Project
Purpose
Architect
Impact
Philosophy
Organizing Principles
Design Language
Introduction
Background
Portfolio
adolf loos
• Analyze the work of architect Adolf Loos
• Introduce the architect with a brief biography
• Explain the impact of his works
• Describe his design philosophies
• Define his organizing principles
• Reflect on his observable design language
• Present a precedent analysis of one of his major
works
• Born in Czech Republic; died in Vienna (1870-1933)
• Traveled to the world exhibition in Chicago in 1893
and returned to Vienna in 1896 with new ideas
feeling “self-liberated”
• Wrote articles for the Neue Freie Presse, earning
himself a name
• Designs became known in 1899, with Café Museum
• Spoken lecture in 1910 on Ornament and Crime
• Loos’ works “influenced and introduced the
modern movement”
• Loos’ essay, Ornament and Crime, explained his
opposition to Art Nouveau Expressionism
• Interiors serve as functional and distinctive spaces
• Buildings were at first less pleasing to the Viennese
public, which resulted in less recognition and
appreciation at the time
Café Museum Vienna, Austria 1899
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Goldman & Salatsch Vienna, Austria 1909
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Müller Villa Prague, Czech Rep. 1930
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The clean, undecorated Viennese coffee house, Café
Museum, was constructed during the height of Art
Nouveau. It became one of Loos’ prominent designs,
as he applied his theories and ideas against the use of
ornamentation in this design.
The building’s facade displays the separation between
the sober apartments on the top floors and the more
elegant department store on the first floors. All of the
windows were uncommonly designed without window
frames, earning the name “house without eyebrows”.
The Müller Villa was designed using Loos’ spatial
conceptual idea, known as Raumplan, in which he
designed spaces from the inside out. The irregular
distribution of the windows directly correlates to
the placement of the interior volumes.
Kärntner Bar Vienna, Austria 1908
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The bar is a “small, sleek temple of rebellion against
the surrounding architecture.” Loos used unadorned
forms along with lavish materials in the design.
• Loos’ essay, Ornament and Crime, opposed the
unnecessary use of ornamentation, stating it is
“linked to degeneracy and crime and should be
removed from object of daily use”
• Believed ornamentation to be corrupt as it
“masked the true nature and beauty of materials
with useless ornament”
• Loos stated, “Architecture was an important
means of providing people with an up-to-date,
truly modern lifestyle, rather than being an
isolated form of art”
Horner House Vienna, Austria 1912
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The design presents itself with the rounded rooftop.
The rooftop gives the illusion on the facade that it is
two stories, when in fact a third lies within the roof.
Villa Moller Vienna, Austria 1926
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The Villa Moller appears nearly hygienic and clean as
it embodies Loos’ conceptual idea of Raumplan, with
the orderly volumetric bodies and irregular windows.
• Basic forms were compact in plan, usually
resembling squares or cubic volumes
• Exterior walls were constructed as load bearing
walls out of solid masonry brick
• Early interior houses utilized columns, while later
designs were supported by interior walls
• Rooms on different levels with floors and ceilings
set at different heights
• Many designs included flat rooftop areas, straight
lines, clean curves, and “clear planar walls and
windows”
• Loos did not sketch initial designs, instead he be-
lieved, “Architecture is not conceived in plans, but in
spaces; For me there are only continuous spaces”
• Raumplan principle was used in many Loos designs,
which was a “plan of volumes” and “considered
ordering and size of spaces based on functionality”
• Designs seen as volumetric by creating one main
volume with bilateral symmetry then organizing the
interior of that volume with smaller cubes
• Solid structures with simplified exteriors and linear
style of design
Michelle Hay
AMID D268 Architectural Theories and Concepts
Fall 2013
Circulation
adolf loos
A Precedent Analysis of the Steiner House Vienna, Austria 1910
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Structure
Massing and Hierarchy
Plan to Section
Organizing Principle
Overview
Concept
Analysis
• The Steiner House was designed for painter
Lilly Steiner and husband Hugo Steiner
• Building codes in the neighborhood declared
all houses to be only two stories high on the
street side, thus Loos designed the Steiner
house to have a two story facade with a curved
rooftop, allowing square footage for a third
story in on the back
• The design was seen as innovative and proactive
in maximizing what was given
• Some critics refer to it as the first “completely
modern dwelling”
The outer walls and middle wall
of this structure are load bearing,
constructed from brick mason-
ry. There is a wood beam ceiling
over the raised ground floor.
The primary entrance is located at the front,
while the secondary entrance is off the terrace.
The use space and primary circulation are
dedicated to the main walkways through the
structure. There are four vertical circulations
contained interiorly.
The structure is split into four quadrants,
representing bilateral symmetry. There is one
primary axis through the main entrance and a
second axis lies horizontal through the center.
The idea of organization began with one main
volume, then organizing the interior of that
volume with smaller squares and rectangles.
There are four main geometric quadrants
depicted on the plan and reflected in the
section. The layers of the design are visible,
from the basement to the top third floor.
• Loos applied the idea of Raumplan design to
this structure, particularly there is one main
interior volume that is then divided into four
separate quadrants
• The facade is a representation of a classical
tripartite, which is a three part visible facade
• Due to the building codes, Loos designed the
front and back sides to been seen as more
symmetrical, while the two sides contained
irregular window distribution
• The irregular window distribution is due to
Loos’ theory of designing from the inside out
3D Idea
Primary Entrance
Secondary Entrance
Use Space
Primary Circulation
Vertical Circulation
Secondary Axis
Primary Volume
Primary Axis
Secondary Volumes
Tertiary Volumes
Additive Space
The street and garden elevations
present nearly symmetrical window
designs, while irregular window
designs are on the side elevations.
Quadrant Layout
Primary Entrance
The massing is the square shape and
rounded rooftop. The hierarchy represents
a classical tripartite, in which three volumes
are visible on the facade.
Massing
Hierarchy
Load Bearing Wall
Symmetrical Windows
Irregular Windows
Michelle Hay
AMID D268 Architectural Theories and Concepts
Fall 2013