Otto Wagner, Adolf Loos And The Road To Modern Architecture

Contemporary architectural theory emphasizes the importance of ‘tectonics’, the term used to articulate the relationship between construction, structure and architectural expression. Despite the term’s currency, little consideration has been given to its origins or historical significance. In this study, Werner Oechslin examines the attempts by early modern theoreticians of architecture to grapple with the relationship between appearance and essence, which is crucial to the discourse of tectonics. Referring to the writings of Joseph Lux, Karl Bötticher, and Adolf Loos, Oechslin follows this development from theories of a classical architecture without columnar orders to a Modern architecture upholding the ‘truth’of its own architectural expression.