Ac! lf 1 29.

Ornament and Crime (1929)'

In the omb the human embryo g through all ph f cl -

King 01 mon are quo cd n thc wall, bur 15 nor: .. , whi h m de vdopm nt th animal kingdom has p cd ehr ugh. cl h( n a
rh' .fI r unJer rhe an i 0('. foot ncl the vaute of the church eiling human being is b m, h' os impr i n are Iike a nt'w-bom
o er rhc 'hrisÜan's head, i no cramped omo box and b ,I e. cl '. In childhood he thr ugh a11 chang rr ponding t
eim re warse (han ne min 11 r g in rhe developmene f humaniry. Ae (Wo hee ich ehe
'y fa Papuan. at ur wirh rh e of a ermanie cnb man, r ix
r f ocrares, at eighe of Volr 're. At eigbe he becom Cl ar f
violee, eh c lor dj cov red by eh eigheeenrh cenrury; before ehae.
l. Hermann Muth ju (l 61-1927). a member fehe \l7t"rk- 101 \ ere blue and eh purpl' nail was ted. Even roday ph ici
bund. Hi rhree-volume DM ｭｧｬｩｳ｣ｨｾ HilUS (1904, Th ngli h can p im ro colors in ehe olar pecrrurn which have becn giveo a
H u e) w very influencial in preading ehe id oC ehe Arts nd name, bur which ie will be leu tO future g nerari n r dLs ·m.
rafT mov rnem in crmany. A hild j amoraJ. A Papuan ro , for uso The Papuan slaughtet
2. ce Noce on p. 1 3. hi enemics and devours thern. He i noe a criminaJ. Bur jf a
3. Kurutschau J 908, the tide of an exhibition of are and craft· m dern person slaugheers ome ne and devours hirn, h i a
-howing m ny of ehe St"wsion arei a d cade afT r [heil mergence. criminaJ or a degenerate. The Papuan covers his kin wieh taetoo ,
J cf Hoffinann designed eh p vilioo. hi bo r, hi oars, in h re ev ryching he can lay his h uds on. He
i n criminal. Tbc modern ｾ･ｰ n who rarroos hirn If 1 eicher a
criminal or a degenerace. There ar pd os in which eighry per eoe
o eh inm t bave rart . P pIe irh earroos n t in pmon ar
eicher lat Ot criminal or deg nerat nslOCIars.
Thc urg co decorate one' face and anyrhing el e wichin ream
, the origrn of che fine ans. Ir i the chiJdish babble of paiming.
But all art i erotic.
p n of our eim who gi y to rhe urg r d ub the
alJ ,. th erotic ymbols i a riminaJ or a cl nerat. t i
n rural in the Papuan or eh child' a ign f clcg ncracy in
m ern dult. I made ehe fall wing discovery, which r p ed n ro
eh orld: ｾｨｴ nJolution 0/ eu/turt is synonymow with ｾｨｴ rmlovolo/
omommtation frOllJ ｣ｾｪ｢ｯ 0/ nJeryday we. 1 thought by doin r
wOuld bring joy ro ehe world: jr has nor rhanked me for ir. Peoplc
wcre ad and downcast. What cl pres cd ehern was the reali7..3.cion we
could no longer create new ornament. What? We alonc, ehe pople
f rhe ninceeeneh cenrury, werc not capable of doing ornerhing
every negro tlibesman could do, omething every age and n eion
befi re u had done!?
 J 68 Adolf Lo", Ornament :md Crime 169

