Polly Amery - KA4023 - Year 1

The literary success of Adolf Loos

Claims that Adolf Loos was one of the most important pioneers of the modern

movement1 and one of the most influential European architects of the late 19th

Century,2 cannot be undervalued. The writings of Adolf Loos paved the way for the

modernist movement. Memorable and inspiring buildings such as The Steiner House

in Vienna and The Villa Muller in Prague, were the beginning of a new architectural

language. A language that speaks of economy and functionality. According to

internationally recognized Italian Architect Aldo Rossi, Loos possessed an ‘unusual

ability to unsettle the public’3. This quality along with his well-articulated theories and

ideas meant that Loos was one of the pioneers of his day.

Figure 2 Villa Muller 1930

Loos spoke of innovation through the selective continuation of tradition and is most well-known for his

essay ‘Ornament and Crime’. In which he says; “I have made the following discovery and I pass it on to the

world: The evolution of culture is synonymous with the removal of ornament from utilitarian objects.” Loos

deduces that the “style” of this age comes from the absence of ornament. He suggests that the function of

decorated objects out lives their ornamental form. That both the consumer and the producer would benefit

1 Adolf Loos. P.Tournikiotis 1994 2 Spotlight:Adolf Loos. E.Rawn 2016 3 Spoken into the Void. A.Rossi 1987

Figure 1 Adolf Loos (1870 - 1933)

Polly Amery - KA4023 - Year 1

from “smooth” function. A desk for example, where the time has been spent crafting the joinery to a high

standard and not made costlier for all parties, by hours spent carving beautiful shapes into the wood.

“The Renaissance? We are more advanced. We have become more sensitive,

more refined. We lack the robust nerves necessary to drink out of an ivory

tankard with a battle of the Amazons carved on it.”

Adolf Loos - Neue Freie Presse 1910

These ideas were revolutionary at the time, Le Corbusier referred to Loos’ words as “a Homeric cleansing”

of architecture.4 Suggesting the influence Adolf Loos had on architects at the forefront of the modern

movement. Loos recognized and addressed the profound nature of his statements, suggesting “The man of

the fifteenth century won’t understand me. But all modern people will.” Today, it may seem obvious that

“ornament on things that have evolved away from the need to be ornamented” represents “wasted labor

and ruined material.”5 However, in 1910 when Loos was presenting his theories, he was breaking away

from a style commonly called ‘whiplash’6 where the façade of buildings would be heavily embellished with

linear details developed by Vienna Secession architects.

Figure 3 Otto Wagner's Majolika Haus in Vienna (1898)

4 Raumplan versus Plan Libre. M.Risselada 2008 5 Ornament and Crime. A.Loos. 1913 6 Art Nouveau, Vienna Secession, Symbolism & Art Deco – Top of Art.com

Polly Amery - KA4023 - Year 1

It was his belief that ‘stragglers’ (still living in styles of past centuries) were reducing the speed of cultural

evolution, inflicting ‘serious injury’ on the national budget. Loos explained this, by comparing the lifestyle of

an 18th Century man with a modern, 20th century man. The 20th century man is simplistic, he enjoys his

vegetables boiled in water and eaten with a little butter on a plain, white plate. In contrast the 18th century

man must garnish his vegetables with honey and nuts and eat off a decorated, hand painted plate before

he is satisfied. The conclusion: “The one accumulates savings, the other debts. It is the same with whole

nations. Woe when a people remains behind in cultural evolution.” 7 Despite Loos’ use of analogy to vividly

explain his theories, a popular criticism of his writings was that of contradiction. After all, upon reading

‘Ornament and Crime’ you would expect the interior of The Villa Muller to be simplistic and neutral in its

design but its layout is complex and materials lavish.

