Product Description

Widely regarded as one of the most significant prophets of modern architecture, Adolf Loos (1870-1933) was a star in his own time, known throughout Vienna as an outspoken, audacious dandy and moralist who defied the establishment. His work not only represented the beginning of modernism, with its stark, unornamented style, but also revolutionized architecture by introducing the concept of "spatial plan" architecture, which allowed for economizing space by designating rooms’ sizes and heights based on their purposes. Loos also published numerous essays during his lifetime, the most notable of which is the oft-misunderstood "Ornament and Crime."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #647205 in Books
• Published on: 2003-11-01
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

Language Notes
Text: French

About the Author
August Sarnitz is a practicing architect and professor of history and theory of architecture at the Akademie der Künste in Vienna, Austria. Among his many publications include books on R.M. Schindler, Lois Welzenbacher, Ernst Lichtblau, and E. A. Plischke.

Customer Reviews

Decent Loos reference and .... bonus!
This little monograph is a nice little introduction / reference on Loos's work -- brief, an inane and badly translated introduction, good for pulling off a shelf when you need to refresh your memory about a certain Loos project. Just what we expect from these Taschen books.

But what makes it really special is a series of photographs of the recently restored Villa Muller in Prague (project built c.1930). These are credited to Pavel Stecha, according to the list in the back. They are simply phenomenal. They give a vivid, spatial sense of the house and are worth the price of the book by far. Very dramatic.

Loos-One of the Fathers of Architectural Modernism
By no means is Adolf Loos as well known as his younger contemporaries, Le Corbusier, Gropius or Van de Rohe. Very few of his buildings rise to the level of iconic. Nevertheless, Loos through his buildings and writings was one of the founders of architectural Modernism.

At the turn of the Twentieth Century, he was the principle advocate for removing adornments from building fascades. He was also one of the first architects to design homes with flat roofs and descending terraces. Loos also broke away from symetrical floor plans. He made the building shell conform to his use of shape and volume. These are all innovations that helped reshape architecture during the Twentieth Century.

The German Publishing Company Taschen is producing a whole series of brief high quality monographs on the most important architects of the Twentieth Century. Priced at under ten dollars a volume, you will not be able to find a better introduction to Adolf Loos' work. Although many of his buildings are hard to relate to, Loos nevertheless was a very important figure in shaping the world around us. Highly recommended.