Thursday, March 6, 2008

Loos and symbolism

Was Loos trying to be symbolic when he designed his building/homes?

The simple answer is yes. As talked about in class, Loos like to keep the outside of homes plain, while the inside would reflect the owner. That is how people are. On the outside, we are all very similar. We all haves eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and so on , just as all homes have doors, walls, windows etc.; however, on the inside we are all extremely different. Typically, people try to keep what is on the inside private until we are comfortable enough with others to invite them into our "homes". Well, it is the same idea with Loos and his houses. You shouldn't be able to look at a house and tell everything about the owner until the owner has invited you into the home and has revealed his/ her inner self.

I would also like to think that by getting rid of the ornamentation on the outside of the building would allow viewers to see the materials in a sort of natural state. Without distracting the viewer from materials by using outrageous forms of decoration, a viewer could see a building’s materials until together in their natural state. By doing this, people could begin to appreciate the everyday things/ materials. Hopefully, this could push people away from always trying to compete with worldly things and eventually accept people/ things for the way there were: natural.

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