniture had to be of top craftsmanship, but nothing fancy. Quality material and workmanship were, for Loos, the ultimate expression of aesthetic excellence. "To seek beauty only in form and not in ornament is the goal to which all humanity is striving." [show less]