Mackintosh’s Hill House Becomes an International Iconic House!

SPECIAL – Czech Classics

Record Number of New Iconic Houses - Part 1

At Plečnik House: To Decide Where the Shadow Falls

Record Number of New Iconic Houses - Part 2

A Story of Burnt Books and Broken Bricks

Iconic Encounters: London

Remembering Irving J. Gill

Iconic Houses in the Media

Interview in Leading Catalan newspaper ARA

Bauhaus Villa in Berlin For Sale

Historical Exhibition, Marie-Laure de Noailles, Painter, Conversation

Our Badge of Honour

Istanbul’s Modernist Ataköy Housing Estate is At Risk

Early Furniture Designs by Le Corbusier on Permanent Display in Maison Blanche

Photo Report City Icons Amsterdam

Healing Through Architecture

Reopening An Iconic Modernist Landmark

City Icons Kick Off with Talk by Linda Vlassenrood

MORE MIES - Pure Architecture in Haus Lange Haus Esters

Through a Bauhaus Lens: Edith Tudor-Hart and Isokon

Modernism Week Lecture: 12 Years of Iconic Houses

Aluminaire House Grand Opening

Exhibition Icons of the Czech Avant-Garde

An Elementalist and Mediterranean Architecture

Icon for Sale - Loos Villa: Haus Horner

SPECIAL – Iconic Dreams Europe - Sleep in an Iconic House!

SPECIAL – Iconic Dreams North America - Sleep in an Iconic House!

SPECIAL – Dutch Delights!

SPECIAL - Vacances en France!

SPECIAL – German Greats!

SPECIAL - Casas Icónicas en España!

SPECIAL – Northern (High)Lights!

SPECIAL – Iconic Artist Residencies

SPECIAL – Iconic Collective Housing

SPECIAL – Women & Iconic Houses

Public Screenings and Private Streaming of Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House

Support the Frankfurt Declaration (on Housing)

Winy Wants a World Wonder

Welcome Atelier Volten!

Sleep in a Modernist Gem – Huis Billiet in Bruges

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - 100 Years Van Zessen House

Exclusive Tour and Film Screening Package

The Last House Designed by Adolf Loos Will Be Built in Prague

Icons of the Czech Avantgarde

Icon for Sale - Casa Legorreta

Rietveld Day: 200 Enthusiasts Explored 3 Utrecht Icons

Hurray! 10 Years Iconic Houses

7th International Iconic Houses Conference A Huge Success

Meet Conference Co-Chair Iveta Černá

Meet Conference Co-Chair Maria Szadkowska

Eighteen Iconic Houses Under One Roof

17 June - 'Pioneers-film' Screening Amersfoort

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Van Eesteren House Museum

Welcome Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky Zentrum in Vienna!

Welcome Vila Volman! Jewel of Czech Functionalism

Movie Night: Adolf Loos- Revolutionary Among Architects

'Inside Iconic Houses' Case Study House #26 Webcast in Webshop

Inside Iconic Houses at Taut’s Home in Berlin

Rediscovering Forgotten Loos Interiors in Pilsen

'Inside Iconic Houses' - Online Tour Program

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - The Diagoon House

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Rietveld Schröder House

Rietveld Houses Owners Association

Corberó Space: New Life for Hidden Jewel

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Pierre Cuypers' House and Workshops

Reeuwijk Celebrates Completion of Restoration Rietveld Homes!

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Van Doesburg Rinsema House

Welcome Rietveld's Van Daalen House!

Architect Harry Gessner Passed Away at 97

Watch Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House Now On Demand

Icon Saved: Dorchester Drive House

Welcome Umbrella House!

