Revolutionary essays on design, aesthetics and materialism - from one of the great masters of modern architecture Adolf Loos, the great Viennese pioneer of modern architecture, was a hater of the fake, the fussy and the lavishly decorated, and a lover of stripped down, clean simplicity. He was also a writer of effervescent, caustic wit, as shown in this selection of essays on all aspects of design and aesthetics, from cities to glassware, furniture to footwear, architectural training to why 'the lack of ornament is a sign of intellectual power'.

Adolf Loos (1870–1933) was a flamboyant character whose presence in the cultural hotbed of early 1900s Vienna galvanized the country’s architectural landscape. An early, impassioned advocate of modernism, he all-out rejected the grand Secessionist aesthetic prevalent at the time, as well as any hallmarks of the European fin de siecle.Instead, in lectures and essays, such as the milestone Ornament and Crime of 1908, Loos articulated his “passion for smooth and precious surfaces.” He advocated that architectural ornamentation was, by its nature, ephemeral—locked into current trends and styles, and therefore quickly dated. Loos, himself a Classicist at heart, argued instead for simple, timeless designs with time-honored aesthetic and structural qualities.In this essential introduction, we explore Loos’s writings, projects, and legacy, from his key concept of “spatial plan” architecture to his rejection of decorative fripperies in favor of opulent, fine-quality materials and crisp lines. Featured projects include Vienna’s Cafe Museum (1899), the fashion store Knize (1913), and the controversial Loos House (1912), which Emperor Franz Joseph I would refuse to travel past, bristling with rage at its insolently minimalist aesthetic.

Adolf Loos (1870–1933) was a flamboyant character whose presence in the cultural hotbed of early 1900s Vienna galvanized the country’s architectural landscape. An early, impassioned advocate of modernism, he all-out rejected the grand Secessionist aesthetic prevalent at the time, as well as any hallmarks of the European fin de siecle.Instead, in lectures and essays, such as the milestone Ornament and Crime of 1908, Loos articulated his “passion for smooth and precious surfaces.” He advocated that architectural ornamentation was, by its nature, ephemeral—locked into current trends and styles, and therefore quickly dated. Loos, himself a Classicist at heart, argued instead for simple, timeless designs with time-honored aesthetic and structural qualities.In this essential introduction, we explore Loos’s writings, projects, and legacy, from his key concept of “spatial plan” architecture to his rejection of decorative fripperies in favor of opulent, fine-quality materials and crisp lines. Featured projects include Vienna’s Cafe Museum (1899), the fashion store Knize (1913), and the controversial Loos House (1912), which Emperor Franz Joseph I would refuse to travel past, bristling with rage at its insolently minimalist aesthetic.

Adolf Loos – Avantgardist und Storenfried im Wien der Secessionisten Erst legte er sich mit den biedersinnigen Freunden des Historismus und der Wiener Ringstra?en-Architektur an, dann mit den Secessionisten, mit denen er gerade noch paktiert hatte: Nike Wagner zitiert in „Geist und Geschlecht“, ihrem Standardwerk zu Karl Kraus und der Wiener Moderne, einen Zeitgenossen von Adolf Loos (1870–1933), der den Architekten, Designer und Publizisten als den „Mann, der Nein sagt“ charakterisierte. Und kaum jemand sagte mit mehr avantgardistischem Furor Nein als Loos: Nein zum Ornament, zum dekorativen Beiwerk, zu uberflussigen Details, zum fantastischen Wuchern des Irrationalen. Als Architekt der Tabula rasa propagierte Loos eine Architektur der Einfachheit und Klarheit, in der die Form der Funktion folgt, aber durchaus luxuriosen Uberfluss und das Spiel mit klassizistischen Elementen zulasst. Programmatisch ist sein Vortrag Ornament und Verbrechen (1913), in dem er in nietzscheanischer Erregungs- und Uberwaltigungsprosa gegen den antiquierten Unverstand seiner Zeitgenossen wettert. Schon zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts hatte der Freund von Karl Kraus, Peter Altenberg und Oskar Kokoschka die Gelegenheit erhalten, seine Ideen auch baulich Gestalt werden zu lassen. Die schlicht-funktionalen Innenraumgestaltungen, die er fur das Cafe Museum (1899), fur die American Bar (1908) oder das Modehaus Knize (1913) entwarf, bruskierten in ihrer fremdartigen modernen Anmutung die Wiener. Auch sein wohl beruhmtestes Bauwerk in Wien, das als Looshaus bekannte gro?e Geschaftshaus am Michaelerplatz (1912) gegenuber der Nordfassade der Hofburg, wurde mit seiner nuchternen, aber dennoch exklusiv-eleganten Fassade als Provokation empfunden und soll sogar Kaiser Franz Joseph I. derart in Rage versetzt haben, dass er sich fortan weigerte, einen Fu? auf den Michaelerplatz zu setzen. Das Looshaus wie auch einige der zahlreichen Villen, die er baute, etwa die kubistische Villa Muller in Prag, gelten als Schlusselwerke der Moderne. Diese Einfuhrung macht mit den architektonischen Ideen von Adolf Loos vertraut, erlautert sein Konzept des „Raumplans“, stellt seine wichtigsten Werke vor und beschreibt das Leben eines streitbaren, aber auch abgrundigen Intellektuellen am Beginn der Moderne.

