Adolf Loos exhibition
Collaboration:
Martin Holba
Photograph:
Archive of GHMP
2019-2020, Prague - National Technical Museum
The exhibition design for the 150th anniversary of Adolf Loos' birth at the National Technical Museum presents the key works of Adolf Loos, with a focus on his realizations in the Czech lands, contextualizing them within his broader body of work and theoretical contributions. This context is illustrated through a spatial diagram of Loos' life and architectural creations, which is mapped on a platform at the center of the room. The diagram shows the timeline and geographical locations of his various projects, including the exhibited models.
Loos' Life Line: Adolf Loos was a globetrotter, often living on trains and ships. The central theme of the exhibition is the life line that guides the visitor through the exhibition. The line is generated from a time-space diagram, which is oriented along two axes. The horizontal axis represents the locations where Loos lived and worked (USA, France, the Czech lands, Vienna, Switzerland), while the vertical axis is the timeline of Loos' life, from 1870 to 1933. Each of Loos' projects is marked on the diagram with a cross, indicating the year and location of the project. Key projects are complemented with period photographs.
Additionally, the life line runs through this diagram, showing visitors where Loos lived and when, helping to contextualize the stages of his life. The models are placed on the diagram according to the period and location of their creation, allowing visitors to easily understand at which phase of Loos' life the projects were conceived. From this diagram, it becomes clear that Loos primarily created architecture in the latter half of his life.
The first exhibit that visitors encounter is the original of Loos' book "Sprachlehre" (Speech into the Void), which presents the main principles of his theoretical work.