21 April 2008
Adolf Loos: Villa Muller
In Adolf Loos' own view, it is his best application of his spatial planning.
“My architecture is not conceived by drawings, but by spaces. I do not draw plans, facades or sections... For me, the ground floor, first floor do not exist... There are only interconnected continual spaces, rooms, halls, terraces... Each space needs a different height... These spaces are connected so that ascent and descent are not only unnoticeable, but at the same time functional.”
20 April 2008
Adolf Loos; Ornamentation is a Crime
"The greatness of our age is the inability to create new ornament.
We have gone beyond ornament. We have achieved plain, undecorated, and simplicity.
Ornament is not a source of increased pleasure in life. Though, it is beautiful.
I have reasons. It leads to the waste of human labour. Health is wasted. Both, waste of money. Materials are also abused. The damage of time cannot be repaired.
Ornament is no longer expression of our culture. Ornament is a symptom of backwardness or degeneracy.
Ornament is a crime.
Ornament can no longer be produced by someone living on the cultural today. Lack of ornamentation is a sign of intellectual strength."
Loos was very much against ornaments in modern architecture as it is referred to as a waste of effort; in his words, a waste of money, energy, capital and times. Loos argues that the architectural style of today is that it is free from any ornamentation, thus only emphasizing on its functions. Loos’ Villa Muller in Prague shows no signs of ornaments, hence, the plain white walls of its design.