Iconic Houses in the Netherlands – Berlage’s Masterpiece

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Het Schip

Inside Iconic Houses - Tour of Maison Cazenave

Inside Iconic Houses Tours Vizcaya Museum & Gardens in Miami

Casa Masó Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary

Inside Iconic Houses tours Roland Reisley's Usonian Frank Lloyd Wright House

Rietveld’s Experimental Housing in Reeuwijk Saved

Serralves Villa after restoration

Portraits of the Architect - Interview with Gennaro Postiglione

Test Labs for New Ideas - Interview with Natascha Drabbe

Inside Iconic Houses - Isokon Building

Inside Iconic Houses - 16 December: Sunnylands with Janice Lyle

BCN-BXL Coderch-De Koninck - Beyond Time

New Chairman Architect Nanne de Ru on The Perfect Platform

Health and Home - Interview with Beatriz Colomina

A Life Less Ordinary – Interview with Valentijn Carbo

Invisible Women - Interview with Alice T. Friedman

Winy Maas on the Green Dip

Anita Blom on Experimental Housing of the 1970s

Women’s Worlds - Interview with Natalie Dubois

The Culture of Living - Interview with Robert von der Nahmer

Hetty Berens: A Fresh Take on Modernism

Niek Smit on Supporting Modern Heritage

Alice Roegholt on Amsterdam’s Working-Class Palaces

July is Iconic Houses Month

Hans van Heeswijk on The Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House

Wessel de Jonge on Dutch Icons at Risk

Save Maison Zilveli - Sign the Petition!

How a Building Tells a Story - Recorded Event

Toolkit for Owners of a Modern House

13 Aalto Sites Nominated for UNESCO World Heritage

Villa Beer At Risk - Sign the Petition!

Business Cards of Stone, Timber and Concrete in the Brussels Region 1830-1970

Exhibiting & Visiting Modernist Monuments

Fostering Well-Researched Responsible Design

ICONS AT RISK

Enjoy a virtual visit to the California House and a Q&A with architect Peter Gluck

Exhibition 'Modernism and Refuge'

A Hidden Gem of Postmodernism

New Centre for Historic Houses of India

An Online Chronicle of the Douglas House

Villa Henny, geometric style icon in The Netherlands

A Mendini temple in Amsterdam

IH-lectures USA & Canada Feb 2020 on Melnikov House

Sponsors and Friends

An Afternoon with the Glucks

Chandler McCoy on Making Modern Houses Sustainable

Catherine Croft: Getting Away from the Demolition Mentality in the UK

Patrick Weber on Discovering an Unknown Icon

Fiona Fisher on Iconic Interiors

Jocelyn Bouraly on Villa Cavrois

Mireia Massagué on finding success through a new kind of partnership

Danish Moderns – Looking Back at Our Mini-Seminar

Venturo house complements Exhibition Centre WeeGee’s offering

Lecture report: Remembering Richard Neutra

Hôtel Mezzara and the Guimard Museum project

We welcome 13 new members!

BREAKING NEWS: 8 Wright Sites Inscribed on Unesco World Heritage List!

LECTURE 29 August - Raymond Neutra: My Father and Frank Lloyd Wright

Iconic Reads

Iconic Houses End Year Message

City-ordered rebuild of landmark house stirs debate: Appropriate or overreach?

Kohlberg House Restoration in Progress

Planned Demolition of Rietveld Homes in Reeuwijk

Renovation Gili House in Crisis

An Iconic Saga

Restoring Eileen Gray’s Villa E-1027 and Clarifying the Controversies

Modernism on the East Coast

Iconic Houses in Latin America

Conference testimonials

House Tours May 2018 

Expert Meetings

Natascha Drabbe - Iconic Houses: The Next Chapter

Terence Riley -KEYNOTE SPEAKER- on Philip Johnson

New era for Villa E-1027 and Cap Moderne

Hilary Lewis on Philip Johnson and his Glass House

John Arbuckle on Great House Tours

William D. Earls on the Harvard Five in New Canaan

Stover Jenkins on Working for Philip Johnson

Frederick Noyes on his Father’s House

Scott Fellows and Craig Bassam on their Passion for Preservation

Jorge Liernur -KEYNOTE SPEAKER- on Latin American Modernism(s)

Fabio Grementieri on Modernism in Argentina

Catalina Corcuera Cabezut on Casa Luis Barragán

Renato Anelli on Lina Bo Bardi’s Casa de Vidro

Tim McClimon on Corporate Preservation

Amanda Nelson on Building Donor Relationships

John Bacon on Planned Giving

Jean-Paul Warmoes on the Art of Fundraising in America

Chandler McCoy on Why Less is More

Katherine Malone-France on Moving with the Times

Anne Mette Rahbæk on Philanthropic Investments and Preservation

Peter McMahon on Saving Modern Houses on Cape Cod

Toshiko Kinoshita on Japanese Modern Heritage Houses

Roland Reisley on Life in a Frank Lloyd Wright House

5th Iconic Houses Conference May 2018

Kristin Stone, Pasadena Tour Company

Restoring the past: The Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Home Studio

