Walter Gropius 1883 1969

Born and educated in Germany, Walter Gropius (1883-1969) belongs to the select group of architects that massively influenced the international development of modern architecture. As the founding director of the Bauhaus, Gropius made inestimable contributions to his field, to the point that knowing his work is crucial to understanding Modernism. His early buildings, such Fagus Boot-Last Factory and the Bauhaus Building in Dessau, with their use of glass and industrial features, are still indispensable points of reference. After his emigration to the United States, he influenced the education of architects there and became, along with Mies van der Rohe, a leading proponent of the International Style.

As founder of the Bauhaus school, Walter Gropius (1883–1969) is one of the icons of 20the century architecture. While his early buildings in Pomerania were still strongly marked by his teacher Peter Behrens, after an expressionistic phase focused on handicraft, he ultimately arrived at geometric abstraction. During the entire period he collaborated with other architects, founding the collective known as "The Architects Collaborative" in the US. The comprehensive monograph documents all 74 of the known buildings by Gropius that were realized, including many early works which he never publicized; but it also critically examines his unbuilt projects. The book is illustrated with new photographs by the author, historical figures, and with as new plans drawn by the author.

Originally published in 1956, this book provides a non-technical analysis of contemporary building by on the of the world’s greatest architects. Published a few years after the end of WW2, it was an inspiring and constructive picture of what kind of living could lie ahead for Western industrial society. This book, the result of many year in the forefront of architectural experiment and achievement by the author, outlines in practical terms the road to improved existence through science, mass production in building and renewed emphasis on the individual.

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As founder of the Bauhaus school, Walter Gropius (1883-1969) is one of the icons of 20the century architecture. While his early buildings in Pomerania were still strongly marked by his teacher Peter Behrens, after an expressionistic phase focused on handicraft, he ultimately arrived at geometric abstraction. During the entire period he collaborated with other architects, founding the collective known as "The Architects Collaborative" in the US. The comprehensive monograph documents all 74 of the known buildings by Gropius that were realized, including many early works which he never publicized; but it also critically examines his unbuilt projects. The book is illustrated with new photographs by the author, historical figures, and with as new plans drawn by the author.

* A Times and New Statesman Book of the Year * * BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week * * Illustrated with over 130 colour photographs and drawings * 'A masterpiece.' Edmund de Waal 'Commanding, intelligent, gripping.' The Times From 1910 to 1930 Gropius was at the very centre of European modern art and design, as the founder of the German art school, the Bauhaus. Yet Gropius's beliefs and affiliations left him little choice but to leave Germany when Hitler came to power. In this riveting book, Fiona MacCarthy draws on new research to re-evaluate Gropius's work and life. From his shattering experiences in the First World War to his turbulent marriage to the notorious Alma Mahler and the tragic early death of their daughter, MacCarthy leads us through his disorientating years in London, to his final peaceful and productive life in America. This is biography at its finest and most vivid.

Fiona MacCarthy challenges the image of Walter Gropius as a doctrinaire architectural rationalist, bringing out the vision and courage that carried him through a politically hostile age. Approaching the Bauhaus founder from all angles, she offers a poignant personal story, one that reexamines the urges that drove Euro-American modernism as a whole.