In the text “1908 Adolf Loos: Ornament and crime”, it introduced the Austrian Architect, Adolf Loos’s ideal modern architecture and his thoughts on the evolution of the 20 century. Adolf Loos have said, “It could only benefit us if for a time we were to abandon ornament and concentrate entirely on the erection of buildings that were finely shaped and charming in their sobriety”, it shows that Loos was very against the ornament within the buildings, which also is the center theme though out the whole text.
Adolf loos was super against the ornament in the building, as he said “Ornament was like crime”. He believed that art is erotic, as the text stated “The modern man who tattoos himself is either a criminal or a degenerate.” (p19). This indicates
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We should make things simple and plain, however, not all ornamentations are a waste. For instance, if two people cook the same food and they all come up with the same taste, but one looks nicer and more organizer that another, which one will you choose to eat. For me, I will pick the nicer one, because beautiful stuffs can give a good feeling. So in this instance, the ornament is important. Even Loos had showed the example of the same product with different ornament, but sale the same price. However, the one with some type ornament have a better chance to be sold out than others. Also, there are many art pieces that recorded the great time of our ancestor’s life, which are the priceless treasure of our lives. If we abandon all the ornament, in the same time we will lose our culture, we will lose the precious ideas that our ancestor gave to us. Therefore, in this instance, I don’t totally agree with Loos that all ornament is crime, because sometimes the ornament enrich our …show more content…
In many Loos’s buildings, the exterior was lack of ornament, but the interior was very designed. He used varied materials to make the building look nice inside and function well. Hence, I thought, Adolf Loos didn’t mean to say that all ornament was unnecessary, he was mean to say that we should give up the superfluous ornament. The ornaments that will be conserve should have some sort of functions or meanings.
Overall, I believed Loos’s was trying to transfer people’s attention from the ornament of building to the function of the building. He wanted to show that ornament is not as important as the function of building itself. I totally agree with his point, but there is always the problem of losing something when people try to change something. At this sense, yes the extra ornaments are a waste, but not all ornament need to be thrown away. So, leave out the useless ornament and focus more on the building itself - the structure, the materials and the
He says that the ring doesn't lock up many valuables because him and his family don't have a lot but it's a symbol. He thinks that the key ring shows him hope for someday getting out of the mountains. Luo wants to get out of the mountains and continuer a life with the Little Seamstress so all of these educational lessons allow her to become a more cultural girl. Selection of detail is also used when he lists all of the keys and what they were used to lock up. It stands out because he seems to find the actual keys important yet they go to Four Eyes house and his house with his parents which would make the reader think they should be important. The only way he educated the Little Seamstress was by those books so they should matter but they just stand as a symbol for hope in his eyes.
Leon Krier was criticised for publishing a costly monograph on Albert Speer’s architecture (1985)in which, while acknowledging the crimes of the Nazis and the man, Krier nonetheless claimed the book’s only subject and sole justification was “Classical architecture and the passion of building” (cited by Jaskot, ‘Architecture of Oppression’, 2000). Discuss this claim, the controversy and the issues (historical, philosophical and ethical and possibly others) they raise. Can architecture, Classical, Modern or otherwise, be autonomous from politics and valued independently of the circumstances of politics and history that adhere to it?
These thoughts are comprehensible, because decorations aren‘t graceing a minimalist interior. It‘s moreover a misunderstanding that having a minimalist interior is based on a compulsive reduction,
Art from the ancient world is a window into the past. It can take numerous forms and have various meanings, some obvious and some hidden. The art can represent anything from a trophy to a sacred object. The one thing they all have in common was the artisans desire to create something special. This paper will examine and discuss specific pieces of art from six distinct ancient cultures by comparing and contrasting a chosen object from each respective culture.
“Human houses should not be like boxes, blazing in the sun, nor should we outrage the Machine by trying to make dwelling places too complementary to Machinery. Any building for humane purposes should be an elemental, sympathetic feature of the ground, complementary to its nature-environment, belonging by kinship to the terrain.”
I found this building interesting because it refers heavily to elements of Greek architecture, but also alters and recombines elements it in ways that draw the elements away from their original significance and repurpose them as simple visual motifs. As they say, “Imitation
Different architects have different styles because they are trying to get at different things. Architecture is not just about making something beautiful anymore, it is about trying to get across a set of ideas about how we inhabit space. Two of the most famous architects of the twentieth century, one from each side, the early part and the later part up until today each designed a museum with money donated by the Guggenheim foundation. One of these is in New York City, it was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The other is in bilbao, Spain, and it was designed by Frank Geary. My purpose of this paper is to interrogate each of these buildings, glorious for different reasons, to show how each architect was expressing their own style.
