{"id":3114,"date":"2019-07-19T06:30:02","date_gmt":"2019-07-19T05:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=3114"},"modified":"2025-12-11T17:03:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T16:03:08","slug":"loos-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/winter-palace\/loos-house\/","title":{"rendered":"The Loos House"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/loos_small.jpg\" alt=\"Front of the Loos House\" class=\"wp-image-7413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/loos_small.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/loos_small-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>A fairly unobtrusive building in Vienna&#8217;s centre once led to much outraged clutching of breasts, pearls, and handkerchiefs among the ruling Imperial family. The Loos House even received its own nickname: the house without eyebrows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Built in 1912 to plans by Adolf Loos<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Marks the architectural transition to Viennese Modernism<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Allegedly hated by many traditionalists, including Emperor Franz Joseph (who lived opposite)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Film location in Vienna Blood<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Take a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiqets.com\/en\/vienna-walking-tours-l205287\/?partner=visitingvienna&amp;tq_campaign=LG_WalkingTours\" rel=\"sponsored\">walking tour<\/a>* when in Vienna<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/footsteps\/otto-wagner-in-vienna\/\">Buildings by Otto Wagner<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Loos House history<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/loosandgrossesmichaelerhaus.jpg\" alt=\"Loos House and Gro\u00dfes Michaelerhaus\" class=\"wp-image-45255\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/loosandgrossesmichaelerhaus.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/loosandgrossesmichaelerhaus-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The Loos house is on the left)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When tailors Goldman und Salatsch got Adolf Loos to design their new premises in the early 1900s, let\u2019s hope they believed that any publicity was good publicity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a pioneer of modern architecture,  Loos chose to give the new building a more functional, plainer look than was common in a Vienna dominated by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/culture\/historicism\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"28926\">historicism<\/a> and the aesthetics of the local brand of Art Nouveau (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/culture\/jugendstil\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"31716\">Jugendstil<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reaction was mixed, to say the least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s how the location looked before Loos got involved (house on the left of the picture):<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Pre-Loos-house.jpg\" alt=\"1908 a view down Kohlmarkt from the Michaelerplatz\" class=\"wp-image-35551\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Pre-Loos-house.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Pre-Loos-house-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(1908 Postcard with a view down Kohlmarkt; produced by Paul Ledermann; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 105275\/90; excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And this is how it looked around 1920-1930:<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/looshouse1912.jpg\" alt=\"View of Kohlmarkt and the Loos House in 1912\" class=\"wp-image-66265\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/looshouse1912.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/looshouse1912-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(1912 postcard produced by Paul Ledermann with a view down Kohlmarkt soon after the Loos House went up; Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 249827; excerpt reproduced with permission under the terms of the CC0 licence)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\">The change in style might have passed largely unnoticed, were the building not on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/michaelerplatz-2\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"27254\">Michaelerplatz<\/a> square.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That location is opposite one of the main entrances to the Habsburg dynasty&#8217;s very own <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sightseeing\/hofburg\/\">Hofburg complex<\/a>, where the imperial family lived and worked at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s fair to say that Emperor Franz Joseph was not considered a huge fan of any design that might attract the moniker &#8220;modern&#8221;. So you can imagine his reaction to the rather unostentatious approach taken by Loos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To add particular insult to imperial injury, the windows in the upper fa\u00e7ade of the new building had no surrounding decoration, allegedly leading the Emperor to describe it as the &#8220;house without eyebrows&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/looshouse2024.jpg\" alt=\"Marble building front\" class=\"wp-image-78305\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/looshouse2024.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/looshouse2024-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(A closer look at the fa\u00e7ade)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Popular myth has it that Franz Joseph&#8217;s dislike of the Loos House extended to refusing to ever use the palace entrance that led out onto the Michaelerplatz square.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The story goes that the emperor even ordered all the windows looking across to house number 3 shuttered, so that the monstrosity could never disturb the imperial sense of wellbeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whatever the truth, the design certainly caused much consternation, leading to delays in the construction process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, however, the Loos house stands as a classic example of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/culture\/wiener-moderne\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"28303\">Viennese Modernism<\/a>: the period of tumultuous creative change at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/looshouse.jpg\" alt=\"The Loos House\" class=\"wp-image-45256\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/looshouse.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/looshouse-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Note the windows shockingly free of adornment)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;ll notice, for example, the stark difference between the business floor and the upper floors: the former marble-clad with columns, the latter remaining simple and largely undecorated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Apart from its exalted position in architectural history, the building has another claim to fame. It served as a location in the <em>Deadly Communion<\/em> episode of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/songsfilms\/vienna-blood-season-3\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"54655\">Season 3<\/a> of the Vienna Blood period detective drama series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to get to the Loos House<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The Loos House sits in the historic centre of Vienna at the end of the pedestrianised Kohlmarkt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Walk down Kohlmarkt and then turn right up the Graben, for example, to discover other architecture of the time (particularly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/jugendstil-graben\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"33969\">Jugendstil houses and business locations<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bus: Michaelerplatz has its own bus stop, cunningly named &#8220;Michaelerplatz&#8221;. Both the 1A and 2A bus routes go there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Subway: take the U3 line to Herrengasse and walk up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Address:  Michaelerplatz 3, 1010 Vienna<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/u\/0\/embed?mid=1asmHlbVpicbQLt1557vf6l4l0zQ\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A fairly unobtrusive building in Vienna&#8217;s centre once led to much outraged clutching of breasts, pearls, and handkerchiefs among the ruling Imperial family. The Loos House even received its own nickname: the house without eyebrows. Loos House history (The Loos house is on the left) When tailors Goldman und Salatsch got Adolf Loos to design [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7413,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3114","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-winter-palace","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3114"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87466,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3114\/revisions\/87466"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}