Adolf Loos was an Austrian architect known for his anti-ornamentation stance expressed in his 1908 book "Ornament and Crime." He believed that ornamentation was wasteful of labor and materials. Loos designed some of the first modern, unornamented buildings in Vienna like the Goldman & Salatsch Building (1910), which had a steel and concrete construction with a bare marble facade. His Steiner House (1910) had large front windows and a semi-circular metal roof to accommodate the site's planning code. Loos developed the concept of Raumoplan, where interconnected spaces of varying heights and functions make up the design rather than separate plans, elevations, and sections. His later Villa Muller (

1. ADOLF LOOS
(1870 -1933)

2. Adolf Loos
• Wrote a book -Ornament and crime (1908)
• Against Art Noveau, Vienna secession
• Was in US for 3 years – inspired by Louis sullivan
• ANTI – GESAMTKUNSTWERK –
• Ornament – wasteful in labour and material
• Ideology - Only a small part of Architecture belongs to
art – eg, tomb and the monument; Everything else that
serves a purpose, should be excluded from the realms
of art.
• Smooth , un-ornate , sleek & simple designs
• Modern art have no past , no future

3. AMERICAN BAR, Vienna
(1908)

4. American bar (1907 )
• Use of finest material
• Ceiling, wall, floor with lack onyx and dark
marble and refined by sleek brass fittings
• Glass on wall above bar – increase in width
(Visibility)

7. GOLDMAN
AND SALATCH
BUILDING
(1910)

8. Goldman & Salatsch Building – Loos
Haus(1910)
• One of the first modern office in Vienna
• Steel and concrete construction – marble
façade
• 4 stories of residence above business floor
• Façade was a green stone
• Bare white facades of residential floors.

15. STEINER HOUSE
(1910)

16. The Steiner House
• Limits – Shape of the site+ Planning code
(Street front one storey & dormer windows)
• Year façade 3 stories
• Large front windows - light to the office of the
painter at first level
• Semi circular metal sheathed roof

23. RAUMPLAN
• Architecture not conceived by drawings but by
spaces. No plan, elevation , section were
drawn first, G Doest exist; (G – Completely
plain wall above ruptures to windows)
• Interconnected continual spaces, rooms, halls
and terraces – each space of diff height,
function and symbolic importance of space

24. SCHEU HOUSE
(1913)

25. Scheu House
• Stepped to be in Asymmetry
• 2 houses - main + rented @top level
• 16m long with 4 m terrace
• Bedroom near the terrace facing East
• Flat roof as outdoor terrace
• Dark oak in social areas + wood painted white
in bed

29. MULLER HOUSE
(1930)

30. Villa Muller, 1930
• Public outside – Private inside as separate as
possible
• Dumb outside – wealth inside
• More traditional, warm , rich and comfortable