In one of the few fundamental pieces of writing ever produced about architecture, Adolf Loos argues:
“Our culture is founded on the recognition of the towering immensity of classical antiquity. We have inherited our mentality and emotions from the Romans. Along with our social feelings and spiritual discipline. It is no coincidence that the Romans were incapable of inventing a new order of columns, a new form of ornamentation. They were too advanced for that. They took all that from the Greeks and adapted it to their own needs. The Greeks were individualists. Every building needed its own mouldings, its own ornamentation. The Romans, on the other hand, had a social mindset. Greeks were scarcely able to govern their cities; the Romans ruled the world. The Greeks wasted their inventiveness on classical orders while the Romans applied it to ground plans. And anyone who is capable of resolving ground plans doesn’t waste time on mouldings. Since the time that humans were able to appreciate the greatness of classical antiquity, the great architects have been united by a single thought. They think that they build in the style of the ancient Romans. We know that they are mistaken. Epoch, location, purpose, and climate, and environment all make that impossible.”1
