Walter Gropius: International Architecture

In what he called his illustrated guide to modern architecture, which starts off the Bauhausbucher series, Gropius gives an overview of the international architecture of the mid-1920s. A preface by the author explores, briefly but in detail, the guiding principles that unite the avant-garde in all countries. This statement is followed by an extensive illustrated section showing examples of architecture from around the world. According to Gropius, these illustrations bear witness to the development of a consistent worldview that disposes of the prior role of the architect and expresses itself in a new language of shapes. This first English translation of Volume 1 of the Bauhausbucher allows the reader to broaden his or her view of German architectural history by placing the achievements of the Bauhaus in an international context and by documenting and capturing its philosophy of reform in an illustrative way. It appears in original design and with separate commentary. AUTHOR: Walter Gropius (1888 1969) was the founder of the Bauhaus and a pioneer of modern architecture. In 1919, he was appointed to succeed Henry van de Velde as director of the School of Visual Arts in Weimar, which he renamed Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar . In 1924, the Bauhaus moved to Dessau; Gropius designed the school building and the masters houses for the new location. In 1928, Gropius passed on the title of director to Swiss architect Hannes Meyer and became a self-employed architect in Berlin before emigrating to the United States in 1934. As a professor of architecture, he taught at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he founded The Architects Collaborative in 1941. In his political efforts to industrialize construction and create desperately needed reseidential spaces, Gropius captured the spirit and influenced the work of numerous other architects. 100 illustrations