Figure 4 Example of Raumplan - Villa Muller interior

Years after writing “Ornament and Crime” Loos states that “objects with limited durability such as wallpaper

and fabrics are subject to fashion and therefore ornamentation”. It is arguable whether statements such as

this devalue his earlier literature (where he speaks of the men that needed to eat from decorated plates to

be satisfied, being a detriment to the economy) or simply show growth of his theories.

7 Ornament and Crime. A.Loos. 1913

Polly Amery - KA4023 - Year 1

Loos justified his opinionated views by the experiences he collected

whilst overseas, and the new perspective of Austria he had gained in

doing so8. After spending 3 years in America, Loos’ came to admire

the work of Louis Sullivan and became inspired by the efficiency of

American architecture.

He returned to Austria in 1896 and after 2 years working for architect

Carl Mayreder, he began his own practice. His buildings featured

straight lines and planar walls and windows. One of his pupils named

Kulka, was first to term Loos’ planning method, ‘Raumplan’.9 That he

would later become most recognized for. ‘Raumplan’ translating to

‘space plan’ was the use of various levels to separate rooms of

different functions and ceiling heights that would correspond with the

desired task of the room. In Loos’ eyes, the ground floor and the first

floor do not exist, he said “There are only interconnected continual spaces, rooms, halls, terraces… Each

space needs a different height… These spaces are connected so that ascent and descent are not only

unnoticeable, but at the same time functional”10

8 Fashioning Vienna Adolf Loos’ Cultural Criticism J.Stewart. London 2000 9 Raumplan versus Plan Libre. M.Risselada 2008 10 A.Loos (Shorthand record of a conversation in Pilsen, 1930)

Figure 5 Wainwright Building - L.Sullivan (1891)

Figure 6 Raumplan - Villa Muller

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Despite accusations of hypocrisy, one focus remained consistent throughout Loos’ work. Functionality. It is

debatable whether the decoration of some of Loos’ designs correspond with his statement of ornamentation

being criminal. But one cannot deny Adolf Loos of his relentless search for truth, and as noted by Italian Art

Critic Edoardo Perisco, “He [Loos] was often mistakenly quoted in many matters and his assertions, taken

out of context, were used to defend positions that he did not in fact support.” In his later writing ‘Ornament

and Education’ Loos clarifies his perspective,

Twenty-six years ago I maintained that the use of ornamentation on objects of practical

use would disappear with the development of mankind, a constant and consistent

development… By that I did not mean what some purists have carried as absurdum,

namely that ornament should be systematically and consistently eliminated. What I did

mean was that where it had disappeared as a necessary consequence of human

development, it could not be restored, just as people will never return to tattooing their

faces.

Adolf Loos. Ornament and Education

During this period of Art Nouveau, Adolf Loos was challenging a lot of widely accepted styles. It would be

understandable if he faced a lot of criticisms and back lash about his opinions. But for modern architecture,

Adolf Loos was a figure whom it was impolitic to attack11. Georg Trakl, (arguably one of the greatest

modern poets of the German language12) dedicated two of his poems to Loos. But by his sixtieth birthday in

1930, he still had not received the recognition he desired.13 He set out to start the ‘Loos school of

Architecture’ and with this came several articles in a bid to drum up interest. An announcement was made

in the Prager Tagblatt by Austrian writer, journalist and good friend to Loos, Karl Kraus who said Adolf Loos

“will be celebrated by later generations as a great philanthropist of his time”. The announcement was

signed by respected representatives of European modernism such as Arnold Schonberg, Heinrich Mann,

and James Joyce (names that confirm just how respected Loos really was) Also, in a document recently

found by politician Andreas Weigel,14 Joyce, who was one of the most significant authors of the 20th

century, praises “the great architect Adolf Loos” for having “delivered his contemporaries from the slavery

of superfluous labour.” However, there is speculation surrounding these articles. It is suggested in Weigel’s

writing ‘A portrait of the Artist as an Adolf Loos Campaigner’ that the announcement made by Joyce was

not his writing, stating that “everyone familiar with Joyce will note immediately that it is not written in Joyce’s

style”. In fact, one of the best authorities on the work and life of Adolf Loos, Adolf Opel15 is sure that Loos

wrote it himself.