Behind the Scenes: Hendrick de Keyser Association

Crosby Doe, Architecture for Sale

Latin America Special – Focus on Mexico

De Stijl in Drachten

Preserving the Nancarrow House-Studio

Meet the Friends - Nanne de Ru

Latin America Special – Focus on Brazil

Jan de Jong’s House is Latest Hendrick de Keyser Acquisition

Stay in a Belgian Modernist Masterpiece

In Berlin’s Modernist Network

Rietveld-Schröder House Celebrates De Stijl Anniversary

Meet Our New Foundation Board Members

Maintaining Aalto's Studio – Linoleum Conservation

Virtual Tour of a Papaverhof Home in 3D

Getty Grant for Villa E-1027

Plečnik House in Ljubljana

Iconic Dacha

Iconic Houses: A Bohemian Road Trip

Work in Progress: Capricho de Gaudí

11 Le Corbusier Homes now on Unesco World Heritage List

At home with Le Corbusier

Henry van de Velde’s Study in Haus Hohe Pappeln Restored

Lynda Waggoner reports

A Conference to Remember

4th International Iconic Houses Conference

Guest of Honor - Harry Gesner

Fallingwater: European Lecture Tour

Wright Plus 2016 Walk

Susan Macdonald, Getty Conservation Institute

John Mcllwee, Garcia House

Meet the Friends – Elisabeth Tostrup

Iconic Houses: The Story So Far

Willie van Burgsteden, designer Iconic Houses

Buff Kavelman, Philanthropic Advisor

Meet the Friends - Frederick Noyes

Sheridan Burke, GML Heritage

Meet the Friends - Raymond Neutra

Sidney Williams, Frey House

Franklin Vagnone and Deborah Ryan, Museum Anarchists

Meet the Friends - James Haefner

Toshiko Mori, architect

Malachi Connolly, Cape Cod Modern House Trust

Meet the Friends - Penny Sparke

Lucia Dewey Atwood, Eames House

Cory Buckner, Mutual Housing Site Office

Jeffrey Herr, Hollyhock House

Speaking Volumes: Building the Iconic Houses Library

Sarah Lorenzen, Neutra VDL Studio and Residences

Ted Bosley, Gamble House

Keeping It Modern - Getty Conservation Grants

Meet the Friends - Thomas Schönauer

Wim de Wit, Stanford University

Linda Dishman, Los Angeles Conservancy

Jesse Lattig, Pasadena Heritage

Join us in Los Angeles! Update

Work in Progress: Casa Vicens

Work in Progress: Van Wassenhove House

Work in Progress: Villa Cavrois

Work in Progress: The Pearlroth House

Conference calls!

Follow us!

Third Iconic Houses Conference a huge success

Conference House Tours Barcelona

Marta Lacambra, Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera

Natascha Drabbe, Iconic Houses Foundation

Special speaker Oscar Tusquets

Jordi Tresserras, UNESCO Network ‘Culture, tourism and development’

Christen Obel, Utzon Foundation

Elena Ruiz Sastre, Casa Broner

Fernando Alvarez Prozorovich, La Ricarda

Tim Benton, Professor of Art History (Emeritus)

