The film shows 27 still-existing buildings and interiors by Austrian architect Adolf Loos in order of their construction. Adolf Loos was one of the pioneers of European Modernist architecture. His vehement turn against ornamentation on buildings triggered a controversy in architectural theory.
The development of his “spatial plan” launched a new way of thinking about spaces to be built. His houses, furniture for shops and apartments, facades, and monuments were built between 1899 and 1931. They were filmed in 2006 in Vienna, Lower Austria, Prague, Brno, Pilsen, Nachod, and Paris in their present surroundings.
Presented in collaboration with Gene Siskel Film Center
Heinz Emigholz (b. 1948, Achim, Germany) is an artist, director, writer, and actor. He trained as a draughtsman before studying philosophy and literature at the University of Hamburg. A major figure in German independent and experimental cinema, Emigholz has produced over 90 long and short films, ranging from theatrical features to experimental documentary. Described by Variety as the "most accurate observer of architecture," Emigholz is dedicated to origins, the fate, the triumph and end of architectural Modernism. From 1993 - 2013 he served on the faculty of the Berlin University of the Arts. He has been the subject of numerous surveys and retrospectives internationally, most recently at the National Gallery in Washington D.C Centro Cultural in São Paulo, Instituto Moreira Salle in Rio de Janeiro and XV International Biennial of Architecture of Buenos Aires. His work is distributed by Pym Films and Filmgalerie 451.
