The must-have monograph on one of modern architecture's most influential figures, long a rarity and now available in an expanded and updated edition Viennese architect Adolf Loos was influential among his fellow early modernists not only for his radical designs but for his controversial ideology and famously militant opposition to ornament. Loos approached architecture from a primarily utilitarian perspective: he believed that interiors should be designed according to function, taking full advantage of the size and space of a building. In this definitive monograph, a true labor of love, architect Ralf Bock seeks to reveal the sensuality of Loos' interior designs, focusing on his sincere belief in the evolution of tradition. The book explores 30 existing projects from Loos' oeuvre, documented in 160 full-color images by the celebrated French photographer Phillippe Ruault. Along with materials from the Loos archive at the Albertina Museum Vienna, these photographs and Bock's commentary provide a new interpretation of Loos' work and encourage the reintroduction of his ideology into the contemporary architectural conversation. Profiles of Loos' original clients and interviews with people who currently inhabit his designs round out this unique publication. Adolf Loos(1870-1933) was a radical figure in his time: his critique of the Vienna Secession and advocacy for utilitarian design greatly influenced the less ornamental approaches to architecture among subsequent modernist designers. He studied briefly at Dresden University of Technology and delivered his famous lecture "Ornament and Crime" at the Academic Association for Literature and Music in 1910. His most recognizable building is the multipurpose Looshaus at Michaelerplatz in Vienna, characterized by the numerous window boxes on the building's façade.

In this volume, Ralf Bock reveals for the first time the sensuality of Loos' interior designs, demonstrating that Loos was not an architect of the "white modern movement" but rather fought against it as he saw the work of purism move in the opposite direction of what he had envisioned. He believed in culture, comfort, intimacy and privacy. He advocated the evolution of tradition and utility, and not revolution and the permanent invention of formal design.

A collection of documentaries that explore the history and spirit of the Olympic Games. 'The Olympic Spirit' traces the history of the Olympic Games from their origin in Ancient Greece to their revival in 1896, under the stewardship of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, and subsequent growth. 'Greatest Moments of the Olympics' contains a series of two-minute vignettes that set out to capture the spirit of the Olympic Games. Finally, 'Olympic Sports' takes an in-depth look at the history and evolution of individual Olympic sports including sprinting, middle distance running, swimming, diving and cycling and includes interviews with current Olympic champions Pieter Van Den Hoogenband and Michael Phelps.

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'. Translated by Shaun Whiteside With an epilogue by Joseph Masheck

Adolf Loos held that a building should have a soberly discreet exterior, reserving all its riches for its interior. Given that, any real appreciation of the spatial complexity of the work of one of the most misunderstood architects of the twentieth century requires engagement with his interiors, which this book does, brilliantly. In marked contrast to his contemporaries in the Vienna Secession, who designed their spaces down to the smallest detail, Loos presented himself as a "professor of interior design," perfectly willing to adapt to the habits and tastes of his clients, inviting them to embrace their own tastelessness rather than defer to the discernment of an "aesthete" architect. Together with the future occupant, he designed welcoming interiors whose warmth came from the effective use of quality materials and the creation of a flowing continuity articulated by the furnishings. What Loos created thereby was not merely architecture, but a new culture of living.