Postmodernism is a universal movement, present in every art and discipline. In architecture, postmodernism is precise as well as ambiguous thereby in need of an explorative pursuit for a consensus of what is meant by the movement in this perspective - between the works of Charles Jencks, a primary theorist of this architectural turn; Heinrich Klotz, a leading architectural critic; and William Curtis, an architectural historian. The progression of this paper is highly influenced with Jencks’ studies as his works are often times referenced as well by both Klotz and Curtis in their individual interpretations and further accompanied with either supporting statements or contradictions.
Mies van der Rohe is one of the most prominent figures in modernist architectural history, the man who popularised some of the most influential phrases of the era, e.g. “less is more”, and strove to push his ideas and philosophies, not just on what he thought a building should be, but of what he thought architecture itself was. He changed the cityscape of America, showing the world a style that was simple and elegant, with such a controlled palette of expressions that shone through in its geometric beauty.
“The evolution of culture is synonymous with the removal of ornament from objects of daily use.” I agree with Adolf Loos, what is natural to someone of a particular culture is a degeneration to the modern man and women. In his essay Ornament and Crime, Loss emphasizes that ornament and decorations are unnecessary in modern society. He also states that is harmful for our economy, a waste of human labor, money and ruined material. I agree with him that ruined material can be used for something much more important than decorations someone’s face or body.
Repeatedly he praises unornamented design, such as in the suits worn by what Loos would describe as a “civilised man”, as opposed to a savage who decorates whatever he can lay his hands on. In his essay “Ornament and Crime”, Loos goes at length about how a truly modern man wears a humble suit, one that is neat and made of decent material. He would not clad himself in fancy, frilly pants or golden buttons, as it is distasteful to try to stand out so much with what you wear. He often returns to his example regarding cigarette cases, and how his wife had chosen a simple, plain case, even after having been offered an ornamented, decorated case as an alternative. Loos appropriates this lack of orientation in his design for the façade of the Goldman and Salatsch building, many Viennese describing it as a woman with no eyebrows. It was a façade lacking just about any detail, and drew what character it had from its materiality. Loos had opted for cipollino marble for the entrance to the store itself, and a plain wall for the upper residential floors, carving the windows into the
This book was written by Juhani Pallasmaa with regard to ‘Polemics’, on issues that were part of the architecture discourse of the time, i.e. 1995. It is also an extending of ideas expressed in an essay entitled “Architecture of the seven senses” published in 1994.
Historical buildings play an important role in describing the social and cultural beliefs and values of a place of its establishment. People visiting the historic buildings are able to develop a proper insight into the community beliefs and practices that exist at the time of construction of a building (DuTemple, 2003). In this context, the present essay examines and evaluates the way in which the architectural building of ‘The Colosseum’ describes the societal and cultural values of Rome. In addition to this, the essay also demonstrates the technical and spatial features of the buildings and illustrates the way through the building is able to develop a language of classical architecture in Rome. The thesis statement of the present essay can be stated as ‘The extent to which the architectural building of ‘The Colosseum’ in Rome depicts the cultural and societal values and principles practiced in Ancient Roman Society’.
Gropius traces the growth of the New Architecture and the work of the now well-known Bauhaus, with accuracy, calls for a new artist and architect educated to new materials and approaches as well as meeting the requirements of the age. It is also mentioned in The New Architecture and the Bauhaus that the intention of the Bauhaus was not to reproduce any “style”, system or belief, but simply to exert a revitalizing impact on design. Even though the outward forms of the New Architecture differ primarily in an organic sense from the old, it is the inevitable logical product of the intellectual, social and technical conditions of our age. A gap has been made with the past, allowing us to face a new aspect of architecture corresponding to the technical civilization of the age we live in. The analysis of the dead styles has been destroyed. Furthermore, the new building throws open the walls like curtains to allow an abundance of fresh air, daylight and sunshine. Instead of securing the building ponderously into the ground, it poises them lightly, yet firmly at the same
The concept of space within architecture I believe is undefined in many ways. The idea of psychology has been extracted from the concept of space all most entirely, leaving the perception towards space within architecture just as a form, in which I do not agree with. I will begin the essay by explaining the diverse theories on space, and comparing them to one another, eventually linking these back to architecture and explaining my on intake on the idea of space. From studies of psychologist and philosophers it would appear that they distinguish two broad categories of space; the physical and the mental. The theories I will be taken on will explain differentiate between these two elements. In this essay I will be focusing on the individual