Editing Adolf Loos (section)

== Career ==

=== United States ===
Post college, Loos traveled to the United States from 1893 to 1896 to learn about outside architecture.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Moss |first=K. |date=2010 |degree=MSc |title=Constructing a Modem Vienna: The Architecture and Cultural Criticism of Adolf Loos |s2cid=190981131 |language=en}}</ref> He started in New York and financially supported himself by working as a mason, a floor-layer, and a dish-washer.<ref name=":42">Tournikiotis, Panayotis (2002). ''"Adolf Loos"''. Princeton Architectural Press. pp. 9–10. {{isbn|9781568983424}}.</ref><ref name=":2">Benedetto Gravagnuolo, Adolf Loos, Theory and Works (London: Art Data, 1995), 29.</ref> These jobs allowed Loos to move to the Philadelphia countryside with his uncle Benjamin, where he worked as a watchmaker.<ref name=":2" />  Living on the countryside made Loos admire America's rural culture, but he traveled to New York and Chicago to explore American metropolitan architecture.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bock |first=Ralf |title=Adolf Loos: Works and Projects |year=2021 |isbn=9788857244242 |pages=14–15|publisher=Skira }}</ref>

On his first visit to Chicago, Loos was immediately inspired by the new American [[skyscraper]]s and the [[World's Columbian Exposition]] in 1893.<ref name=":5">Bototin, Norman & Laing, Christine, The Chicago World's Fair of 1893 The World's Columbian Exposition from Washington, DC: Preservation Press, 1992, pg. 20.</ref> Specifically, he was inspired by the architect [[Louis Sullivan]] and the [[Chicago school (architecture)|Chicago School of Architecture]], approving of Sullivan's concept of [[form follows function]] in his essay [[Ornament in Architecture]].<ref name=":5" />

Although Loos left America in 1896, he became involved in Chicago's architectural scene. Inspired by Sullivan, in 1922 Loos submitted a building design for the [[Chicago Tribune]] Tower Competition, where his design proposal followed a [[Doric column]] as the building's top, known as the Column Tower proposal.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2017-10-03 |title=How Chicago's Tribune Tower Competition Changed Architecture Forever |url=https://www.archdaily.com/880899/how-chicagos-tribune-tower-competition-changed-architecture-forever |access-date=2022-10-10 |website=ArchDaily |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Dancing Column |url=https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262681018/the-dancing-column/ |access-date=2022-10-11 |website=MIT Press |language=en-US}}</ref> While he did not win, his architecture inspired later [[Postmodern]] architects of the 1980s and '90s.<ref name=":0" />

=== Vienna ===
Loos returned to Vienna in 1896 and made it his permanent residence. He was a prominent figure in the city and a friend of prominent Viennese figures such as [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]], [[Arnold Schoenberg]], [[Peter Altenberg]] and [[Karl Kraus (writer)|Karl Kraus]].

Inspired by his years in the [[New World]], Loos devoted himself to architecture. After briefly associating himself with the [[Vienna Secession]] in 1896, he rejected the style and advocated a new, plain, unadorned architecture. A utilitarian approach to use the entire floor plan completed his concept. Loos's early commissions consisted of interior designs for shops and cafés in Vienna.

===Architectural theory===
[[File:Haus Rufer, Adolf Loos 2.jpg|thumb|[[Rufer House]], Vienna, 1922]]
Loos authored several polemical works. In ''Spoken into the Void'', published in 1900, he attacked the [[Vienna Secession]], at a time when the movement was at its peak.<ref name="Royal Institute of British Architects">{{cite web|url=http://www.architecture.com/LibraryDrawingsAndPhotographs/Exhibitionsandloans/AdolfLoos/Lifeandinfluence/Writings.aspx |title=Adolf Loos: Writings |access-date=20 June 2012 |publisher=Royal Institute of British Architects |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121118180625/http://www.architecture.com/LibraryDrawingsAndPhotographs/Exhibitionsandloans/AdolfLoos/Lifeandinfluence/Writings.aspx |archive-date=18 November 2012 }}</ref>

In his essays, Loos used provocative catchphrases and is noted for the essay/manifesto entitled ''[[Ornament and Crime]]'', given in a lecture in 1910 and first published in 1913.<ref>Janet Stewart, ''Fashioning Vienna: Adolf Loos's Cultural Criticism'', London: Routledge, 2000, p. 173</ref> He explored the idea that the progress of culture is associated with the elimination of [[Ornament (architecture)|ornament]] from everyday objects, asserting, "''the evolution of culture is synonymous with the removal of ornamentation from objects of everyday use.''"{{sfn |Loos|Opel|1997|p=167}} It was therefore a crime to force craftsmen or builders to waste their time on ornamentation that served to hasten the time when an object would become obsolete ([[design theory]]). Loos's stripped-down buildings influenced the minimal massing of modern architecture, and stirred controversy. Although noted for the lack of ornamentation on their exteriors, the interiors of many of Loos's buildings are finished with rich and expensive materials, notably stone, marble and wood, displaying natural patterns and textures in flat planes, executed in first rate craftsmanship. The distinction is not between complicated and simple, but between purposeful, "organic" decoration, such as that created by indigenous cultures (Loos mentions African textiles and Persian rugs), and superfluous decoration.{{sfn |Loos|Opel|1997|pp=173-174}}

