Ar.

Adolf Franz Karl Viktor Maria Loos

Theory of Architecture 2
Balayan, Job Vittorio A.
3 AR-3
Ar. Adolf Loos

Born: December 10 1870 and passed away on August 23 1933 was an Austrian and
Czechoslovak architect and influential European theorist of Modern architecture. His
essay Ornament and Crime advocated smooth and clear surfaces in contrast to the lavish
decorations of the Fin de sicle and also to the more modern aesthetic principles of
the Vienna Secession.

Son of Adolf Loos and Marie Loos

Husband of Elsa Elsie Loos-Altmann

Ex-husband of Carolina Catharina Loos and Claire Loos

Brother of Hermine Loos and Irma Marie Pirschl

Education:

After enrolling in a lot of gymnastic schools growing up, Loos studied in Dresden
University of Technology. He left one year later without completing his study. At age 23,
Loos traveled to the United States and stayed there for three years from 1893 - 1896.

Architectural style: (concept and Philosophies)

Inspired by his years in the New World, he devoted himself to architecture. After briefly
associating himself with the Vienna Secession in 1886, he rejected the style and
advocated a new, plain, unadorned architecture. A utilitarian approach to use the entire
floor plan completed his concept. Loos' early commissions consisted of interior designs
for shops and cafs in Vienna.

Famous Works:

The "Loos House" (built from 1910-

1912) The facade was dominated by
rectilinear window patterns and a lack of
stucco decoration and awnings, which
earned it the nickname "House without
Eyebrows"
Steiner House:

Loos was still starting his career in 1910

when he designed and constructed the
Steiner House in Vienna, Austria. This
design was much better accepted than
Loos' earlier works and quickly became a
worldwide example of rationalist
architecture

The Villa Mller:

His architectural style combined clear configuration

with premium materi als such as stone, marble and
high-quality woods, carried out in first rate
craftsmanship.

Personal Life:

All his life, Loos suffered from a hearing impairment. When he was a child, he was deaf.
He only acquired partial hearing only 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.

In 1928 Loos was disgraced by a pedophilia scandal in Vienna. He had commissioned

young girls ages 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.

Influence:
Loos visited the island of Skyros in 1904 and was influenced by the cubic architecture of
the Greek islands.
Authorship:
Loos authored several polemical works. In Spoken into the Void, published in 1900, he
attacked the Vienna Secession, at a time when the movement was at its height.
He also wrote Ornament and Crime, written in 1910. He explored the idea that the
progress of culture is associated with the deletion of ornament from everyday objects,
and that 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.
Andrews, Brian (2010). "Ornament and Materiality in the Work of Adolf Loos" (PDF).
Material Making: The Process of Precedent. p.438. Association of Collegiate Schools of
Architecture. Retrieved 9 February 2011.

^ Jump up to: a b "Adolf Loos: Life and influence". Royal Institute of British Architects.
Retrieved 20 June 2012.

Jump up ^ http://www.stadtbekannt.at/haus-ohne-augenbrauen/

Jump up ^ http://www.architektenlexikon.at/de/362.htm#Werke

^ Jump up to: a b Loos, Claire Beck (2011). Adolf Loos A Private Portrait. Los Angeles,
CA: DoppelHouse Press.

Jump up ^ http://biography.yourdictionary.com/adolf-loos

Jump up ^ http://members.aon.at/andreas.weigel/pdfs/Adolf-Loos-Gerichtsurteil

Jump up ^ ibid.

Jump up ^ Christopher Long, Der Fall Loos. Amalthea 2015. ISBN 3850029085

Jump up ^ http://www.falter.at/falter/2015/02/03/ornament-und-verbrechen/

Jump up ^ Bock, Ralf (2007). Adolf Loos. Geneve: Skira. ISBN 88-7624-643-6.

^ Jump up to: a b "Adolf Loos: Writings". Royal Institute of British Architects. Retrieved 20
June 2012.

Jump up ^ Janet Stewart, Fashioning Vienna: Adolf Loos's Cultural Criticism, London:
Routledge, 2000, p. 173

Jump up ^ "Adolf Loos: Raumplan". Royal Institute of British Architects. Retrieved 20 June
2012.