It was 10:40, we left a little later than we intended to. It was only supposed to take 18 minutes to get there so we would be practically early, we thought. But upon getting to the tram stop, we remembered how infrequently trams come on a Saturday. We quickly requested an Uber debating which would be faster. Eventually after our Uber canceled multiple times, we jumped on our tram.
When you step off the tram, 7 stops later, you are in a residential area. The street is filled with trees and it is quiet. One house pops out, you are able to see it from the tram. It is the Muller Villa designed by Adolf Loos. From the outside it looks simple; it is essentially a square that is a light tan with bright yellow windows. The wall alongside the garden can be seen from the street; it’s filled with greenery.
While Loos kept the outside plain (he believed that a house was for people and people live inside the house not outside) the inside was a completely designed environment. Everything was carefully planned out from the height of the ceilings (they were different in each room) to the size of the shoe racks (they were customized to the size of the occupant’s feet) to the chairs in the dining room.
Loos designed this house specifically for the Muller family to be functional above all else. Rather than be in levels like most houses are, the house was built along an axis. Every room was on a different level, meaning to get to each room you must go up a small flight of stairs. Some rooms had windows that overlooked the living room as its ceilings were the highest. As you went up through the house, the rooms became more private until the top floors which were only for the family.
Our tour guide explained how Loos paid careful attention to the placement of the windows in the kitchen as to not distract from the cooking but did not take into account that the Muller’s don’t cook; they frequently ordered takeout. In response, someone commented that maybe if the kitchen was in a more predominant place in the house, it would have been used more. Even though the placement was purposeful (even if the Muller’s did like homecooked meals, they would have had their servants make them), it made me think about spaces I go into. How have they been designed to make me interact with them in a specific way?