Adolf Loos, by Benedetto Gravaguolo (Idea Books Edizioni & Löcker Verlag 1982), is a comprehensive scholarly monograph on the historical impact of Adolf Loos. Preface by Aldo Rossi, photography by Roberto Schezen.
Adolf Loos, a pioneer of modern architecture, is best known as the leading figure in the reaction against the ornate Art Nouveau style of turn-of-the-century Vienna. His polemic writings, such as Ornament and Crime of 1908, sought to establish a distinction between architecture and the products of the machine age, between art and everyday culture. His entry for the Chicago Tribune Tower Competition of 1922 shocked his contemporaries with its brazen use of the column as the emblem of the skyscraper. His built works and projects are proud examples of rigor and austere beauty. Loos’ best known buildings are the Kärntner Bar in Vienna, the Goldman Building on the Michaelerplatz, also in Vienna, and the House for Tristan Tzara, the Dadaist poet, built in Paris. The project for a House for Josephine Baker has been widely influential, while many other projects and buildings are still relatively unknown.
Adolf Loos is the first book to present Loos’ complete works. Included are fifty previously unpublished projects, an introduction by the noted Italian architect, Aldo Rossi, and an essay by Benedetto Gravagnuolo discussing Loos’ work in relation to the society of his time. Also catalogued are over 180 of his works, each with a critical analysis, visual references, a complete bibliography, and contemporary photographs by Roberto Schezen.
– Benedetto Gravaguolo, Adolf Loos (Idea Books Edizioni & Löcker Verlag, 1982), excerpt from the book description
The text is in English. The book is profusely illustrated with photographs and architectural drawings.
Our copy is in nice condition. The pages are clean; no markings except for the previous owner’s signature on the first flyleaf. The glueing of the binding shows some first signs of drying; for example, the spine is detached from the volume. The covers show some signs of shelf wear, edge wear, and use. There is a small tear on the upper edge of the spine.
