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Loos is a hoot
"We call [the plumber] installateur. That's wrong. For this man is the upholder of the germanic way of life. - Adolf Loos, The Plumbers
I'm in the midst of Frampton's History 2 (1880-1960) course. This week we look at Loos, the firebrand of Vienna, defender of plumbers, bathers, and shoe-cobblers, enemy of degenerate ornamentalizers, aristo-bourgeois pretenders, and architects. I haven't read this much Loos in such a brief interval before, and in doing so I now see a much more nuanced and powerful view than is usually attributed to him.
Frampton admitted on the first day of class that Columbia is a 'boot camp' and that he 'could never have survived here,' and in deference to our workload has drastically pruned the readings to bare minimum--perhaps half the volume we had last semester. He has truly been ruthless. I am having no difficulty keeping abreast of the readings so far, and in fact have some extra time during my daily commute for 'extra-curricular' readings, meaning things required or suggested for my other classes--currently Kwinter's Presence of Mies, Krauss' Notes on the Index, and Stan Allen's From Object to Field. Lots of potentially interesting stuff.
3 Comments
I {heart} loos.
how extensive are the paper assignments?
We have to write short (500-1000 word) papers appx every other week--five in total, I think. Topics for the short papers are chosen from a selection of three or so given by Frampton. At the end of the term, we have the option of a final exam (take-home) or a term paper on a topic of our choice. Either option requires 12-15 pages.
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