Adolf Loos > Quotes

“I will not subscribe to the argument that ornament increases the pleasure of the life of a cultivated person, or the argument which covers itself with the words: “But if the ornament is beautiful! ...” To me, and to all the cultivated people, ornament does not increase the pleasures of life. If I want to eat a piece of gingerbread I will choose one that is completely plain and not a piece which represents a baby in arms of a horserider, a piece which is covered over and over with decoration. The man of the fifteenth century would not understand me. But modern people will. The supporter of ornament believes that the urge for simplicity is equivalent to self-denial. No, dear professor from the College of Applied Arts, I am not denying myself! To me, it tastes better this way.”
― Adolf Loos, Ornament and Crime: Selected Essays

“Be not afraid of being called un-fashionable.”
― Adolf Loos

“Every period had its style: why was it that our period was the only one to be denied a style? By “style” was meant ornament. I said, “weep not. Behold! What makes our period so important is that it is incapable of producing new ornament. We have out-grown ornament, we have struggled through to a state without ornament. Behold, the time is at hand, fulfilment awaits us. Soon the streets of the cities will glow like white walls! Like Zion, the Holy City, the capital of heaven. It is then that fulfilment will have come.”
― Adolf Loos, Ornament and Crime: Selected Essays

“If we find a mound six feet long and three feet wide in the forests, formed into a pyramid, shaped by a shovel, we become serious and something says, "someone lies buried here"... Now that is architecture.”
― Adolf Loos

“It is ridiculous to lay down to people where a thing should stand, design everything for them from the lavatory pan to the ashtray. On the contrary, I like people to move their furniture so that it suits them (not me!), and it's quite natural (and I approve) when they bring the old pictures and mementos they have come to love into a new interior, irrespective of whether they are good taste or bad.”
― Adolf Loos

“The unadorned gentleman's suit was the product of the change from rigid status to social structures constantly shifting in response to the forces of modern capitalism, becoming ever more egalitarian in both appearance and reality.”
― Adolf Loos

“Ne množství, nýbrž jakost práce pomáhá určovat hodnotu každého předmětu. Žijeme v době, jež dává přednost kvantitě práce. Neboť tato kvantita se dá lehce kontrolovat, je každému hned nápadná a nevyžaduje cvičeného pohledu nebo nějakých látkových znalostí.”
― Adolf Loos, Řeči do prázdna

“the development of culture is concurrent with the removal of ornaments from objects of daily use”
― Adolf Loos

“Art is something that must be overcome.”
― Adolf Loos, Ornament and Crime: Selected Essays

“L'architecture éveille en l'homme des états d'âme.. La tâche des architectes est de préciser ces états d'âmes.”
― Adolf Loos

“Hejsek je člověk, jemuž slouží oblek jen k tomu, aby se od svého okolí co nejvíce lišil”
― Adolf Loos, Řeči do prázdna

“Mladý muž je tehdy bohatý, má-li rozum v hlavě a dobrý oblek ve skříni.”
― Adolf Loos, Řeči do prázdna

“A kdo si zakládá domov, ať si zařizuje vše sám.”
― Adolf Loos, Řeči do prázdna

“Každý kus nábytku, každá věc, každý předmět vypráví příhody, historii rodiny. Byt není nikdy hotový: vyvíjí se s námi a my v něm.”
― Adolf Loos, Řeči do prázdna

“Jde o to být oblečen tak, abychom byli co nejméně nápadní. Červený frak je v tanečním sále nápadný. Tedy je červený frak v tanečním sále nemoderní. Cylindr na ledě je nápadný. Proto je na ledě nemoderní. Všecko, co je nápadné, platí v dobré společnosti za hrubé a nepřípustné.”
― Adolf Loos, Řeči do prázdna