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Originally published in French (1991, Editions Macula, Paris), profiles the Viennese architect who was one of the most important pioneers of the European Modern Movement. Born in 1870, Loos was an early opponent of the decorative trend of Art Nouveau, believing instead that architecture devoid of ornament represented pure and lucid thought. His rationalist design theories were put into practice in the Karntner Bar, Vienna (1907), Steiner House, Vienna (1920), and Villa Muller, Prague (1930). Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Adolf Loos not only was part of the first wave of modern architecture but also served as an important source of inspiration for all architects who followed. He is emblematic of the turn-of-the-century generation that was torn between the traditional culture of the nineteenth century and the innovative modernism of the twentieth. Loos’s masterful “astylistic architecture” is captured in this volume by the esteemed photographer Roberto Schezen in over one hundred exceptional photographs. Starting with the refurbishment of his own apartment in 1903, twenty of Loos’s most significant buildings are beautifully displayed: Villa Karma, the Kärntner Bar, the Goldman & Salatsch Michaelerplat...
Widely regarded as one of the most significant prophets of modern architecture, Adolf Loos was a celebrity in his own day. His work was emblematic of the turn-of-the-century generation that was torn between the traditional culture of the nineteenth century and the innovative modernism of the twentieth. His essay 'Ornament and Crime' equated superfluous ornament and 'decorative arts' with tattooing in an attempt to tell modern Europeans that they should know better. But the negation of ornament was supposed to reveal, not negate, good style; and an incorrigible ironist has been taken too literally in denying architecture as a fine art. Without normalizing his edgy radicality, Masheck argues t...
Revolutionary essays on design, aesthetics and materialism - from one of the great masters of modern architecture Adolf Loos, the great Viennese pioneer of modern architecture, was a hater of the fake, the fussy and the lavishly decorated, and a lover of stripped down, clean simplicity. He was also a writer of effervescent, caustic wit, as shown in this selection of essays on all aspects of design and aesthetics, from cities to glassware, furniture to footwear, architectural training to why 'the lack of ornament is a sign of intellectual power'. Translated by Shaun Whiteside With an epilogue by Joseph Masheck
Adolf Loos held that a building should have a soberly discreet exterior, reserving all its riches for its interior. Given that, any real appreciation of the spatial complexity of the work of one of the most misunderstood architects of the twentieth century requires engagement with his interiors, which this book does, brilliantly. In marked contrast to his contemporaries in the Vienna Secession, who designed their spaces down to the smallest detail, Loos presented himself as a "professor of interior design," perfectly willing to adapt to the habits and tastes of his clients, inviting them to embrace their own tastelessness rather than defer to the discernment of an "aesthete" architect. Together with the future occupant, he designed welcoming interiors whose warmth came from the effective use of quality materials and the creation of a flowing continuity articulated by the furnishings. What Loos created thereby was not merely architecture, but a new culture of living.
The must-have monograph on one of modern architecture's most influential figures, long a rarity and now available in an expanded and updated edition Viennese architect Adolf Loos was influential among his fellow early modernists not only for his radical designs but for his controversial ideology and famously militant opposition to ornament. Loos approached architecture from a primarily utilitarian perspective: he believed that interiors should be designed according to function, taking full advantage of the size and space of a building. In this definitive monograph, a true labor of love, architect Ralf Bock seeks to reveal the sensuality of Loos' interior designs, focusing on his sincere beli...
This revised and updated edition looks anew at the respective merits of two giants of modern architecture. As well as featuring writings by the architects themselves, the book illustrates the evolution of the work of Loos and Le Corbusier, with detailed reference to their domestic projects, ranging from the Strasser House (1919) to the Last House (1932), and from Maison Domino (1915) to Villa Savoye (1932).
Viennese architect Adolf Loos was one of the most important pioneers of the European Modern Movement. Born in 1870, he was an early opponent of the decorative trends of Art Nouveau, believing instead that architecture devoid of ornament represented pure and lucid thought. His rationalist design theories were put into practice in the Karntner Bar, Vienna (1907), Steiner House, Vienna (1920), and Villa Muller, Prague (1930). Surprisingly, there is no other monograph on Loos in English currently available. Adolf Loos joins Adalberto Libera and Albert Kahn in Princeton Architectural Press's historical monographs series and presents this great modernist's complete works through numerous illustrations.
In this book of eight essays, the noted architectural historian Christopher Long takes on the meanings of Adolf Loos's writings and design work, the cultural world in which he was embedded, and how he was regarded by the critics and public. Long exposes and explodes old myths about Loos, fostering in the process a new, brilliant, and compelling view of one of the modern architecture's key protagonists.