Architect and Theorist. Born in Brno in the Moravia region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His father, a German stonemason, died when he was nine. From 1890 to 1893 Adolf studied at the Gewerbeschule in Reichenberg and architecture at the Technische Hochschule in Dresden. Afterwards he spent quite some time in the US before going to Vienna and working in Carl Mayreder's architecture practice. From 1897 Adolf Loos was self-employed as an architect. In 1899 he built the Café Museum in Vienna, in which the geometrical and rational style espoused by Adolf was already apparent. In 1903 he was editor of the journal "Das Andere - Ein Blatt zur Einführung abendländischer Kunst in Österreich", in which he expressed his thoughts on, and theories of, contemporary architecture, fashion, and design. His admiration for the fashion and culture of England and America can be seen his short-lived publication Das Andere, which ran for just two issues.In 1908 Adolf's important theoretical essay on art was published: "Ornament und Verbrechen". In it Adolf excoriated the "Austrian ornamentalists", scourging in a vitriolic diatribe their predilection for decoration as a degenerate phenomenon from the standpoint of civilised man: "The evolution of culture is synonymous with removing decoration from utilitarian objects." And for architecture Adolf predicted: "Soon the city streets will shine like white walls!". The following year he hoped to realize his ideas by building the new head office of gentlemen's tailors Goldman & Salatsch. By July 1910 the main façade of the "Loos house" was smooth, white and bereft of adornment, to the horror of the Viennese public. An injunction caused building to cease at that point; construction would not resume until 1912, when Adolf declared himself willing to add bronze window boxes for flowers to the windows. Adolf was married three times. In July 1902, he married drama student Carolina Catherina Obertimpfler. The marriage ended three years later in 1905. In 1919, he married 20-year-old Austrian-born Elsie Altmann, a dancer and operetta star and daughter of Adolf Altmann and Jeannette Gruenblatt. They divorced seven years later in 1926. In 1929 he married writer and photographer Claire Beck. She was the daughter of his clients Otto and Olga Beck, and 35 years his junior. They were divorced on 30 April 1932. Adolf was also interested in the decorative arts, collecting sterling silver and high quality leather goods, which he noted for their plain yet luxurious appeal. He also enjoyed fashion and men's clothing, designing the famed Kníže of Vienna, a haberdashery. He died at the age of 62.