Susana Landrove, Docomomo Spain

Rossend Casanova, Casa Bloc

Conference Program 25 November 2014

Jordi Falgàs, Casa Rafael Masó

Documentary La Ricarda

Marga Viza, Casa Míla/La Pedrera

Celeste Adams, Frank Lloyd Wright Trust

Conference 25 November 2014 at La Pedrera

Henry Urbach, The Glass House

Victoria & Albert Museum London November 12, 2013

Tommi Lindh, new director of the Alvar Aalto Foundation and Museum

Iveta Černá, Villa Tugendhat

Lynda Waggoner, Fallingwater

Kimberli Meyer, MAK Center

Rent a house designed by Gerrit Rietveld

Barragán House on Screen

Gesamtkunstwerk – An Icon on the Move

Triennale der Moderne 27 September - 13 October 2013

Prestigious Art Nouveau mansions in Brussels open

September 14 + 15: Heritage Days in Paris

June's New Arrivals: Museum Apartments

Iconic Houses is now on Twitter and Facebook

Corbu’s Cabanon: Reconstruction and Lecture

Projekt Mies In Krefeld: Life-sized model of the Krefeld Clubhouse

New arrivals: Spain special

MAMO: Le Corbu’s ‘Park in the Sky’ open 12 June

Taut's Home wins Europa Nostra Award

Annual Wright Architectural Housewalk: 18 May

Frank Lloyd Wright Homes on Screen

Message from the Editor

Neutra’s House on Screen

Michel Richard, Fondation Le Corbusier

Symposium The Public and the Modern House

Melnikov House on Screen

Iconic Houses in the media

Message from the Editor

Round Table Review

Eileen Gray House on Screen

Copy Culture

At Home in the 20th Century

New 20th century Iconic Houses website launches

Philippe Bélaval, Centre des monuments nationaux

Posted February 12, 2023

Movie Night: Adolf Loos- Revolutionary Among Architects

9 March Preview at Van Schijndel House in Utrecht

A new documentary portrait of an architect, uncompromising critic and eccentric who changed the way we think about architecture. Directed by A. Kisil, this new documentary presents the legacy of architect Adolf Loos through unpublished archival materials and personal stories of his family and collaborators. Today, most of the houses and interiors designed by this now world-famous architect, who was a Brno native, Viennese dandy, Czechoslovak citizen and cosmopolitan, can be found in Prague, Pilsen, and Brno and they are all included in our conference tour program 22-26 May!

The tour programme of our 7th International Iconic Houses Conference includes no fewer than eight houses and interiors designed by Adolf Loos.
Most important is Villa Müller in Prague in which Loos realised his famous 'Raumplan'.

Practical info
7.30-8pm - walk-in
8-9 pm - screening
Czech spoken, English subtitled.
The screening is organised in partnership with the Czech Centre Rotterdam and CzechTourism Benelux.
Register via e-mail at the Czech Centre: cchaag@czech.cz.
Maximum 45 seats, first come first served.
Address: Pieterskerkhof 8, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Adolf Loos in Prague

Villa Müller
Adolf Loos was an important European pioneer of modern architecture. He designed Villa Müller for Milada and František Müller is a masterpiece of internationa lavantgarde architecture. František Müller was co-owner of the Kapsa-Müller construction company and one of the leading figures in Czech society. The collaboration between an enlightened client and a brilliant architect gave Loos the opportunity to realise his ideas on spatiality, his so-called 'Raumplan'. The interior is a surprisingly harmonious mix of modern-functionalism with the classical English style. After an eventful post-war history, the villa was restored and opened to the public as a National Monument between 1997-2000.

Villa Winternitz
Villa Winternitz is the last building designed by Adolf Loos that had been finished before his death. It was built in 1932 for lawyer Josef Winternitz and his family. They inhabited a spacious building with all the aspects of a Loos' house Raumplan, built-in furniture, beautiful materials and unexpected colours. Everything had survived the 20th century and was carefully reconstructed at the beginning of the 21st century.

The villa opened to the public April 2017. Visitors can explore the house by themselves without reservation or they can book a guided tour or take part in cultural activities. Villa Winternitz houses music performances, theatrical plays, exhibitions and lectures. It also provides an unexpected and marvellous views of the very city centre of Prague. Last but not least, it is possible to rent the house for an overnight stay. Two guests can enjoy the whole building, all three terraces and a large garden around the house. Breakfast included.

Adolf Loos Apartment & Gallery
The unique and original Richard Hirsh apartment in Pilsen was designed in 1927 for Martha and Willy Hirsch by the pioneer of twentieth century modern architecture, architect Adolf Loos (1870-1933). The devastated apartment was rediscovered in Pilsen in 1988. The complete interior has been consequently saved, carefully restored on the initiative of the Adolf Loos Apartment and Gallery and re-installed in another apartment of approximately the same size in the heart of Prague. Today, the apartment is fully furnished with original pieces designed by Loos and is open to public, serving as an art gallery and an auction house. In 2012, Professor Burkhardt Rukschcio, one of the world’s leading experts on the work of Adolf Loos, has published a book dedicated to this architectonic treasure.

