A Comparison of House 13 by Le Corbusier and Sheu House by Adolf Loos

Most of us know about Le Corbusier, he was a pioneer in studies of modern design. Adolf Loos on the other hand, I for one did not know much about. Adolf Loos ranks as one of the most important architects within the context of the modern architecture movement. His compositions were seen as keen examples of an inherent beauty, ranging from very conventional country cottages to planar storefronts and residences. Ironically, his influence was based largely on a body of controversial essays and a few interior designs. He studied architecture at the Technical College in Dres Den and became particularly interested in the works of Vitruvius, who as we all know had a big influence on Le Corbusier as well. Adolf Loos is well known for his “opinions” on the use of ornamentation in architecture. He believed that excessive ornamentation was criminal due to the economics of labor and wasted materials. He published his extremely controversial essay titled “Ornament and Crime” which was widely criticized. Le Corbusier later attributed his “Homeric Cleansing” idea of architecture to his work.

Scheu House by Adolf Loos

Here we can see the Scheu House by Adolf Loos. Being one of his more famous contributions, we can clearly see many characteristics that we have previously mentioned. The façade of the building is very plain, almost no ornamentation whatsoever. The only defining aspects to the building so far are the multi-leveling terracing of the roofs and the windows, which suggest relationships to the interior program. Looking at the plan, there is an easy relationship between the different spaces. There is this sort of bleeding effect of a hallway that seems to start off of the kitchen and bathroom area which then moves into the Hall but where you meet a decision: you can either go left of right, into the Hall or the Dining Room. Here we see a pattern of this hallway dissecting into the circular movement between the Hall, the Dining Room, Library and Music Room. An interesting aspect of the plan is the window placement. Even though we are not provided with any sort of orientation, we can use the layout of the program to determine that North is up. The Hall and Music Room would make sense to have north light as they tend to be areas of relaxation, whereas the window pattern on the south side has more activity due to the level of activity in the kitchen, dining room, and library spaces. Another give away is the terracing. Although not shown, the second and third floors house the bedrooms, which due to the terracing each have equal access to an east facing balcony.

House 13 by Le Corbusier

House 13 by Le Corbusier has an immediately similar approach with the window placement. Without even looking at the plan there is an apparent connection with the windows and the program inside. Upon inspection of the plan, I feel that there is a hidden level of complexity in the layout compared to the Scheu House. The first floor plan features two curved walls, one of which looks as if to house a bathroom. The front door opens immediately to the staircase and the dining area with the kitchen alongside the east side in the back. The second floor also has curved walls, but this time they act more as partitions, sort of guides/barriers that more or less direct your flow of circulation.  Also, they are at an angle, which makes them open more to one side of the room and close more to the other. The third floor plan has a huge space that even though we are not sure of what it may be, we can assume it is important due to its placement off of the stairs, as it is the first thing you come across. Finally, we come to the fourth floor which houses the bedrooms and also empties out onto a rooftop garden terrace. This particular house has a clear structural system, using an offset column grid which speaks to me more plan domino than anything. Yet the house seems to reach beyond the overall square shape that plan domino normally demands.

Comparatively, there are some similarities between the houses. Both of these houses are basically modular, the only exception being the overall forms of the two (the terraced step form of the Scheu House and the first floor curvature of the Corbusier’s House 13). Personally, although I can’t deny that the Scheu House has a straightforward, unified floor plan, I feel like House 13 just draws my attention more. There seems to be more relationships between the spaces, whether it’s the repetition of objects, furniture, or openings. I get this feeling that each of the floors has its own character, yet contributes equally to the composition of the house as a whole.