Essentially dubbed the Frank Llyoyd Wright of Europe by Wright himself, Adolf Loos possessed a talent for architecture and interior design as potent as his outspoken criticism of Art Nouveau and excessive ornamentation. A forerunner of the International Style, Loos exercised immense restraint in his building projects as well as his designs for chairs, tables, storage pieces and other furniture, and wrote prolifically on his disdain for taking a decorative approach to architecture.
The son of a stonemason and sculptor, Loos was born in 1870 in what is now Brno in the Czech Republic. He studied architecture in Dresden in 1889, completed a year of military service and moved to the United States by 1893. He visited the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago and came to appreciate the American approach to design over his three-year stay before returning to Vienna.
An avid proponent of simplicity, Loos hated fluff above all else. In his best known essay, “Ornament and Crime,” he states “the evolution of culture is synonymous with the removal of ornamentation from objects of everyday use” — a principle evident in both his architectural work and furniture. His writing was profoundly influential for practitioners of the International Style that would emerge later as well as the likes of prolific Swiss-born French architect and modernist prophet Le Corbusier.
Loos challenged the prevailing architecture and decorating styles of his time, and disliked the ornate work associated with the Vienna Secession and Gesamtkunstwerk — the concept of a house as total work of art — an ideal pursued by a collective born from the Secession called the Wiener Werkstätte. To Loos, design should prioritize function, and any ornamentation devoid of a structural purpose was childish and unnecessary.
Loos’s furniture — alongside the work of fellow Austrian architect Josef Hoffman — was the subject of an exhibition at the Museum of Applied Arts in 2014. His architecture projects, including the Viennese Goldman and Salatsch building, the Austrian Steiner House and the Villa Müller in Prague, are celebrated by design enthusiasts all over the world.
Find vintage Adolf Loos seating, lighting and other furniture on 1stDibs.
Original Adolf Loos Thebes Stool
By Friedrich Otto Schmidt, Adolf Loos, Woka Lamps
Located in Vienna, AT
Wohnung Dr. Otto und Auguste Stoessl, Wien XIII, Auhofstr. 235, um 1900-02 Wohnung Haberfeld Manufacturer Friedricht Otto Schmidt Lit.: Rukschcio, Schachel, Adolf Loos, S. 32 und 7...
Beech
$1,197Sale Price / item|20% Off
Gebrüder Thonet Vienna GmbH Lehnstuhl Hocker Footrest in Black with Woven Cane
By Adolf Loos, Gebrüder Thonet Vienna GmbH
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Nigel Coates widens his furnishing proposal for Wiener GTV Design by introducing in his collection an extremely original element: the Lehnstuhl-Hocke...
Wood
$1,394
H 11.82 in Dm 13 in
Tony Paul Attributed Low Stools, Woven Wicker, Solid Beech, United States, 1950s
By Tony Paul
Located in Chiavari, Liguria
Set of three low stools or footstools with a handwoven wicker top and solid beech legs attributed to the famous American designer Tony Paul. Produced in the late 1950s these stool...
Wicker, Beech
Gustavian Antique, Round Stool, Swedish Cabinetmaker, Late 18th Century
Located in Odense, DK
Such a beautiful rare and original gustavian stool, made in giltwood with horsehair upholstered seat. Made in by a Swedish cabinetmaker in the late 18th century. A great vintage o...
Giltwood
Hexagonal Tripod Stool
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Stubby wooden hexagonal stool, made in France, circa 1950s. Thick seat with three rounded legs. No nails or hardware. Great lines and shape. Petite stoo...
Wood
Perriand Style Tripod Stool
By Charlotte Perriand
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Fantastic wood stool from France in the style of Charlotte Perriand. Made in the 1960s with three legs. No hardware. Good vintage condition.
Wood
Leopard Vintage Stool, 1960s
Located in 05-080 Hornowek, PL
Stool from the turn of the 1960s and 1970s. Beautiful soft velvet leopard print upholstery. The stool consists of an upholstered part, a seat and wooden legs narrowing downwards, cha...
Velvet, Beech
Adolf Loos Egyptian Theben Stool
By Adolf Loos
Located in Bainbridge, NY
Egyptian Revival Adolf Loos attributed Theban Beechwood Tripod stool, circa 19l5. Featuring a handcrafted splined, tri legged framework, sculpted crescent se...
Beech
Russell Stool
By Gordon Russell
Located in Greenwich, CT
The Russell stool, a handcrafted recreation of one of Gordon Russell's earliest and most successful Cotswold School designs, crafted in white oak by Wooster and Essex having an uphol...
Oak
Pair of French Bobbin Wood and Woven Stools
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Beautiful pair of bobbin wood and woven stools from France, 1940s. Three dark carved bobbin wood legs with original finish. Original woven rush triangular seat. Beautiful design. Sol...
Wood, Rush
$6,900
H 31.5 in W 20.48 in D 22.45 in
Adolf Loos Corner Chair, F.O. Schmidt, Oak Wood Leather, Jugendstil, 1898-1900
By Adolf Loos, Friedrich Otto Schmidt
Located in Hausmannstätten, AT
A corner armchair designed by Adolf Loos (1870-1933) and manufactured by Friedrich Otto Schmidt, Vienna, Austria, circa 1900. The condition of the wood is very good. The leather seat...
Leather, Wood
French Wooden Tripod Stool
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Vintage wooden stool made in France, circa 1950s. Thick seat and tripod legs with ribs that taper near the bottom. No nails or hardware. Great lin...
Wood
$3,395
H 17 in W 19 in D 19 in
Liberty & Co A Large Size Walnut Thebes Stool with ring turned legs & stretchers
By Liberty & Co.
Located in London, GB
Liberty and Co. A rare large Walnut Thebes stool with studded leather seat with turned stretchers uniting the turned legs.
Walnut
Egyptian Revival Maple Thebes Stool, Liberty & Co.
By Liberty & Co.
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Early 20th century, Egyptian Revival, medium-toned maple, Thebes stool styled after the stools of ancient Egyptian royalty, attributed to Liberty & Co.
Maple
Footrest Thonet Nr.520, by Adolf Loos
By Adolf Loos, Michael Thonet
Located in Praha, CZ
In perfect original condition. Perfectly cleaned and polished with shellac. Design by Adolf Loos, literature: Sitting on the Edge: Modernist Design from the Collection of Michael and...
Beech, Bentwood
Adolf Loos Foot Rest J&J Kohn H1121, since 1913
By Jacob & Josef Kohn, Adolf Loos
Located in Praha, CZ
The foot rest in the style of Viennese Art Nouveau is attributed to well-known designer Adolf Loos. Loos was the first of the major architect designers to use bentwood in his work. Foot rest was manufactured in the company Jacob & Josef Kohn, first found exposure in the company catalog from the year 1913. Foot Rest design uses a turned ball, that is known from the furniture in Vienna Fledermaus café...
Bentwood
Adolf Loos Foot Rest J&J Kohn H1121, circa 1913
By Jacob & Josef Kohn, Adolf Loos
Located in Praha, CZ
The footrest in the style of Viennese Art Nouveau is attributed to well-known designer Adolf Loos. Loos was the first of the major architect designers to use bentwood in his work. Fo...
Beech, Bentwood