Raumplan and the compositive value of the geometry based on the cube

Abstract

This article arises from the teaching practice with the subject of History of modern architecture, linked to the research project that integrates mathematics and architecture in the teaching- learning processes. In this way, the geometric rigor of Adolf Loos’ project strategy based on the Raumplan system, applied to autonomous spatial units configured from the cube, is studied. An orderly and logical sculptural work maneuver is identified, whose 3d representation reveals Loos’s tectonic thought, unable to be fully understood from a plane or photograph. Through the analysis of the Steiner house with a descriptive methodology with a qualitative and quantitative paradigm, the skill of arranging, subtracting and combining the pieces is analyzed in the middle of a binary game where the main facade versus rear facade, interior versus exterior, are perceived as antagonistic elements of the same compact cubic volume, demonstrating the understanding of the spatial quality seen in the ways of living.