REAL ESTATE NEWS

The Modern Genius of Adolf Loos

It has been 75 years since the passing of Adolf Loos, an eccentric architect from the 20th century best known for designing Prague's Muller Villa.

Adolf Loos was one of the most influential architects of European Modern architecture. In his essay “Ornament and Crime” he rejected and dismissed the specific Art Nouveau design of the Vienna Secession. With his innovative designs and unconventional essays he contributed to the elaboration of Modern architecture's theory and criticism. “My architecture is not conceived in plans, but in spaces (cubes). I do not design floor plans, facades, sections. I design spaces. For me, there is no ground floor, first floor, etc...For me, there are only contiguous, continual spaces, rooms, anterooms, terraces, etc. Storeys merge and spaces relate to each other."

The famous Muller Villa, located in the leafy area of Stresovice known as Prague's 'Beverly Hills', was designed for Mr. Frantisek Muller and his wife Milada Muller. The couple lived in the house for 18 peaceful years until the Communists took over in 1948. In 1968 the villa housed the headquarters for the Czechoslovak Republic. After such a colorful history the architectural gem was returned to Eva Maternova, the Muller's daughter. She, in turn, sold it to the city of Prague and the villa was put in the proper hands of museum officials. It was restored to its former glory in 1998 and opened as a museum in 2000.

The Muller Villa is the materialization of the architect's ideas of economy and utility. The capacious design, known as Raumplan, is manifested in the multi-level sections of individual rooms, evidence of their function and symbolism. The Raumplan design continues in the exterior as well, apparent in the white, cubic facade. < back