Thc ObjttlS mankllld cra.ted in earlicr millenni. withoul laus Draught ofFishes,- soon ･ｲｾｨｴ were cupbo:udi wilb narnes Jjke
ornamellt havc bccn casuaUy lossed aside and allowed tO go to "11lc Bcwirched Prmcess, - rcferring tO rhe decorauon with which
wrack and ruin. Wc da 001 possess a single wOrXbench from [he these unfonunate pieces wcre Ｎ､ｾｲ･ｶｯ｣ The Ausrrian slare takes ilS
<:.:.arolinglan JX'nod. but auy picec of crash having even thc shghlCSI rask so seriously it c=:nsurcs the ancient footcloth does nOI dlsappar
dccor.uion w;u; colkcted, c1eaned up. and pur in an os{cmaÖous cntirdy from within rhe bounds o( ｲｨｾ AUSlro..H ungarian ｭｯｮ｡ｲｾ
palacc buih specially to houu: it. And we made our war sadly ehy. h fortes ｹｲ･Ｇｾ cuhured rwmry-year-old man tO spend thl'tt
around thc showc.uo, adwncd of OUt impot-cnce. Evcry qKXh had years marching in f(lO{doths wend of in knined hosiery. ｾｴｦａ Ｌｾｬ｡
tU own uylc. :lInd OUt$ alane should bc: dcnied allel.! 8y scylc peopk rYcry state worb on thc assumption that a primitive population 1$
mt:U1t orn.amcnt:uion. BUI I ｾ､Ｎ "00 001: Wttp. Do you mx ,\tt cniet tO govem than a culrurul one.
Ihe gr«tncss of OUt agc raida in our "eI)' inability co ere;ue nnw- Thl:' epidemic of ornament enjoys S:ralt rccognilton and srate
ornammt? Wc h:n'c gone bcyood ornamCnl. wc havc= achiacd plain. subsidy. then. Fot ooy pan. bownret, 15« that:u aretrograde step.
und«onued simplicity. BdloM. tht" urne is at hand, ful6Umcm I do nOl: accq>1 me objection thaI omamenl is a source of ｩ ｮ ｾ
awaits lLl.. Sooo thc str«a of thc cities will shinc likc whÜc walls! pleasuR' in life fot a.L1rum:l peoplc, ehe objeaion apresKd an me
ülcC' Zion, (he Holy City. HC.JVcn's capital. Theo fulfillmror will o:damarion, -BUf if mt' omament is buutiful!- For rot, and with
bc ours. .. me fot aU proplt of rulrun:, ornament is not a souru of ｩ ｮ ｾ
But thert' w('re hobgoblins wilo l('fiucd to accept it. They plcasurc in life. Whm I wanl tO eat a pie« of gingerbread,l chCJOS('
WOI.nIed mankind ro conrinu tO nrain under mc yokc of ｯ ｲ ｮ ｡ ｭ ｾ ｮ ｴ Ｎ a piece mal is plain, not a piece mapcd like a hc:an. or a baby, or
Mankind had rach«! thc pomt whcrc ornamCDf w;as 00 longer a a ca.valryman, COYCted aver and over wirh d«orauon. A lif-
solu'cc of pleasure. ･ｲｾｨｷ a tattooed face, lnstead of increasing lcenth-cenrury man would not have undcrstood me. but all modcm
prople's ae$lha:ic pleasure as il docs for me Papuans, diminished peoplc will. The supportcrs of ornament think ooy hunger for
Ｎ｣ｲｵｩｉｬ｡ｾ ｰ Peopk had rcached the point whcrt they likcd a plain simpliciry is same kind of mortific:uion of thc Aesh. No. ooy dear
cigarettt' Ｌｾｳ｡｣ whilt' they would ooe buy a decor.ned one, cvcn if Professor of Applied Am. 1 am not monifying thc flcsh 2t alt. I
the pricc was the Ｎ･ｭ｡ｾ Thcy were happy wirh rn..:ir dothes, and find the gingcrbread lastC$ ｾＨ｣ｲ like that.
glad rhey did not h:l.ve (0 go around dressed like fäirground It is easy to reroncile oursdves (0 the grc:at damage and
monkeys in roo vclver rrausers with gold bra.id. And I said, ·See, depredarions the revival of ornament had done (0 our Ｒ･ｳＨｨｾｴｩ｣
the room where Goerhc died is more splendid [han all your devdopooent, since no one and nothing, not even fhe power of [he
renaissance pomp. and :I. plaln piece of furnirure is more bcauriful state, can hold up the evolurion of mankind. Ir can only be slowed
lhan your museum pieces wirh all [heir inlay work alld carving. down. We can afford (0 wait. BUl ist L'Conomic rcspecrs if is a
Gocthc's language is more heaurifid than aB [he flowery language ctime. in that ir leads to the W3..\(e of human labor. Ｎｙｾｬｏｭ and
of the Nurembcrg ｬＺｲｯｾ｡ｰ POCts." lllateriais. That is damagc fime tannat repair.
Thal ｣ｬｳｰｊＳＮｾ･､ tbc hobgoblins, and Ihe stare, whosc rask Il is The speed of culrural devcJopmcnt is halllpctcd by lbc strag-
CO obmUCl the pcoplc's culruraJ progress, decided co promote the gien. 1am livtng. sar, in 1912, Oly neighbor around ｬｾｏＬ and that
devdopmenr and revivaJ of Otnamentation. Woe [0 mc starc whose mall over fhere in 1880. Ir is amisforrune fot astare lf the culrure
revolulions are müde by in civil servanrs! Soon in the Vienna of tU inhabifanls srretches Qver roo great a time span. 111e pea.sant
Museum of Applied Art [here was a sideboard ca1led "The ｍｩｊＢＲｃｬｾ who farms in the shadow of me Croßglockner livC$ in the rwdfrh
 170 Adolf Loos Ornament and Crime 171

