Illegal Renovation at Adolf Loos's Casa Scheu in Vienna Sparks Outrage

Casa Scheu, a pioneering modernist house designed by Adolf Loos in Vienna, has been subjected to unauthorized construction work by its new owner, Stefan Tweraser, just days after acquiring the property. The building, located at Larochegasse 3 and protected as a national monument since 1971, saw scaffolding and a hoist erected without permits from the Federal Monuments Office (BDA) or the building police (MA37). The scandal was first reported by architect and journalist Isabella Marboe in the Austrian daily Die Presse. Marboe, former editor-in-chief of Domus' German edition, visited the site after a colleague alerted her. Inside, she found demolished walls, removed radiators and pipes, dismantled oak paneling, and debris, with original furniture stacked and exposed to dust. She encountered Tweraser, who refused to comment. The BDA eventually halted the works. Casa Scheu, built 1912-13 for lawyer Gustav Scheu and his wife Helene, was a landmark of modernism: the first residential building in Vienna with flat terraced roofs on all three levels, stark white facades devoid of ornament, and a radical break from bourgeois villas. Its interiors featured oak wood elements. The house was a cultural salon frequented by Oskar Kokoschka, Alban Berg, and Loos himself. The unauthorized renovation has sparked public outrage and raised questions about the protection of architectural heritage.