Loos collected sterling silver and high quality leather goods, which he noted for their plain yet luxurious appeal. The objects displayed opulence through their material alone, without adding unnecessary ornamentation. His glassware, produced by Lobmeyer, is still in production today.{{sfn |Loos|Opel |1997|p=9}} He also enjoyed fashion and men's clothing, designing the interior of the famed [[Kniže & Comp.|Kníže of Vienna]], a [[haberdashery]]. His admiration for the fashion and culture of England and America can be seen in his short-lived publication ''Das Andere'', which ran for just two issues in 1903 and included advertisements for 'English' clothing.<ref name="Royal Institute of British Architects"/> In 1920, he had a brief collaboration with [[Frederick John Kiesler]], an architect, theater and art-exhibition designer.

===Loos House and other projects===
[[File:Looshaus Michaelerplatz.JPG|thumb|right| [[Looshaus]] in Michaelerplatz, Vienna]]
From 1904 on, he was able to carry out big projects; the most notable was the so-called "[[Looshaus]]" (built from 1910 to 1912), originally for the Viennese tailor Goldman and Salatsch, for whom Loos had designed a store interior in 1898, and situated right across from the [[Habsburg]] city residence [[Hofburg Palace]]. The house, today located at the address Michaelerplatz 3, Vienna, and under monument preservation, was criticized by its contemporaries. The facade was dominated by rectilinear window patterns and a lack of stucco decoration and awnings, which earned it the nickname "House without Eyebrows"; Emperor [[Franz Joseph I of Austria]] was said to have despised the modern building so much that he avoided leaving the Hofburg Palace through a main gate in its vicinity.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stadtbekannt.at/haus-ohne-augenbrauen/ |title=Haus ohne Augenbrauen &#124; Stadtbekannt Wien &#124; Das Wiener Online Magazin |publisher=Stadtbekannt.at |access-date=2015-07-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150218173027/http://www.stadtbekannt.at/haus-ohne-augenbrauen/ |archive-date=18 February 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> His work also includes the store of the men's fashion house Knize (built 1909–13), Am Graben 13, [[Café Museum]] (built 1899), Operngasse 7, Vienna, and the "American Bar" (built 1907–08), Kärntnerstrasse 10, Vienna.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.architektenlexikon.at/de/362.htm#Werke |title=Architekturzentrum Wien |publisher=Architektenlexikon.at |access-date=2015-07-30}}</ref>
[[File:Casa Steiner - Foto Fachada Trasera.jpg|thumb|[[Steiner House]], Vienna, 1910]]

Loos visited the island of [[Skyros]] in 1904 and was influenced by the cubic architecture of the Greek islands. When the [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]] collapsed after [[World War I]] Loos was awarded [[Czechoslovakia]]n citizenship by [[Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk|President Masaryk]].<ref name="Life and influence">{{cite web |title=Adolf Loos: Life and influence |url=http://www.architecture.com/LibraryDrawingsAndPhotographs/Exhibitionsandloans/AdolfLoos/Lifeandinfluence/LifeAndInfluence.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512170143/http://www.architecture.com/LibraryDrawingsAndPhotographs/Exhibitionsandloans/AdolfLoos/Lifeandinfluence/LifeAndInfluence.aspx |archive-date=12 May 2013 |access-date=20 June 2012 |publisher=Royal Institute of British Architects}}</ref> His main place of residence remained in Vienna. During the [[First Austrian Republic]] Loos became interested in public projects. He designed several housing projects for the City of Vienna, which was then nicknamed [[Red Vienna]]. From 1924 to 1928 Loos lived in Paris. He taught at the Sorbonne and was contracted to build a house for [[Tristan Tzara]], which was completed 1925 on Avenue Junot 15, Paris. In 1928 he returned to Vienna.

Loos had an admiration for classical architecture,<ref>Hanno-Walter Kruft. ''A History of Architectural Theory: From Vitruvius to the Present''. Princeton Architectural Press, 1994 and [[Edward Chaney]], Inigo Jones's 'Roman Sketchbook, 2006) page 361</ref> which is reflected in his writings and his entry to the [[Tribune Tower#Design competition|1922 Chicago Tribune competition]]. Loos's submission was a massive Doric column.<ref>{{cite web|author=Oliver Wainwright |url=http://www.bdonline.co.uk/top-10-unbuilt-towers-chicago-tribune-tower-by-adolf-loos/5023198.article |title=Top 10 unbuilt towers: Chicago Tribune Tower, by Adolf Loos |work=bdonline.co.uk/ |date=17 August 2011 |access-date=2015-07-30}}</ref>