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.
Gebrüder Thonet Vienna GmbH Lehnstuhl Lounge Chair in Black with Woven Cane Seat
By Gebrüder Thonet Vienna GmbH, Adolf Loos
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Nigel Coates has designed a sophisticated lounge chair with a complex design reflecting the stylistic features of the brand with refined ski...
Wood
Gebrüder Thonet Vienna GmbH Lehnstuhl Lounge Chair in White with Woven Cane Seat
By Gebrüder Thonet Vienna GmbH, Adolf Loos
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Nigel Coates has designed a sophisticated lounge chair with a complex design reflecting the stylistic features of the brand with refined ski...
Wood
$4,500
H 30 in W 27.5 in D 30 in
Ward Bennett for Brickell Newly Caned "Sled" Lounge Chair, Circa 1970
By Brickel Associates, Ward Bennett
Located in Bainbridge, NY
Original Chromed Steel & Cane Lounge Chair by Ward Bennett for Brickell. Featuring the vintage low chromed x frame, with newly natural and unstained cane seat, curved back, cover...
Chrome
Woven Rush Lounge Chair by Mel Smilow
By Mel Smilow
Located in New York, NY
Originally designed by Mel Smilow in 1956 and officially reintroduced by his daughter Judy Smilow in 2013, the Woven Rush Lounge Chair is class...
Rush, Walnut
$1,799
H 34.65 in W 23.63 in D 17.72 in
Thonet Gebruder Vienna Gmbh No.56 Bentwood and Vienna Straw Chair
By Gebrüder Thonet Vienna GmbH
Located in Prato, Tuscany
We kindly suggest you read the whole description, because with it we try to give you detailed technical and historical information to guarantee the authenticity of our objects. For t...
Beech
Set of 8 Gebruder Thonet Vienna Dining Chairs In Flame Red
By Gebrüder Thonet Vienna GmbH
Located in Southampton, NY
Set of Eight Gebruder Thonet Vienna, 'Czech' Dining Chairs In Flame Red. Designed in 1994, the Hermann Czech chair represents the turning point of modern furniture towards the passio...
Wood
Pr. Tubular Chrome and Woven Plastic Cantilevered Lounge Chairs
By Lloyd Loom
Located in New York, NY
Pair of cantilevered lounge chairs having tubular chrome frames and continuous plastic wicker style woven seats and backs. Very chic design, manufacture attributed to Lloyd Loom, uns...
Chrome
$9,485 / item
H 30.5 in W 33.75 in D 38 in
ALFRED Black Lounge Chair/Armchair in Walnut/Oak with Leather Seat, Mandy Graham
By Mandy Graham
Located in Torrance, CA
ALFRED black chair by Mandy Graham ALFRED A01, chair lounge armchair Walnut / sandblasted oak and leather Measures: 33.75" W x 38" D x 30.5" H (26" seat depth) Inspired by t...
Leather, Oak, Walnut
Thonet Vienna Wooden Childrens Chair, Austria, 1900s
By Gebrüder Thonet Vienna GmbH, Thonet
Located in Vienna, AT
A lovely wooden chair for children by Thonet Vienna, dated around 1900. In good, original condition with nice patina. Labelled and stamped.
Wood
$60,000
H 65.75 in W 49.22 in D 31.89 in
Dondolo Lounge Chair in Black with Stainless Steel, Recycled Leather & Mahogany
By Enrico Marone Cinzano
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Considering I come from Torino, the car manufacturing capital, it only made sense that at some point I would extend my work to the automobile industry. I went scavenging through car junk yards and found that the aftermath of that industry produced a wealth of beautiful and extremely well made products which could be re-utilized into making furniture, hence the birth of 'Dondolo'. It's a rocking chair with a foot in the past and one in the future. Still benefitting from the factory-issue moving parts, the original leather Alfa Romeo 166 seat reclines and heats at will, powered by an eco-friendly gel based battery which can be charged with any power outlet. By means of two periscopic arms, it has the added comfort of providing a swinging, retractable work table to rest your laptop, and an efficient dimmable warm-toned LED light, housed in what was a beautiful metal FIAT 500...
Stainless Steel
$2,700 / set
H 29.93 in W 29.93 in D 26.78 in
Pair of Lounge Chairs, Black Leather Chrome, Attributed to Thonet, 1970
By Thonet
Located in Hausmannstätten, AT
A set of two leather and chrome or nickel lounge chairs attributed to Thonet, Austria, circa 1970 (late 1960s or early 1970s). They are made of a high quality and thick black leather...
Chrome, Metal
Swaim Mid-Century Ebonized Cane Lounge Chair
By Swaim
Located in Franklin Park, IL
Swaim mid-century ebonized cane lounge chair This chair measures: 27.5 wide x 33 deep x 39.5 inches high, with a seat height of 16 inches Al...
Upholstery, Cane, Wood
Italian Lounge Chair in Black Leather
Located in Waalwijk, NL
Lounge chair, leather, Italy, 1970s This mobile lounge chair is completely covered in high quality, thick leather that patinated beautifully over the years. The round form of the cu...
Leather
Set of four original chairs #511 from 1904, Gebrüder Thonet
By Gebrüder Thonet Vienna GmbH, Woka Lamps
Located in Vienna, AT
Four legged construction, square bentwood, beechwood stained mahogany, renovated cover and decorative nails, height 105cm, width 43cm, depth 60cm. Renovated condition with signs of a...
Bentwood