The Impact of the Introverted Spatial Organization of Loos’ Houses on the Experience of the Now-Museum Space: A Visit to Villa Müller and Villa Winternitz

Abstract

Adolf Loos establishes introverted spatial strategies in the houses he designs at the beginning of the 20th century. He makes spatial interventions to direct the gaze inwards against the window element. Furthermore, he introduces the Raumplan, which creates a loop of interwoven spaces with different heights on different levels. The Raumplan offers rich viewing and movement experiences in which the occupant can either be the object of the gaze or the viewer in motion. This article aims to discuss the impact of Loos’ introverted spatial strategies in his houses, which have now been converted into museums, on the basis of the museum visits to the Villa Müller and the Villa Winternitz in July 2023. The methodology of the article is based on the spatial narrative of the personal museum walkthrough of the author. Regarding this, the sequence of photographic images and the technical drawings of the buildings are used to convey the comparative analysis of the movement and gaze patterns within Villa Müller and Villa Winternitz. As a result, this article argues that the rich spatiality that Loos defined for a domestic interior in the previous century is reflected in the museum experience today.