Looshaus

The Looshaus is a business and residential building located on Michaelerplatz in Vienna, between Herrengasse and Kohlmarkt. It is a notable structure of Viennese Modernism, designed by Adolf Loos and completed in 1912.

The Looshaus’ modernist style contrasts with both historicism and the flowery ornamentation of Secessionist architecture. It is not exclusively utilitarian, while being functionalist. It makes extensive use of luxurious materials. The lower, commercial half of the façade is encased with green Cipollino marble from Euboea, which contrasts sharply with the upper, residential section’s basic plaster. A colonnade of Tuscan columns was designed to reference the porch of St. Michael’s Church, which is located on the same plaza. The top stories are unadorned save for window boxes, which, according to mythology, were designed to refer to the Hofburg by mimicking the Archducal hat in shape; the Looshaus is just across the street (Michaelertrakt).

The Looshaus was a forerunner in reinforced concrete construction in Vienna; this type of construction allowed for huge interior spaces and the sensible grouping of industrial and sales departments, and Loos also employed varying ceiling heights to conserve space. The street-level salesroom was split into various zones by four inside columns, and it featured oval display windows and furniture acquired in England by Loos. Three mezzanine levels above the main sales floor housed reception and changing rooms, as well as offices and the accounting department in the center, and extending on two levels over rented commercial space on the two side streets, store rooms and work rooms for all stages of clothing production. Mahogany-clad pillars, continuous marble flooring, and brass unify the customer rooms; the screened-off production sections are completed in exposed concrete. The higher levels were served by two sets of stairs and two elevator shafts, as well as apprentice education and a private vocational school on the top floor.

History

The proprietors of Goldman & Salatsch, a men’s apparel firm with an upper-class clientele, Emanuel Aufricht and Leopold Goldman, organized a design competition for a building to house their sales, production, and office services, as well as Goldman’s private residence. Because the competition did not generate a design that satisfied them, they awarded the contract to Adolf Loos in 1909, who had been asked to submit a design but had not done so. Pittel+Brausewetter built the structure, with Ernst Epstein serving as construction manager. Despite the fact that the city had approved the plans, the unadorned upper storeys caused a scandal in 1910; construction was allowed to proceed only after Loos added window boxes with flowers to mitigate what one of many insulting articles in the press called their “inappropriate nakedness” and defended his design in a public meeting. It was ultimately finished in 1912.According to legend, Emperor Franz Joseph despised the Looshaus so much that he ordered the curtains on the Hofburg windows overlooking the plaza to stay closed.

The business floors of the Looshaus were turned into an Opel showroom by the Nazis.A bomb hit on a neighboring building in 1944 damaged the structure. It was designated a protected monument in 1947; it was partially renovated in the 1950s and housed a furniture business in the 1960s. The Raiffeisenbank purchased it in 1987 and completely refurbished it, returning the business levels to their former look.Burkhardt Rukschcio, an architect, publicist, and Loos researcher, was in charge of the refurbishment. The public component of the house, in particular the former Goldman & Salatsch company premises, was restored to its previous status, which had been destroyed in the 1930s, while the top floors were converted into office space as part of the process. This refurbishment was finished in October of 1990.The Looshaus, together with the Albertina and the Wien Museum, hosted the exhibition “Adolf Loos” (02.12.1989-25.02.1990), which was also organized by Burkhardt Rukschcio.

Designzone Looshaus, a facility created by Paolo Piva for exhibits and conferences highlighting Austrian design, opened in the Looshaus basement in the early 2000s.There are exhibits of the winners of the annual Adolf Loos Staatspreis Design.

In 2022, Rudolf Klingohr created a TV program titled “Das Looshaus – Die Rettung eines Baujuwels” (The Looshaus – The Rescue of an Architectural Jewel), which detailed the conversion’s history once again.

Vienna, Austria