century. On the occasion of the festival procession to celebrate the eriminally low rates paid tO emhroiderers and lace makers are
Emperor's jubilee we shuddered tO Jearn that here in Austria we stm well-known. An ornamental crafrsman has to work for twenty hours
have tribes from the fourth century. Happy the land thar does not ro reach the pay a modern worker earns in eight. In general,
have many cultural srragglers and laggards. Happy America! Here dccoration makes objecls more expensive, but despite that it docs
in Austria even in the cities there are people who are not modern, happen that a decorated object, with materials costing the same and
people srilllivlng in the eighteenth cenrury, horrified ar a picrure demonstrably taking three times as long to produce, i5 put on 5ale
wirh violet shadows because they have not yet learned to see the at half the priee of a plain object. The result of omitting deeoration
color violet; people ro whom a pheasanr tastes better if rhe cook has js a reduction in working hours and an increase in wages. A
spenr days preparing it, and to whom a cigarette case looks betrer Chinese wood carver worb for sixteen hours, an American laborer
if ir is covered in renaissance ornament. And out in the country? for eight. If 1pay as much for a plain box as for one with ornamen-
Clorhes and bousehold goods all belong to earlier times. The tation, the difference in labor time belongs co the worker. And if
peasant is not a Christian, he js still a heamen. there were uo ornaments at a11-a state that will perhaps eome
These people who lag behind are slowing down tbe cultural about after thousands of years-we would need to work for only
developmenr of the nations and of humanity. As far as the eca- four houts instead of eight, since at the moment half of our labor
nomic aspect is concerned, if you have two people living next door is accQunted for by ornamentation.
to each other who have the same needs, the same aspirations, and Ornament means wasted labor and therefore wasted health.
the same income, bur who belong to different cultural epochs, you That was always the ease. T oday, however, it also means wasted
will find the man of the rwenrieth century gerting rieher and richer, material, and both mean wasted capital.
and rhe man of the eighteenth century poorer and poorer. 1 am As there is no longer any organic conneetion between ornament
assuming, of course, that in both cases their lifestyles reneer their and our culture, ornament is no longer an expression of our culture.
attitudes. The man of the twenrieth celltury needs much less capital The ornament being ereated now bears no relationship to us, nor
to supply his needs, and ean therefore make savings. The vegetables ro an)' human being, or to the system governmg the world coday.
he likes are simply cooked in water and served wirh a Im ob of Ir has no potential for developmenr. Where is Otto Eckmann's
butter. They taste good to the arher only if there are nuts and ornamentarion now/- or that of van der Velde? In the past the artist
honey mixed in, and a cook has spent hours over them. Decorated was a healthy, vigorous figure, always at the head of humanity. 1 he
plates cost more, whiIe rwenrieth-century man likes his food on modern ornamental artist, however, lags behind or is a pathologieal
white crockery alone. The one saves money while the othet throws case. After three years even he hirnself disowns his own products.
it away, And ir is the same with whole nations. Woe betide the Cultured people fmd thern intolerable straight away. others become
people thar lag behjnd in their cultural developmenc. The English awate of it only after a number of years. Where are Otto Eck-
are getting rieher, and we poorer.... mann s worb roday? Where will Olbrich's be in ten years' time.
The harm done by ornament to the ranks of ehe producers is Modern ornament has no parents and no offipring, no past and no
even greater, Sinee ornament i5 no longer a natural produet of out: future. Uncultivated people, for whom the greatness of our age is
cuhure. bur a symptom of backwardness or degeneraey, the" a closed book, greet it rapturously and then dlsown it after a shorr
eraftsman producing the ornament is not fairly rewarded for his • time.
labor. The conditions among wood carvers and turners, the·
 172 Adolf Loo. Orn:llne:nl :md Crime 173

