Adolf Loos's Muller House

The Muller House is one of Adolf Loos's most important works. The Villa was built for an important construction entrepreneur, Dr. Frantisek Muller, and his wife and daughter. Muller entrusted the design of the villa to Adolf Loos who also designed the interiors, including the light fittings, the fitted and some of the non-fitted furniture. He himself said of the house that it was his most beautiful, and spent his 60th birthday there in the company of a close circle of friends. It was here that he was most perfectly able to embody the ideas of his "Raumplan". The severity of the external facade, composed with a refined balance in the asymmetric symmetry of the window apertures, contrasts with the noble elegance of the interiors, even in the ostensibly secondary spaces. The building went through a massive renovation in the late 90's and now serves as a museum and Loos research center.

St. Vitas Cathedral at Prague Castle

In the middle of Prague castle lies a beautiful Gothic church known as St. Vitas Cathedral. It is the largest and most important church in the Czech Republic and contains the tomb of many Bohemian kings. The Gothic cathedral began contruction in 1344 and one patron was Charles IV who would become the Holy Roman Emperor. The first builder was French and he brought with him the Gothis style of the flying buttresses, short transept, and a five bay choir among other traits. The church as it exists today was not complete until the 20th century and along with the changing builders Renaissance and Baroque elements were added, most notably in the main tower.

Brian E. Williford