Discover a world of decorative ideas with this compendium of history’s most elegant patterns and ornamental designs.The World of Ornament brings together the two greatest encyclopedic collections of ornament of the 19th century: Auguste Racinet’s L’Ornement polychrome Volumes I and II (1875–1888) and Auguste Dupont-Auberville’sL’Ornement des tissus (1877) to provide one lavish source book spanning jewelry, tile, stained glass, illuminated manuscript, textile and ceramic ornament.

Discover a world of decorative ideas with this compendium of history’s most elegant patterns and ornamental designs.The World of Ornament brings together the two greatest encyclopedic collections of ornament of the 19th century: Auguste Racinet’s L’Ornement polychrome Volumes I and II (1875–1888) and Auguste Dupont-Auberville’sL’Ornement des tissus (1877) to provide one lavish source book spanning jewelry, tile, stained glass, illuminated manuscript, textile and ceramic ornament.

Mensch und Natur versohnt: Friedensreich Hundertwasser Farben von intensiver Leuchtkraft, organische Formen und eine Abscheu gegenuber geometrisch gerader Linie und rechtem Winkel pragen das Kunst- und Architekturprogramm von Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928–2000). Der Maler, Architekt und Umweltaktivist war ein nonkonformistischer Held, der seine Kunst als gesellschaftspolitische Intervention verstand und polarisierte. Von der etablierten Kunst- und Architekturwelt oftmals belachelt, fand er mit seinen fantasievollen Ideen fur ein Leben in Einklang mit der Natur und der individuellen Kreativitat nicht nur in alternativen Milieus eine gro?e Anhangerschar. Eine der Ursachen fur die Tristesse des menschlichen Alltags sah Hundertwasser in der fantasielosen, deprimierenden Gegenwartsarchitektur mit ihren zweckformigen, monotonen Bauformen. Adolf Loos’ beruhmter Schrift Ornament und Verbrechen setzte er ein entschiedenes Pladoyer (Los von Loos) fur organische Formen entgegen, fur individuelle Bauveranderung und fur die Einbeziehung der Natur in die Architektur. Er entwickelte einen unverwechselbaren Baustil, in dem es das „Fensterrecht“ und die „Baummieter“ gibt, den unebenen Boden, Walder auf dem Dach und Spontanvegetation. Beginnend mit dem Verschimmelungsmanifest gegen den Rationalismus in der Architektur von 1958, uber seine okologischen Ideen, die ihrer Zeit weit voraus waren, und seine kunsttherapeutischen Ansatze bis hin zu seinen Architekturprojekten weltweit zeichnet Pierre Restany den Lebensweg eines eigenwilligen Mannes nach, der sich selbst durchaus als Prophet verstand und in der Kunstszene eine schillernde Ausnahmegestalt war.

This dazzling collection of more than 1,500 illustrations--most in full color--is one of the great anthologies of historic ornament and design, on a par with Owen Jones's Grammar of Ornament and Racinet's Historic Ornament. A veritable treasure chest of permission-free images, arranged chronologically, the designs range from Roman architecture and sculpture, Byzantine embroidery, and illuminated manuscripts from the Middle Ages; to Italian glass painting, pottery, and French tapestries from the Renaissance; and mosaic floors, painted plasterwork, and metal ornaments from later periods. An extraordinary sourcebook for artists, art students, and commercial designers, this compendium of decorative motifs will appeal as well to hobbyists and lovers of fine art. Over 1,500 color and black-and-white illustrations.

Discover a world of decorative ideas with this compendium of history's most elegant patterns and ornamental designs. The World of Ornament brings together the two greatest encyclopedic collections of ornament of the 19th century: Auguste Racinet's L'Ornement polychrome Volumes I and II (1875-1888) and Auguste Dupont-Auberville's L'Ornement des tissus (1877) to provide one lavish source book spanning jewelry, tile, stained glass, illuminated manuscript, textile, and ceramic ornament. Encompassing classical, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Asian and Middle Eastern, as well as European designs from medieval times through the 19th century, this compilation of cultures and aesthetics offers a primary reference for artists, historians, designers, and patternmakers, and anyone engaged in decorative design and impact.

Discover a world of decorative ideas with this compendium of history's most elegant patterns and ornamental designs. The World of Ornament brings together the two greatest encyclopedic collections of ornament of the 19th century: Auguste Racinet's L'Ornement polychrome Volumes I and II (1875-1888) and Auguste Dupont-Auberville's L'Ornement des tissus (1877) to provide one lavish source book spanning jewelry, tile, stained glass, illuminated manuscript, textile and ceramic ornament. Encompassing classical, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Asian and Middle-Eastern, as well as European designs from medieval times through the 19th century, this compilation of cultures and esthetics offers a primary reference for artists, historians, designers and patternmakers, and anyone engaged in decorative design and impact.

