Product Description

Contains thirty-six original essays by the celebrated Viennese architect, Adolf Loos (1870-1933). Most deal with questions of design in a wide range of areas, from architecture and furniture, to clothes and jewellery, pottery, plumbing, and printing; others are polemics on craft education and training, and on design in general. Loos, the great cultural reformer and moralist in the history of European architecture and design was always a 'revolutionary against the revolutionaries'. With his assault on Viennese arts and crafts and his conflict with bourgeois morality, he managed to offend the whole country. His 1908 essay 'Ornament and Crime', mocked by an age in love with its accessories, has come to be recognised as a seminal work in combating the aesthetic imperialism of the turn of the century. Today Loos is recognised as one of the great masters of modern architecture.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #105796 in Books
• Published on: 1997-11-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 204 pages

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

About the Author
Michael Mitchell (Translator), was the winner of the 1998 Schlegel-Tieck Prize, is a distinguished literary translator, with a special interest in Austrian culture. Other translations include: Meyrink, The Golem; Kubin, The Other Side; Grimmelshausen, The Adventures of Simplicissimus.

Customer Reviews

Great essays, but one less than what I hoped for
I was a bit disappointed that this volume did not include "The Poor Little Rich Man" in its selection, but it is otherwise a nice collection of Loos' delightful and insightful essays. In addition to "Ornament and Crime", this book gives you:

Our School of Applied Art
The Christmas Exposition in the Austrian Museum
The Jubilee Exhibition: The Exhibition Buildings
The Silver Court and the Neighboring Pavilion
Men's Fashion
The New Style and the Bronze Industry
Interior Design: Prelude
The Interiors of the Rotunda
Chairs
Glass and China
Luxury Carriages
Plumbers: Baths and Kitchen Ranges
Gentlemen's Hats
Footwear
Shoemakers
Ladies' Fashion
Underwear
Furniture
The Furniture of 1898
Printers
A Review of the Applied Arts I
A Review of the Applied Arts II
The English Schools in the Austria Museum
Pottery
Surplus to Requirements
In Praise of the Present
Culture
Cultural Degeneration
Brief Intermezzo
Beethoven's Ears
Hands Off!
Ornament and Education
Short Hair
Oscar Kokoschka
On Josef Hoffman