Tradition and Modernity

tradition and modernity has the ornamentation of traditional architecture been preserved in modern architecture? Adolf Loos
End notes
1. Adolf Loos, “Ornament and crime” Cahiers d’aujourd’hui,
(1913): 20.

Fig 1. August Sarnitz, Adolf Loos 1870-1933: architect, cultural critic, dandy (Cologne: Taschen, 2003), 75.

2. Kenneth Frampton, Modern Architecture: A Critical History,
Fourth Edition (London: Thames & Hudson, 2007), 92.

Fig 2. Van Duzer, Leslie. Villa Muller: a work of Adolf Loos.
New York, N.Y.: Princeton Architectural Press, 1994, 44.

3. Hilde Heynen, Architecture and Modernity: A Critique
(Cambridge: MIT Press, 1999), 77-78.

Fig 3. August Sarnitz, Adolf Loos 1870-1933: architect, cultural critic, dandy (Cologne: Taschen, 2003), 35.

4. Ibid., 79.
5. Frampton, Modern Architecture, 95.

architectural history and theory 2
Jae Ward z3419726
Ursa Komac

“The evolution of culture is synonymous with the removal of ornament from utilitarian objects.”1 fig 1. Viller Muller salon

To Loos, cladding was the foundation of architectural design, and that a space was defined by the sensory impact of ceiling, walls and floor materials. Unlike other members of the modern movement, he did not believe that exposing the structure was of importance, rather that the materiality of the cladding be clearly defined as cladding.4 In this regard his use of cladding was essentially a way of preserving the idea of traditional ornamentation in his architecture.
This can be seen in his early works such as the interior of the Karntner
(American) Bar, and his later works such as the interiors of Villa Muller, where his use of textured materials, columns and complex floor arrangements create a visual warmness that contrast the stark appearance of the exterior structure.

Adolf Loos was a pioneer of the movement away from the uniform use