european forum at the hebrew universitypage 5 | may 2008 | issue no.1

Adolf Loosand Modern Architecture in Vienna

Adolf Loos, Moller House, Starkfriedgasse 19, Vienna, 1927-1928; at upper right: the Sezession Building,

Karlsplatz,Vienna, 1898; at lower left: Loos House in Michaelerplatz, Vienna, 1909-1911; at lower right: Entrance

to Alte Hofburg, Michaelerplatz, Vienna.

Until the end of the 19th cen-tury, the dominant architectural style in central Vienna was “Neo-ism”: Neo-Classical, Neo-Gothic, Neo-Renaissance, Neo-Baroque, and so on. However, the late 1800s saw the emergence of a new style generally referred to as “modern architecture.” This new architecture developed in response to the immense social change experienced in most European cities: middle- and lower-class citizens from the agricultural suburbs flocked into the industrialized cities, generat-ing the need for cheap, fast-built housing.

The new approach to architec-ture - simple buildings designed according to a specific function - suited the new social climb-ers. The upper-middle class and the bourgeoisie openly aimed to express their rising social status. New architectural forms were developed in order to distinguish these groups from the older oli-garchies. Modern architecture put much more emphasis on functional interior design to suit the specific owner. Functionality, rather than decoration, became the motto; and the form was de-signed according to its function. The new “International Style” was a mixture of several modern approaches: German Bauhaus, the architecture of the Swiss-born Le Corbusier, Italian Futurism, and Russian Constructivism.

Tel Aviv and Brasilia, for ex-ample, were new cities designed according to modern demograph-ic structures, but older cities such as London, Paris, and Vienna had to develop new urban planning to meet the demands of urban change and growth.

Vienna is a fascinating exam-ple. By the end of 1857, Emperor Franz Joseph I embarked on the

extension of Vienna beyond its antiquated walls. The crumbling walls of the city were torn down and replaced by huge boule-vards—the Ringstraße. This new open ring became the hub of the bourgeois struggle for so-cial recognition and, therefore, developed into the ideal site for

modern Austrian architecture. It is no coincidence that next

to Karlsplatz, on the Ringstraße, Josef Maria Olbrich built in 1898 the Sezession Building. It was identified with the Sezession, a new Viennese artistic and archi-tectural movement comprised of artists, graphic designers, and architects who, in a highly publi-cized manner, resigned from the Academy of Fine Arts, which they regarded as old-fashioned and restrictive. The Sezession movement maintained the idea of Gesamtkunstwerk – an overall art-piece in which the archi-tect not only plans and builds the house but also designs and decorates it in a homogeneous

style. The Sezession Bui ld ing was erected in defiance of the Neo-Classical building of the Acade-my of Fine Arts, locat-ed close by on the inner side of the Ring. It is decorated

with small stucco sculptures but, most important, is covered by a copula made of gilded laurel leaves.

The Austrian architect Adolf Loos (1870-1933) was not only one of the great architects of the late 19th and early 20th centu-ries, but he also defined archi-

tectural modernity. His place in the architectural topography of fin-de-siècle Vienna was difficult because he contended with both architectural styles: the historic Baroque buildings of the Impe-rial capital on the one hand and the Sezession movement on the other.

Loos’s architectural philoso-phy and his attack on the orna-mental style of the Sezessions are textually expressed in his 1908 article “Ornament und Verbrechen (Ornament and Crime)” in which he describes architectural ornamentation as a barbaric act. He maintained that cultural progress coincides with the removal of decorations from their environment. In a deliber-ate contrast to the Sezession approach, Loos separated his building from the dwelling and concentrated on the plan itself. For him the plan of the build-ing is formed by its function, and its function comprises the interior dwelling area, which is to be decorated according to the dweller’s own taste. Therefore, because they serve no function, exterior ornaments should be banished from the façade.

Loos’s encounter with both traditions - the historic and the

modern - is found in Michael-erplatz in the heart of Imperial Habsburg Vienna. Loos’s House was commissioned by a firm of tailors, Goldmann & Salatsch, and was constructed according to his plan from 1909 to 1911. It stands in direct contrast to its architectural surroundings: to the southwest the grand semi-circular entrance to the Hofburg, the imperial palace of Vienna, and to the southeast the 18th-century façade of the medieval church of St. Michael. Loos’s House is characterized by strict geometry. The simple façade, naked of ornamentation, first appeared as a strange creature in the heart of the traditional Viennese square.

Loos’s architectural philoso-phy – the importance of plan over interior design, geometric form, and the simplicity and lack of ornamentation of the exterior – is even bet-ter presented and further articulated in his Moller House, which manifests his mature style.

The Moller House is composed of a series of intertwining cubical and rectangular struc-tures existing in com-plementary balance. The constant rhythm of forms is echoed by the windows, portals, and interior staircases. The exterior is naked of any “criminal” ornamenta-tion, making the harmony of the shapes and the equilibrium of the mass its only decoration. Loos’s approach focuses on the functionality and simplicity of the building and anticipates the great architectural movements of the 20th century such as Italian Futurism, German Bauhaus, and

the architecture of Le Corbusier, and helps to define what high-modern architecture is.

The Moller House was built from 1927 to 1928 at Starkfried-gasse 19 for the Jewish textile industrialist Hans Moller. Moller and his family lived in this unique house until Hitler came to power. Like many other Austrian Jews, they fled and found refuge in Palestine. Moller bought a share in the Ata textile factory in the lower Galilee and became its general manager. After the war he made a claim for his house in Vienna and, not without a long legal struggle, regained it and decided to donate it to the Israeli government. Ever since, it serves as the residence of the Israeli ambassador to Austria. Some

weeks ago a group of students from the European Forum vis-ited this house on a study trip to Vienna, organized by the Center for Austrian Studies. The interior of the house is impressive and looks as if little had changed since Adolf Loos created it some 80 years ago.

Kobi Ben-Meir

The author is an MA student in the European Forum, specializing in modern and contemporary art.