LOOS - Design & Redesign

The Vienna Furniture Museum boasts one of the world’s largest collections of furniture designed by Adolf Loos (1870–1933). For Vienna Design Week 2020 we’re marking the 150th anniversary of the architect’s birth by focusing on his furniture designs and interrogating his relevance for Austrian designers.

The exhibition is divided into two sections:

1. Design island with contemporary design
On one of the display islands designed by Robert Rüf we present contemporary takes on Loos by breadedEscalope, Martin Möstböck, Patrick Rampelotto, Soda Designers and Vandasye, who have engaged with the architect’s world of ideas in varying ways:

• The Kärntner Bar by Loos and his designs for a villa for Josephine Baker are the sources of inspiration for the Bar non Lieu and the Daybed.
• The Knieschwimmer easy chair and the Elephant Trunk table by Loos are the objects of reference for the Dolfi lounge chair and the two tables Duo Table and Desk/Table.
• Loos’s fascination with antique columns and the beauty of marble as a material provided the impulses for the Colonna planter and the Reflecting Marble mirror.

2. Adolf Loos in the museum’s permanent collection
Interior living and design were themes that dominated the life of Loos as an architect and cultural critic. In the permanent exhibition of the museum we examine the sources of inspiration for Loos’s furniture, focusing in particular on the English models that influenced his designs.

Curation: Eva B. Ottillinger
Design: Robert Rüf
Graphic design: Rosmarie Ladner, buero8