The ultimate decorative resource Discover a world of decorative ideas with this compendium of history’s most elegant patterns and ornamental designs. Once out of print, The World of Ornament brings together the two greatest encyclopedic collections of ornament of the 19th century: Auguste Racinet’s L’Ornement polychrome Volumes I and II (1875–1888) and Auguste Dupont-Auberville’s L’Ornement des tissus (1877) to provide one lavish, indispensable source book spanning jewelry, tile, stained glass, illuminated manuscript, textile and ceramic ornament. Encompassing classical, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Asian and middle-Eastern, as well as European designs from medieval times through the 19th century, this compilation of cultures and esthetics offers a primary reference for artists, historians, designers and patternmakers, and anyone engaged in decorative design and impact.

Discover a world of decorative ideas with this compendium of history's most elegant patterns and ornamental designs. The World of Ornament brings together the two greatest encyclopedic collections of ornament of the 19th century: Auguste Racinet's L'Ornement polychrome Volumes I and II (1875-1888) and Auguste Dupont-Auberville's L'Ornement des tissus (1877) to provide one lavish source book spanning jewelry, tile, stained glass, illuminated manuscript, textile and ceramic ornament. Encompassing classical, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Asian and Middle-Eastern, as well as European designs from medieval times through the 19th century, this compilation of cultures and esthetics offers a primary reference for artists, historians, designers and patternmakers, and anyone engaged in decorative design and impact.

Friedensreich Hundertwasser, hero of fluid forms and ecology Vivid color, organic forms, and a loathing of straight lines were just a few stalwart characteristics in the unique practice of Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928–2000). A non-conformist hero, the artist, architect, and activist left a blazing trail of imagination and ideas in buildings, paintings, manifestos, initiatives, and more. Hundertwasser’s best-known work is considered by many to be the Hundertwasserhaus in Vienna, a structural synthesis of the vitality and uniqueness that determined the artist’s entire oeuvre. For Hundertwasser, rational, sterile, monotonous buildings caused human misery. He called for a boycott of the modernist paradigm championed by the likes of Adolf Loos, and campaigned instead for an architecture of creative freedom and ecological commitment. A fierce opponent of straight lines, which he called “godless and immoral,” Hundertwasser was fascinated by the spiral, drawing also on the Secessionist forms of Klimt and Schiele. This richly illustrated book traces Hundertwasser’s style and vision not only for each building, but for society at large. From naked addresses at the end of the 1960s to worldwide architecture projects and alternative blueprints for society, author Pierre Restany explores Hundertwasser’s most high-profile and innovative ideas in a thrilling introduction to a pioneering 20th-century mind.

Discover a world of decorative ideas with this compendium of history?s most elegant patterns and ornamental designs.Once out of print, The World of Ornament brings together the two greatest encyclopedic collections of ornament of the 19th century: Auguste Racinet?s L?Ornement polychrome Volumes I and II (1875?1888) and Auguste Dupont-Auberville?s L?Ornement des tissus (1877) to provide one lavish, indispensable source book spanning jewelry, tile, stained glass, illuminated manuscript, textile and ceramic ornament.Encompassing classical, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Asian and middle-Eastern, as well as European designs from medieval times through the 19th century, this compilation of cultures and esthetics offers a primary reference for artists, historians, designers and patternmakers, and anyone engaged in decorative design and impact.

Discover a world of decorative ideas with this compendium of history?s most elegant patterns and ornamental designs.Once out of print, The World of Ornament brings together the two greatest encyclopedic collections of ornament of the 19th century: Auguste Racinet?s L?Ornement polychrome Volumes I and II (1875?1888) and Auguste Dupont-Auberville?s L?Ornement des tissus (1877) to provide one lavish, indispensable source book spanning jewelry, tile, stained glass, illuminated manuscript, textile and ceramic ornament.Encompassing classical, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Asian and middle-Eastern, as well as European designs from medieval times through the 19th century, this compilation of cultures and esthetics offers a primary reference for artists, historians, designers and patternmakers, and anyone engaged in decorative design and impact.

One of the world's greatest novels, Crime and Punishment is the story of a murder and its consequences-an unparalleled tale of suspense set in the midst of nineteenth-century Russia's troubled transition to the modern age. In the slums of czarist St. Petersburg lives young Raskolnikov, a sensitive, intellectual student. The poverty he has always known drives him to believe that he is exempt from moral law. But when he puts this belief to the test and commits murder, there results unbearable suffering. Crime and punishment, the novel reminds us, "grow from the same seed." "No other novelist," wrote Irving Howe of Dostoyevsky, "has dramatized so powerfully the values and dangers, the uses and corruptions of systematized thought." But Sigmund Freud and others saw the Russian's work in a different light. Said Freud, "He might have been a liberator of mankind. Instead he chose to be its jailer." "He is the only psychologist I have anything to learn from."-Friedrich Nietzsche 0