EUROPEAN ADOLF LOOS. HIS LEGACY IN BRNO AND BEYOND

In the scholarly literature, Adolf Loos’s ties to his native Brno have previously been restricted to his childhood, early schooling, and sporadic contacts in a certain period of his creative career. A careful study of sources and literature, though, uncovers relationships that were continuous – family, clients, architects, friends. Despite his break with his mother, he remained in contact with his sisters and later with one adoptive nephew, with whom he may even have worked professionally. In Brno, he lectured frequently and made a reputation for himself as a known and respected personality. Likewise, one of Loos’s most significant clients was the Brno native Viktor Bauer, for whom he completed designs in Hrušovany and later in Brno itself, moreover to an extent that has not yet become common knowledge even in the scholarly world. Loos’s interaction and cooperation with the city’s architects not only influenced his personal oeuvre, but left a major social trace within Brno’s architectural scene. It was in Brno that Loos met the author BohumilMarkalous, who was of vital importance for his links to the Czech lands. And it was in Brno that he also met Jan Vaněk and Karel Lhota, who had a major share in contributing to the renown of Prague’s Villa Müller, Loos’s “most beautiful house.”

This publication, which presents the latest research findings on the life and work of Adolf Loos, in particular in relation to his “Brno legacy.” These research activities, performed over the past several years on the basis of field surveys and the careful study of available source materials, correct and often entirely reinterpret earlier mechanically repeated information. They have also confirmed that Loos’s professional and social ties to his hometown were not sporadic, but at certain periods in his life were in fact quite intensive. The book’s introductory chapter recalls several moments and events in Loos’s life that are associated with his hometown and introduces his projects in Brno. Especially revelatory are the texts on the Bauer Chateau and on the sugar refinery in Hrušovany. The same can be said of the chapter on Loos’s father, a local sculptor and stonemason who was a leading representative of the city’s middle-class culture in the second half of the 19th century. And elsewhere, readers will learn about the architectural legacy of Loos’s students and the importance of his work for local historians.