Adolf Loos: Early Life, Theories, Most Notable Works

ADOLF LOOS
Early Life, theories, most notable works.

Early Life
-Background
 Adolf Franz Karl Viktor Maria Loos
Born - 10TH December1870
 Born with a hearing impairment and was significantly handicapped

by it throughout his life.
 His father was a stonemason and died when he was nine.

Career
 Travelled to U.S when he was 23, supported himself doing odd jobs
initially, for visiting other cities like Chicago, St. Louis, New York.
(1893-1896)
 Returned to Vienna in 1896.
 Was a prominent figure in Vienna and was a friend of Karl Cross

(writer) and Ludwig Wittigenstien (Philosopher).
 Inspired by his years in New World (America) he devoted his entire
life to architecture.
 Briefly associated with the “Vienna Secession” (the union of

Austrian artists which included painters, sculptors and architects)
in 1896.
 He then rejected the style to form a new, plain, unadorned style.
 Early commissions- interior designs for shops and cafes in Vienna.

Architectural theory
 Was the author of several polemical (strongly critical) works.
 In his “Spoken into the void”(a collection of essays)

He attacked the Vienna Seccession at the time when the movement
was at its peak.
 Noted for the essay- “ornament and crime”, 1913.

 Explored the idea of progress of culture being associated with
deletion of ornament from everyday objects.
 Believed that it was a crime forcing craftsmen or builders, for

wasting time on ornamentation.
 His stripped down buildings influenced modern architecture and

stirred controversy.
 lack of ornamentation was noticed on the exteriors, but the
interiors were finished with rich and expensive materials like stone
marble and wood, displaying natural patterns and textures,
executed with high quality craftsmanship.
 In 1904 he visited the island of Skyros and was influenced by the

cubic architecture of Greek islands.
 He had an admiration for classical architecture, reflected in his

writings for “The Chicago Tribune” competition,about doric
column.
Prominent Works
Steiner house, Rufer house, Villa Mueller
Steiner House
 Located in Vienna,
Austria.
 Was built in the initial

stages of his career.
 Much better accepted

than Loos’ earlier
works.
Plan
 Loos regularly uses protrusions
from the main block to create
other areas of the building such
as terraces.
 He starts with one volume in

which the space, elements
follow rules and configuration
of classical style.
 Used volumes to create a
tripartite façade. (divided into
three parts)
 Living area raised slightly above

ground level, and separated
from more private areas of the
house, such as the bedroom
and painting studio located on
the first floor.
SECTION
 Has a stucco façade, like most of his
other buildings.
 Loos built his buildings with roughcast

walls, and used stucco to form a
protective layer over the bricks.
Facade
 The stucco façades create a strong

unornamented white smooth surface.
 Arched a metal roof at the ceiling of

the ground floor in front of the house,
but turned it into a flat wood and
cement roof at the apex.
View
Rufer House
 Located in Vienna.
 First example of the new style

of Raumplan.
 This method places great

emphasis on the scale of
individual rooms and often
requires steps into each room
or cluster of rooms.
Plan
 Has almost a cube like volume,
10mx10m internal space.
 Both first and second floor have

split-level distinction, the
second one being best seen as
Raumplan.
 A central column runs through

the house, acting as a
grounding agent, connecting
the entire house.
• First floor
. There are two levels in the lowest were located
the kitchen, pantry, wardrobe, bedroom and two
bathrooms.
At the highest level develops the dining room,
library and living room that has access to a
balcony terrace to the garden.
 Second Floor
Bedrooms and dependencies
 Third floor or attic
This plant is located several service units and a
terrace.
Sections
 The second floor is made up of
the living area on the lower
level and the dining room on
the higher level
 Dining area is seen as a part of

the living area and thus its
volumes intersect.
 Central column creates

distinction between the two
volumes.
SECTION
 Walls are stark white
 Window frames contain the least amount

of structure.
 The Parthenon replications are seen to

balance out the voids and surfaces on the
building (windows and walls)
 Window placements seem random from

the outside, and are the most noticeable
aspect of the house because of the blank
walls.
VIEW
VILLA MUELLER
• Built :
1928- 1930
• LOCATION :
Prague - Střešovice , Czech
Republic.
• Clients :
Frantiesek and Milada Mueller
• Material :
Solid brick wall and metal bars
The Site
there exists a double
slope having its lowest
point in
the north-eastern corner
of the
site.
Site slopes
towards the
northern side
EAST AND SOUTH-EAST
Only this side of the site border
are with
houses
east
more
private area in
the garden in
the East.
to secure it
from
unwanted
Insights
surrounded by
trees.
NORTH south-west
view to the castle of a smaller road , leading
Prague, the to a older residential
Hradshin. area,in the north
North And South Façade
the part of the This reveals a severe difference

north façade, between the roof storey The windows and the entrance
and the area of the southern façade
visible from the
forward part of the northern
northern road, is Façade.
are
nearly square combined to create a overall
shape
There is symmetry in the

method of placing the
windows
East And West Façade
the shape of the terrace is
again refined from an
overall shape of the façade
the more
public(service
oriented).
the dominant
element of the façade,
the bay
Floor Plan
• The floor plan of the house has

an aspect ratio of 3 to 2
• The squares over

this row contain the Kitchen
and dining room.
• the toilet and the bath room

have the same aspect ratio
• The shape of the floor plan has

also 2 symmetry-axis (I, IV)
• The hall take the space of 2 squares, nearly 1/3

of the whole floor plan
plain.
SPATIAL ORGANIZATION
• The ground floor and the first floor are
the really interesting levels
• There is a vertical organization from

public rooms in the ground
floor to the private rooms in
the upper part of the house .
• ground floor and the first floor has rooms

of different functions
• These were designed with different heights.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/index.php/Rufer_House
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufer_House
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steiner_House
Adolf_Loos-The_Life-The_Theories-Villa_Mueller.pdf
wikipedia. org/wiki/Villa_Muller
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ADOLF LOOS

Early Life, theories, most notable works.

 Born with a hearing impairment and was significantly handicapped

 His father was a stonemason and died when he was nine.

 Returned to Vienna in 1896.

 Was a prominent figure in Vienna and was a friend of Karl Cross

 Briefly associated with the “Vienna Secession” (the union of

 He then rejected the style to form a new, plain, unadorned style.

 Early commissions- interior designs for shops and cafes in Vienna.

 In his “Spoken into the void”(a collection of essays)

 Noted for the essay- “ornament and crime”, 1913.

 Believed that it was a crime forcing craftsmen or builders, for

 His stripped down buildings influenced modern architecture and

 In 1904 he visited the island of Skyros and was influenced by the

 He had an admiration for classical architecture, reflected in his

 Was built in the initial

 Much better accepted

 He starts with one volume in

 Living area raised slightly above

 Loos built his buildings with roughcast

 The stucco façades create a strong

 Arched a metal roof at the ceiling of

 First example of the new style

 This method places great

 Both first and second floor have

 A central column runs through

 Dining area is seen as a part of

 Central column creates

 Window frames contain the least amount

 The Parthenon replications are seen to

 Window placements seem random from

the part of the This reveals a severe difference

There is symmetry in the

• The floor plan of the house has

• The squares over

• the toilet and the bath room

• The shape of the floor plan has

• The hall take the space of 2 squares, nearly 1/3

• There is a vertical organization from

• ground floor and the first floor has rooms

• These were designed with different heights.

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