His argument was that ornament is economically inefficient and "morally degenerate", and that reducing ornament was a sign of progress.
Ta zadnji pristop, ki ga je opisal arhitekt Adolf Loos v svojem manifestu 1908, preveden v angleščino leta 1913, s polemičnim naslovom "Ornament and Crime", v katerem je izjavil, da je pomanjkanje dekoracije znak razvite družbe.