Set of 6 shot glasses by Adolf Loos for Bakalowits & Söhne

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.

Bakalowits & Söhne are prestigious purveyors of bespoke illumination worldwide. With a history of producing unique crystal chandeliers and pendants, wall lights and other lighting fixtures that spans nearly two centuries and five generations, the company is one of the oldest family-owned furniture manufacturers, well-known for its mid-century modern and Hollywood Regency lamps and other lighting designs.

In 1845-era Vienna, Elias Bakalowits opened a shop that established the family’s long tradition of lighting production. Creating lanterns, wall mirrors, candle holders and other lighting, the reputation of the firm spread throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1892, when Ludwig Bakalowits was running the company in its second generation, the firm was named Imperial and Royal Court Purveyor and received a lighting order for the Hofburg — Emperor Franz Joseph’s new imperial palace — and its historic ballroom, the Redoutensaal. 

Bakalowits & Söhne received the first patents on their chandeliers and other works in the mid-20th century. At the same time, the houses of Parliament, Burgtheater, Vienna City Hall, Vienna State Opera, and Stephansdom needed repairs owing to considerable damage that the structures sustained during the Second World War. Bakalowits & Söhne secured commissions to create fixtures for the partially destroyed, war-torn buildings.

The postwar years saw growth for the brand that extended into the Middle and the Far East. Collaborations with architects in these regions led to creating an immense chandelier, which resides in the parliament building in Belgrade, Serbia. With this growth and expansion came exhibitions at the turn of the century. Among these was the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900, with additional exhibits in other cities, including London, Geneva, St. Petersburg and Turin.

Today, KR Prof. Friedl Bakalowits leads the company in its fifth generation. Bakalowits & Söhne continues to produce chandeliers for individual residences, including palaces, villas and companies worldwide. Their pieces illuminate cultural institutions, hotels, opera houses, conference centers and cruise ships.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of antique and vintage Bakalowits & Söhne lighting, mirrors and decorative objects.