Patrimonialiser l’œuvre d’Adolf Loos : acteurs et enjeux en Autriche et en République tchèque, 1920-2020

Abstract

This article examines the different steps in the development of the heritage value of the work of Adolf Loos, considered today as one of the key players in modern architecture, through a comparative study of the Czech and Austrian cases. This architect, born in Brno, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, spent most of his career in Vienna between 1896 and 1918 before he chose to take Czechoslovakian nationality and then to build in the Czech Republic and in Austria: this two countries share today a common heritage. This includes both the built work of Loos (villas, shops, interior designs) as well as the archives of the architect, mainly preserved in Austria (by Vienna’s city hall library and by the Albertina Museum, in Vienna). These two aspects will be studied so as to identify the players and issues of the heritage processes that have been carried out from the 1920’s to the present. The simultaneous developments of the heritagisation of Loos, that is to say, the processes through which the work of the architect became a heritage object worthy of conservation and restoration (list and inventory, rankings, restoration, protection) with their multiple receptions and their various promotions (house-museum, exhibition, the European Capital of Culture Designation…) will therefore be highlighted.

Keywords

• modern architecture
• Adolf Loos
• Vienna
• Prague
• Brno
• Austria