Adolf Loos Flashcards
Who was Loos?
He favoured understated dress, anonymous furniture and efficient plumbing of the anglo saxon middle class.
he anticipated corbusiers notion of the object tpe
What building is he famous for?
Steiner House. 1910.
One of his major works
‘plan of volumes’ - complex system of internal organisation that culminated in the split level houses realised towards the end of his life.
It anticipated (by 8 years) the so called “international style”
What were some of the characteristics of Loos’s interiors?
Panelled walls up to dado height of polished stone or wood
Above this was either blank or topped with an ornamental pattern or classical freize in plaster.
Floors generally of stone and always covered in oriental carpets
What text is Loos most famous for writing?
“Ornament and Crime” (1908)
elaborated the nature of his quarrel with the artists of the Vienese secession movement.
he is against the idea of us dressing ourselves up - if we were more civilised we would realise we don’t need to dress up.
Manipulation of space - open/central living spaces with a number of spaces coming off them
Simple material epression in order to give the joy back to architecture.
What was Loos’s ultimate arguement against ornament?
It was wasteful in labour and material
It invariably entitled a punitive form of craft slavery
