Adolf Loos and the Beginnings of European Modernism

Adolf Loos and the Beginnings of European Modernism

Throughout history, architectural styles, have experienced numerous movements throughout time, giving us various expressions of interior and exterior spaces. These movements are often created out of dissatisfaction with the status quo, shifts in religious ideologies, or the emergence of new building technology. Perhaps one of the most famous instances in history was the precedent set by Adolf Loos and his desire to break away from Viennese tradition with his strong dissent of ornament in architecture in favor of simplicity, and his literary discourse that lay the cornerstone for the modernist movement in architecture.

Design in 20th century Europe was heavily tied to discussions around how to create a style that would withstand the rapid changes that society was experiencing at the time. One of the easiest ways architects sought to do this was through the expression of ornament, or decoration that reflected what was most important, prominent, and trendy. In Vienna particularly, which spearheaded the Secession movement, Adolf Loos spurred against the use of excessive ornament and heavily criticized the body of work that leaders of the Secession were proposing. Through his well-known essay, “Ornament and Crime”, Loos opined that “the evolution of culture is synonymous with the removal of ornament from objects of daily use.” His strong opposition was focused on the way that people inhabited buildings and the innate human desire for a simple lifestyle. Loos believed that by removing the “excess” and “clutter” of architecture, the design would shape people’s habits and enable them to live well- core values of modernism that are still expressed even today.

However, Loos’ influence extends beyond the sleekness and simplicity of his designs, as many of his concepts later coined him as an avant-garde rationalist, who was focused more on the spatial flow of space than on creating a sense of order. He was concerned with the purpose of spaces and how users moved from one to the next. The culmination of his ideas about flow culminated in his iconic Villa Müller, which was built in 1930. The home features a plain facade dotted with vibrant yellow window frames, revealing almost nothing about the spatial composition that occurs on the interior. The entrance is flanked by the swirling emerald green Italian cipollino marble, an aesthetic that has recursively become popular in modern-day homes. Each of the rooms feels like it takes on its own imported style from differing eras around the world, lending to its nature of having multiple uses. Villa Müller is also where Loos implements his raumplan, or varying levels of spaces. As each room serves a unique need and is paired with a different ceiling height and a special location within the home. The house is not designed in plans but rather is best explored in sections and in three-dimensional cubes that push and pull throughout the home’s exterior walls.

On the raumplan, Loos once said, “For me, there is no ground floor, first floor etc…. For me, there are only contiguous, continual spaces, rooms, anterooms, terraces etc. Stories merge and spaces relate to each other. Every space requires a different height: the dining room is surely higher than the pantry, thus the ceilings are set at different levels. To join these spaces in such a way that the rise and fall are not only unobservable but also practical, in this I see what is for others the great secret, although it is for me a great matter of course.”

Many of the ideas explored in Villa Müller and Loos’ other works were refined by Le Corbusier, who explored sleek white box architecture, Mies Van Der Rohe whose projects studied the repetition of simple elements with refined finishes, and other modernist architects who focused more on form over ornament. The way that Loos’ designs aimed to be timeless and forward-thinking, yet hyper-specific to human needs makes him one of the pioneers of modernism. Even 100 years later, his buildings are often described as supportive of the modern person’s life, unobtrusive, and integral to the expression of the human experience.