One of the world's most comprehensive collections of Loos's original furniture and glassware designs is on permanent view at the Adolf Loos Apartment & Gallery. Ever since it was re-installed, new unique and original works of art designed by Adolf Loos have been added to the collection, including a famous 1912 sitting set from Villa Rosenfeld, comprising four chairs and a table with a marble board. Once, the family friend Sigmund Freud, as well as Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka and Egon Schiele, used to sit on these chairs. Other additions to the collection range from an original clock from Villa Strasser, a 1923 wardrobe from the menswear department store Leschka & Co., a smoking set, to one of the first Lobmeyr glasses (designed for the architect Paul Engelmann) and two Knieschwimmer armchairs (F.O.Schmidt from 1910, and UP Werke from 1932).

Loos Interiors in Pilsen

Brummel House
The most valuable and preserved of all Loos’ Pilsen realizations is the home he designed for Jan Brummel and his family at 58 Husova Street. Jan Brummel was in the construction lumber business. From 1927-1929, this once architecturally average house, with a façade designed to fit the Romantic Historicism style of the late 19th century, was radically reconstructed according to Loos’ design. The exterior appearance of the original home was completely transformed when Loos removed all the decorative elements from the façade, and when he hid the single-pitched roof behind the high attic. He also added a vertical extension to the west side of the home. In this way, the building gained an unmistakable form of progressive and modern architecture.

However, the most valuable part of his design is located inside the house. On the first floor of the home, you’ll find a unique, two-generation apartment for Jan and Jana Brummel, as well as for Jana’s mother, Hedvika Liebstein. The apartment features a perfectly thought-out interior. Both sections of the apartment, meaning both the young Brummels’ and Mrs. Hedvika Liebstein’s living spaces, could function independently or as an interconnected common dining hall. The individual rooms were equipped with unique, built-in furniture, and they feature an axial symmetry which is quite typical of Adolf Loos and his designs. The symmetry of the rooms enhances the continuous view of the adjoining spaces. The interiors of the apartment have been preserved almost in their complete state, including the unique and rare collection of original free-standing furniture designed by Adolf Loos.

Apartment of Dr. Vogl
From the originally spacious Apartment of the Vogl family, at 12 Klatovská Street, only the dining room and living room have been preserved. The adaptation of the apartment, based on the design by Adolf Loos, was made in 1928 for the paediatrician Dr Josef Vogl and his wife Štěpánka, who was the daughter of the house owner. The interior was created in the apartment of one of Loos’ previous designs from 1908. At that time, Loos had designed the space for the family of entrepreneur Otto Beck. Otto Beck later moved, together with the furniture designed by Loos, to the Müller’s house at 2 Náměstí Míru. Twenty years later, Adolf Loos redesigned this same interior for the family of Dr Vogl. This time, however, he included a doctor’s office with a waiting room and an X-ray workplace. Unfortunately, the medical section of the apartment was destroyed, together with the bedroom and children’s room, which were located in the private areas of the apartment.

The preserved lounge still boasts its decoration by means of a cherry wood veneer, with built-in frames for Japanese wood-engravings, and the adjoining strip of dark green wallpaper. In the axis of the front section of the living room, Loos created a distinctive feature typical of his designs – a fireplace made of red bricks, with a mirror wall placed above it, the whole of which was then lined by half columns of shell-covered marble. The dining room offers a view of the yellow travertine walls and yet another mirror wall, which is positioned just above the buffet counter. The Vogls fled in exile to escape the Nazis. After the war, they were forced to flee from Pilsen once again, this time to escape the new communist regime.