Humaniry as öl whole is heahhy, ooly öl few are siek. Bur these tO pay a ptiee fot the.m that would allow che worker ro cam more
rat ryr.annize (hl: worket, who is so heaJrhy he is incapable of money :lOd work shorter houll. For an object: from whieh 1 am
inventing ornamenC$. lbq comp<1 hirn (0 executc thc ornamenu eonvinced I will get full ｾｳｵ unril ir is worn OUI I am quitc happy
(hey have invenred, in öl wide variery of different materials. tO pay four cimes ehe price of anorbcr I eould buy. I am happy to
The changing whion in ornament r<'Subs in öl premature pay fony crowns for my shocs, cven though Ihere art' shucs for ren
dcvaJuarion of thc pmducr of the worker's labor; his time anel the in another shop. But in those Ir.tdcs that languish under the yoke
marerials used an wlSled capita.l. I have fOmlulaccd the following of rhe ornamental aniS[, no value is put on good or bad workman-
pfinciple: ｔｨｾ form ofUJ ｯ｢ｩｾｎ shouid lJUr. riNlr ist UN shou/J find ir ship. Work sufter:; beause no one is willing tO pOly for it Olr irs true
tOIrTllbk 4S "'nt IU (iN o!Jjert ,tylf wrs. I will explain: A suit will value.
dunge iu sryle matt' often man öl valuable fur. A woman's ball And that 15 a good thing [00. sinee these ornamenred objects
OUdll, imended for aRe nighr aJone. will change ia $[ylc ｾｯｭ an:' bearable only ,,'hen [hq ｾ shoddily produecd. I find it asiet
qUlddy man a ､ｾｫＮ Wcx bttidc US, hown'C'r, if wc havc 10 change ro aa:qn a 6ft' when I har jr is only wonhless rubblsh that is
öl dc:sk as quick1y as öl ball audit b«:au.sc \l,"e CUl 00 langu stand the being destroyed. I an enioy Ihe tJumJXry in the: l(jilutltrJunu'
oId style. Thco wc will bavc wasi«! mc moncy wc paid fot mc beauS<' I MOW it take:s a fcw days tO put it up and onc dar to teat
dok. it down. But throwing coins ilUfead of staues, Iighung a cig:u with
OrnamenraJ anisu :md cr:lfumcn an: wdl aware of this, and in a b;LJlk note, crushing up and drinking a JXarl, I fmd unaesrhctic.
Austria they try tO show this ddidency in a positive light. 'Ilte:y say. Only when ｴｨｾ ornamenred things have been made from thc
..A comumer who has furnishings he canoot stand after ｵｾｮ ycars, best material with the greatcst eare, and have taken up many m,lIl-
and Ibus is force<! to rerurnish his apanment every ten years, is bet- houts of wark, da they become trulr unaesrherie. I have tQ admit
ter chan one who buys something ooly when the old one becornes I was me first tO demand qualiry workmamhip. Professor Hofr-
worn out wirb usc. Industry needs rhat, The rapid changt:.s in fash- mano's inte.rior for the. Apollo C.andle Faclory shop in Vienna, done
ion provide employmem for millions.· in piJlc with a colored staln faun«n ye:us ago, is by no mcans as
This seems to bc the secret of the Aunrian «onomy. When a unbe:uable a.s ｾｨ ｴｮｾｵ｣ designs. Or as unbe.arable ｾ Hoffmann',i
fire breaks out. how ofien doc:s one hear .somronc uy, '"Thank Cool designs will look in a funher faun«n ｹ ｾ Ｇ lime. My Gafe
Now there is work for pcople again.· Just set a hOUR on ｦｩｾＬ set" Museum. howevcr, which opcned ar rhe same [lme as the shop. will
the ｅ ｭ ｰ ｩ ｾ on fire, aad everyone will bc rolling in moner. JUst k«p he unbearable only whcn the carpcntry work begins to fall apart.
on making furniture we chop up for firewood ane.r three rean. A modern person. who regards ornament as a symptom of the
mountings we luve to mch down alter four, bttausc cvcn at artistic superfluity of ｰｲｾｩｯｵｳ ages and For that reason holds it
<llletion chey will MI ferch a rcnth of the cOSt of labor aod materi- sacred. will immcdiardy recogniu: the unhealthy, thc: ｾｮｩ｡ｰＭ､･｣ｲｯｦ
als, and we will gel richer and rieb er! fully forccd-natUfe of modern ornament. Ornament can no longer
Not 01lly thc consumcr bears thc lass, ie is abovc alt ehe be produccd by someone living on the eullUrallevcl of today. It is
producer. Nowadays. puning dc:<:oration on objeet5 which, thanks different fOt individuals and people who havc not yet rcached thar
10 progress, no longer need tO be decorated, means a waste of labor level.
and an abuse: of material. I f all objeas would last as lang in Tbe ideal I pteach is the aristoc:r.n. Wh:u I mean by that is thC'
aenhetic terms :u they last ph)'$icaUy, thc consumer would be: able: penon ar the peak of humanity, who yet hlb a. profound undet·
 174 Adolf Loos Ornament and Crime 175

