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In 1908, influential Austrian architect Adolf Loos (1870–1933)
stated that “architecture ornament is a crime” in his design mani-
festo titled Ornament and Crime. This groundbreaking essay, com-
bined with the newly established art movements of Dutch de Stijl
(1917) and Russian constructivism (1919), paved the way for defin-
ing a new and fundamental approach to graphic design in the built
environment during the modern era and directly inspired graphic
designers and architects such as Peter Behrens (1868–1940), El
Lissitszky (1890–1941), Herbert Bayer (1900–1985), Gerrit Rietveld
(1888–1965), Paul Renner (1878–1956), Otto Wagner (1841–1918),
Aleksandr Rodchenko (1891–1956), J. J. Oud (1890–1963), Piet
Zwart (1885–1977), Theo van Doesburg (1883–1931), ...