11 Spoken into the Void. A.Rossi 1987 12 Spoken into the Void. A. Rossi (Translated J.O.Newman & J.H.Smith 1987) 13 A portrait of the Artist as an Adolf Loos Campaigner F. Rathjen and A. Weigel 2006 14 A portrait of the Artist as an Adolf Loos Campaigner F. Rathjen and A. Weigel 2006 15 A portrait of the Artist as an Adolf Loos Campaigner F. Rathjen and A. Weigel 2006

Polly Amery - KA4023 - Year 1

In 1930, whilst being riddled with financial problems and failing health, Loos never seemed to fall short of

ambition. But despite his efforts, his school of architecture was never more than a plan. Loos died 3 years

after his 60th birthday.

On one hand, Adolf Loos was a modernist of his time, coming up with unprecedented theories and designs.

However, if Loos was being categorized as modernist then the question remains, what were the Avant

Garde Seccessionists he detached himself from to be known as? Some thought his outlandish and bold

statements were deemed somewhat quixotic. Perhaps his ever-evolving theories were perceived to have a

lack of consistency. But as the Italian philosopher Massimo Cacciari recognises “in Loos, one does not find

just one form of thought: one finds musical-thoughts, pictoral thoughts, philosophical thoughts, and

architectonic thoughts.” All of which add up to produce Adolf Loos’ undeniable impact on Architecture and

Literature.

Polly Amery - KA4023 - Year 1

References

Books:

Adolf Loos. P.Tournikiotis 1994

Raumplan versus Plan Libre. M.Risselada 2008

Programs and Manifestoes of 20th century architecture. U.Conrads 1971

Spoken into the Void. Aldo Rossi (Translated J.O.Newman & J.H.Smith 1987)

Ornament and Crime. A.Loos. 1913

Vienna 1850-1930 Architecture. P.Haiko New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. 1992

Fashioning Vienna: Adolf Loos’s Cultural Criticism. J.Stewart. London: Routledge, 2000

Karl Kaus and the Critics. H.Zohn. Camden House 1997

Public Speaking in the City: Debating and Shaping the Urban Experience (Architects and the modern Public) J.Stewart 2009

A Portrait of the Artist as an Adolf Loos Campaigner. F. Rathjen and A. Weigel (2006)

Websites: Spotlight:Adolf Loos. E.Rawn http://www.archdaily.com/576187/spotlight-adolf-loos Art Nouveau, Vienna Secession, Symbolism & Art Deco http://www.topofart.com/movements/Secession-Art-Nouveau-Art-Deco Someone is buried here – Adolf Loos on life and death https://thecharnelhouse.org/2014/03/17/someone-is-buried-here-adolf-loos-on-architecture-and-death/ Adolf Loos: Architect biography http://architect.architecture.sk/adolf-loos-architect/adolf-loos-architect.php Adolf Loos: Breaking with Tradition. T.Nicholas https://theculturetrip.com/europe/austria/articles/adolf-loos-breaking-with-tradition/ Masters of Moderism. Anthony S. Denzer, Ph.D. http://www.mastersofmodernism.com/?page=Modernism Bibliography of Adolf Loos - Thoughtco.com – J. Craven 2016 https://www.thoughtco.com/adolf-loos-architect-of-no-ornamentation-177859 Villa Muller – A. Olszański Architectuul.com http://architectuul.com/architecture/villa-muller Adolf Loos and the Search for the Truth - M.Carr http://max-carr.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/spoken-into-void-adolf-loos-and-search.html “I do not draw plans, facades or sections”: Adolf Loos and the Villa Müller – M. Fabrizi 2014 http://socks-studio.com/2014/03/03/i-do-not-draw-plans-facades-or-sections-adolf-loos-and-the-villa-muller/