Raiffeisen Bank

The Raiffeisen Bank or the Looshaus building was the result of an architectural competition arranged by Leopold Goldman and Emanuel Aufricht. The building would sit directly across from the Imperial Palace home to Franz Josef who was the Emperor of Austria at the time. The imperial house, also known as the Hofburg was a building of baroque style which has highly ornamental. The Looshaus building completely ignored the history of the surrounding area. It was an early modern building that rejected the ornamental style of the Hofburg across the city square. The building was split into two distinctive halves in which one housed the public, while the other housed the private. The bottom half housed the public program and this half would amplify ornament. The upper half of the building would house the private program but this half was plain, there was no ornament in the residential half. Instead the top half of the building focuses on juxtaposing solid and void. This distinct separation was enhanced by the change in materials, the facade of the bottom half of the building was lined with Cipollino of Evia and Skyros marble, “Loos chose a marble that on one hand was as graphic as Sullivan’s ornament, and on another connected the building directly to Rome and Roman Culture” (Adolf Loos, Ornament and Crime) On the other hand, the facade of the residential upper half was made of plain plaster. During its construction, Franz Josef was outraged with the building, the upper half of the building lacked enough ornament that the construction of the building was brought to a halt. The project would not continue until Adolf Loos added planters to a few of the windows. Adolf Loos was a functionalist, and simplicity was a key to this theory. His work was highly influenced by Louis Sullivan’s work in America. Loos closely followed a quote from Louis Sullivan that read “It could only benefit us if for a time we were to abandon ornament and concentrate entirely on the erection of buildings that were finely shaped and charming in their sobriety”. Loos’ work could be seen to incorporate this idea of functionalism. He found the same philosophy in food, " The dishes of past centuries, which display all kinds of ornaments to make peacocks, pheasants and lobsters look more tasty, have exactly the opposite effect on me... I am horrified when I go through a cookery exhibition and think that I am meant to eat these stuffed carcasses. I eat roast beef" (Adolf Loos, Ornament and Crime). He believed there was no need for the unnecessary ornament, why would one decorate something to make it look tastier than it is if it still serves the same purpose without its decoration. This mentality was precisely what the drew disgust from the Emperor. Years were put into the ornament of the Hofburg with each fine detail adding to its complexity. There was no direct connection to what was inside of the building except for the difference between the bottom floor and the stories above.  

The Looshaus, by Christopher Long

Ornament and Crime, Adolf Loos