scanding of ehe problem and aspirations of rhose at the bOHorn. After alI the roil and tribulations of the day we can go ro hear
One who weH ｾ､ｮ｡ｴｳｲ･､ｮｵ the way the Africall work pattems into Beethoven or Tristtm, My shoemaker cannor. 1 must not take his
his cloch according to a certain rhythm, so rhe design appears only religion away from hirn, fOT] have nothing to pur in itS place. Bur
when rhe fabric is raken off the 100m; likewise the Persian weaving anyone who goes to the Nl'rzth and then sit5 down ro design a
his rug, the Slovak peasanr wornan maklng her lace, the old wornan wallpaper pattern is eicher a fi-aud or adegenerate.
making marvelous needlework from silk and glass beads. The The disappearance of ornament has brought about an un-
arisrocrar lets them cany on in thcif own accustomed way, he dreamed-of blossaming in the other arts. Beerhoven's symphanies
knows the time they spend on their work is sacred ro thern. The would never have been wrirren by a man who had to dress in silk,
revo.lutionary would go and tell thern it was all poindess, just as he velver, aod lace. Those who go around in velvet jackets coday are
would drag an old wornan away from the wayside shrine, telling her not; anisrs, but clowns or hause painters. We have become more
there Is no God. But rhe atheist among the aristOcrars still raises his refmed, more subtlc. When men foUowed the herd they had [0
hat when he passes a church, differenriate themsdves through color, modern man uses his dress
My shoes are covered with decoration formed by sawrooth as a disguise. His sense of his own individualiry is so immensely
patterns aud holes. Work done by rhe shoernaker, work he has not strang it can 00 longer be expressed in dress. Lack of ornamenratian
been paid for. Imagine I go co the shoemaker and say, "You charge is a sign of intellectual srrength. Modern man u es the ornamenrs
thirry crowns for a pair of shoes. I will pay you forty-eight." Tl' will of earEer OI foreign cultures as he likes :lnd as he sees fit. He
I1 ralSi:: ehe man tO such a transport of delight he will thank me cancentrates his own inventive power on other things.
thl'Ough his workmanship and the material used, making ehern of