Apartment of the Kraus Family
One of the most beautiful Pilsen apartment interiors designed by Adolf Loos is the Apartment of the Kraus Family. It has been preserved on the first floor of the apartment building at 10 Bendova Street. The interior was created for the chemical engineer Vilém Kraus and his wife Gertrude between 1930-1931. Unfortunately, the history of the apartment and its inhabitants is quite sad and dramatic. Only Vilém Kraus survived World War II and the persecution of the Nazi regime (his wife and two children were killed in a concentration camp). The apartment was subsequently seized by the totalitarian communist regime, which forced Vilém Kraus to flee once again in exile to Great Britain. During the communist era, the original apartment was divided into three smaller apartment units, and part of the original interior furniture was irreversibly destroyed.

The most valuable area in the apartment is the exclusive lounge connected with the dining room. The main motive used here is a mirroring effect; the mirror walls opposite each other create the illusion of an endlessly reflected space. Loos created a delicate combination of walls tiled with green, white-veined Cipollino marble and wooden, built-in furniture and a cassette ceiling, both of which feature high-quality, dark brown mahogany wood. Here we can find a characteristic fireplace made of grey bricks, one of Adolf Loos’ typical design features. Particularly valuable is the nearly 100% preserved bedroom, with furniture built into the perimeter walls of the room. This part of the apartment has survived, and it includes intriguing, practical design details – a dressing table, hat hooks in the wardrobes, drawers and other well-thought-out storage areas.

The Semler Residence
Oskar Semler’s family first lived on Jagellonská Street (near today’s Klatovská Street). It was from this residence that they originally planned to move to a family home at 19 Klatovská Street, which would also include space for their company headquarters. This move, however, meant the home needed to undergo significant renovations and an addition of two extra floors. With these complications in mind, Oskar Semler eventually came to an alternative solution, i.e. he decided to buy an apartment building at 110 Klatovská Street. In 1932, he asked Adolf Loos to create a project for the generous adaptation of the apartment, which would encompass one entire wing of the home. However, due to Loos’ failing health and subsequent death, the completion of his design and renovation ideas were taken over by his disciple and collaborating architect, Heinrich Kulka. Oskar Semler moved with his family to their new home in 1934.

This is the only apartment in Pilsen where Loos implemented his unique principle of Raumplan – the individual rooms in the apartment differ in their height, having been elevated to several different levels and interconnected by stairs to create continuously adjoined spaces. In the apartment, we can admire the Raumplan principle via the spacious lounge with its cladding of Finnish birch, the flooring made of rare Makassar, and the fireplace of clinkstone blocks. There is also a bookcase, red-painted ceiling beams, and gilded planks. A number of details have survived to this day, including the dumbwaiter which was used for transporting food from the kitchen to the individual rooms at their varied height levels. The apartment is divided into two sections: the first is accessible to visitors, and the second remains a carefully separated private area, containing the bedrooms and children’s rooms on the upper floor of the house.

The Semler Residence was transferred as property of the City of Pilsen to the Pilsen Region, and now it’s managed by the Gallery of West Bohemia. The Semler Residence, included the formally inaccessible private areas of the apartment (i.e., the bedrooms and children’s rooms), was reopened in September 2022 to the public after its expansive renovations. The newly-built Centre for Research of Pilsen Region Architecture is now part of the Oskar Semler residence exposition. And the Semler Café in the Semler Residence offers a cosy place to sit and enjoy good coffee and cakes over a book or with good company before your tour of the Loos Interiors.

Hugo Semler’s Apartment
The Semler family owned a factory producing drawn-wire products. They were particularly well-known for manufacturing high-quality gramophone needles. They lived in their home at 19 Klatovská Street, which also included their factory and office headquarters on the ground floor of the house. After the death of the company’s founder, Šimon Semler, his son Hugo and his family lived in the house. It was Hugo who had the apartment reconstructed in 1930.

Adolf Loos designed a gorgeous music lounge, which was strictly symmetrical and lined with white Fantastico marble. The marble boasted black veining, and it resembled all sorts of surreal creatures. In the centre of the main wall, Adolf Loos positioned a fireplace made of bricks with, as was his style, a mirror placed wall above it. The built-in furniture and doors in Hugo Semler's Apartment were made of elm wood. From the adjacent gentlemen’s lounge, the room was variably separable by a glass sliding wall. The gentlemen’s lounge and the dining room, which were most likely designed by some of Loos’ collaborators, were also preserved. In 1932, Loos designed a two-storey extension of the house, which, unfortunately was never built.

Posted February 12, 2023