My father was a sculptor mason. After studying in Dresden, he traveled to the United States and was greatly influenced by the skyscrapers and practical designs of Chicago. After returning to Japan in 1896, writing activities preceded design. He began to sarcastic about the city of Vienna, which was decorated with various architectural styles, as "Pochomkin City", and declared that "decoration is guilty (crime)". According to Loth, the decoration is similar to the tattoo of a primitive man, and the abundance of decoration indicates a low cultural standard. "Decorative guilt theory" is, architect Otto Wagner of "Art is governed only by the need" rationalism, that function principle , but it can be said that was further thorough claims, in such a radical speech " Secession " Ya Attacked the decorativeness of " Wiener Werkstätte " ( Josef Hoffmann).

Loos house that became a masterpiece (1909- 1911) is, in a building that was scraped off the decoration, modernist architecture is a pioneering work of. At present, the colonnades line up in the lower part of the building, giving the impression of classicism, but it was blamed at that time because it was built in a corner of the historic buildings in front of the Royal Palace in Vienna. Therefore, the construction was temporarily suspended, but the construction was finally permitted by attaching a flower bed to the windowsill.

Established Adolf Loos School of Architecture in 1912. From 1921 after World War I, he became the chief architect at the Housing Construction Bureau of the City of Vienna and worked hard on the design of worker housing, but retired in 1924 when his design proposal was rejected. The following year he moved to Paris. He spent his later years painting, but he said he burned everything just before his death.