I a qualiry ehat will far outweigh my extra parment. He is happy] and

happiness js a rare commodity in his hause. He has found someone
Afrerword

who understands hirn, who respecrs his work, and does not doube This anicle by the Viennese architect, wrirren in 1908, at which
his honesry. He can already see the finished shoes in his mind'scye. time ir was the cause of riors among applied anises in Munich, but
He knows wherc the best Ieather is ro be found at the moment, he received wirb raprurous applause when deiivered as a lecrure in
knows which of his workers he will entrust with ehe task, and the Berlin, has nevcr befoTe been published in German. The tirle l
shoes will have alJ the sawtooth patterns and holes an elegant pair "OrnamenT and Crime," i5 a carcbword for manyJ known even to
of shoes can take. And then I say, "Bur rhere is one condition. The peaple who never knew where it came rrom, The areide has
shoes musr be completely plain." I will drag hirn down from the appeared in the languages of all advanced nations, even in ]apanese
beighrs oE bliss to the depth of hell. He will have less work, and I aod Hebrew. The only one missing was German. We are grareftÜ
have taken away all his pJeasure in it. ir has been made available ro us so we can publish ir on rhe
Thc ideal I preach is the aristocrar. I can. acccpt decoration on occasion of the Frankfurt meeting of the International Association
my own person if ir brings pleasure CO my fellow men. Ir bring fot New Building. It demonsrraces co us roday mat, at the time
pleasure co me, wo. I can accept the Mrican's ornament, the when art rwuveau was flourishing, Adölf Laos was perhaps the only
Persian's, the lovak peasant woman's, my shoemaker' , for jr person who Was dear about what is modem. Just as rhe houses
provides the high point of rheir existence, which they have 11.0 orher Adolf Loos buHt ewenry years ago and which at that time aroused
means of achieving. We have rhe arr rhat has superseded ornament.
176 Adolf Laos 30. Brief Intermezzo (1909)
1 Opposite thc Opera. in the Heinrichshof, is the Viennese branch ｾｦ
:l storm of indignation, are now accepted as expressiom of pure thc French meralware manufacrurer ChrisroRe. f have to pass n
fu ncrional form." every dar. Thc window display nevcr makcs mc stap.
A ycar ago somcrhing special happcned. I was abom (0 rush
Note; past again when somcrhing puUed mc back wirh a jerk.
In the middle of all thc rableware and cutlery.-<urlcry of
1. "This C!Ssay was wrinen in 1908. We dedicarc it 10 the English design fot propie who can ear, and cutlery fot those who
Second International Congress far New Building. meeting [OOay in can't, after designs by Olbrich-there was a life·sized Dobennan
Frankfurt_" Foolnote in thc Frankfuno Zt'itung. pinsche.r. White china, glaz.ed. Only the eyes and mu7..7..le were
2. See note. p. 38. culorcd.
3. The gallery of [he Associarion of Vicnnese Anim. My first I.houghr was: Copenhagen. And 1 began to revise my
4. 'me Aficrword appeared in the FrankfuTuT uitung. verdia on Copenhagen chinaware. I certainly would like to possess
thai dog. So thete were artistS who could creau: things in this style
pcople want fO possess. Whar was the artist called? Where did he
live?
I went in and asked. And leamoo Ihe man had b«n dead for
something Iike a hundred and fifty years. h was a copy from the
Shres fuClOry.
I couldn't afford tO buy ir, bUi from Ihen on I sropped C"ery
day ro see my clog.
Ir wem on like that for a year, bur ehen rccendy all my pleasure
vanished. lne clog had gone. I wem in and asked, nWhere is my
clog?"
An Amcrican had bought it. But {hey promised ehey would
have anorher sem and pue it in the window.
And I hope the Americans will use the sidewalk on thc other
side of the meer.

...