75 years ago, architect Adolf Loos passed away

Kalksburg (Austria)/Prague - Ornament is a crime that unnecessarily takes time and money that could be devoted to more useful things, claimed the Austrian architect Adolf Loos, who died at the age of 62 on August 23, 1933, in a sanatorium in Kalksburg near Vienna. A creator of buildings based on objectivity and functionality, whose typical distinguishing feature is, among other things, the austerity and lack of decoration of facades, he was the son of a sculptor and stonemason from Brno.
    Since 1896, he lived and worked mainly in Vienna, where he soon became at the forefront of the modernist movement and where most of his buildings are located. For example, the Goldman and Salatsch department store, private villas (Steiner's, Scheu's, Rufer's, or Moller’s), cafés (Café Museum), bars, and luxury shops.
    Many of his buildings were also realized in the Czech Republic. Without a doubt, the most famous is the villa in Prague's Střešovice, built between 1928 and 1930 for entrepreneur František Müller. Loos designed not only the building itself but every detail of the interior from the furniture to wallpaper, doorknobs, and lighting fixtures. He declared that it was his most beautiful house, and he celebrated his sixtieth birthday there in a small circle of friends. The functionalist building was declared a national cultural monument in 1995, and eight years ago it was once again presented in its renewed beauty after extensive reconstruction. The city of Plzeň, Brno, and the village of Babí near Náchod also boast villas and other buildings built according to Loos's designs.