Adolf Loos Monographic Exhibition at Venice's Biblioteca Marciana

The Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice hosts 'Adolf Loos, Our Contemporary. The House at Michaelerplatz in Vienna,' a monographic exhibition curated by Marko Pogacnik of Università IUAV di Venezia and Yehuda Safran of Columbia University, New York. The show reconstructs the genesis of Loos's Looshaus, built for the tailor Goldman & Salatsch from 1909, focusing on its controversial approval process, municipal regulations, negotiations with clients, and modifications during construction. Documentation highlights the violent press campaign against its innovative facade, which blended classical sources with common building. The exhibition transforms the Sansovino library into an architecture studio, displaying seventy projects and drawings pinned on raw panels. It emphasizes Loos's creative rationality and public negotiation, foregrounding his technical drawings over his caustic literary output like 'Ornament and Crime' and 'Spoken into the Void.' The show runs until July 24, 2016.