Adolf Loos
Adolf Loos
Adolf Loos (December 10, 1870–August 23, 1933)
was a European architect who became more famous for his ideas and writings than
for his buildings. He believed that reason should determine the way we build,
and he opposed the decorative Art Nouveau movement, or, as it was known in
Europe, Jugendstil. His notions about design influenced 20th-century modern
architecture and its variations.
Famous Quotes: 'Ornament and Crime'
Adolf Loos is best-known for his 1908 essay
"Ornament and Verbrechen," translated as "Ornament &
Crime." This and other essays by Loos describe the suppression of
decoration as necessary for modern culture to exist and evolve beyond past
cultures. Ornamentation, even "body art" like tattoos, is best left
for primitive people, like the natives of Papua. "The modern man who
tattoos himself is either a criminal or a degenerate," Loos wrote.
"There are prisons in which eighty per cent of the inmates show tattoos.
The tattooed who are not in prison are latent criminals or degenerate
aristocrats."
Other passages from this essay:
"The urge to ornament one's face and
everything within reach is the start of plastic art."
"Ornament does not heighten my joy in life
or the joy in life of any cultivated person. If I want to eat a piece of
gingerbread I choose one that is quite smooth and not a piece representing a
heart or a baby or a rider, which is covered all over with ornaments. The man
of the fifteenth century won't understand me. But all modern people will."
"Freedom from ornament is a sign of
spiritual strength."
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