A Mythic Obsession
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German Architects in Great Britain
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£36.75
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German Architects in Great Britain
Planning & Building in Exile 19331945
Sale price
£36.75
Regular price
£49.00
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Text in English & German. In the years after 1933 several hundred architects were forced to emigrate from Germany by the National Socialist dictatorship. Between seventy and eighty of them went to Great Britain -- in part, prominent representatives of Modernism like Walter Gropius, Erich Mendelsohn, Erwin Gutkind, Arthur Korn and Marcel Breuer, but also less well known architects who had adopted very divergent positions. They found the architectural scene in Great Britain to be surprisingly conservative. Only a small circle of architects, clients and specialist journalists was open to modern design and construction methods and stylistic idioms. A few emigrants very quickly and successfully managed to gain a foothold in an environment that was for the most part unfamiliar to them, while for others exile meant a serious break in their career. Just a few months after his arrival in Great Britain, Erich Mendelsohn, together with Serge Chermayeff, won the prestigious competition for the De La Warr Pavilion in the southern English seaside resort of Bexhill (1933-35). The leisure centre is one of the most important examples of classic Modernism on the British Isles. Impington Village College (1936-39), which Walter Gropius designed in partnership with E. Maxwell Fry, also received a great deal of attention and had an impact on the development of British architecture. Furthermore, the spectrum of projects tackled by the emigrants ranged from houses to traffic structures and industrial buildings to buildings for Jewish communities and designs for exhibitions and shops. During this period German architects also left their mark in Great Britain as university lecturers, scientists and publicists. The book offers an overview of the topic and presents select buildings in detail. Moreover, hitherto largely unpublished documents from the estate of Walter Gropius provide a direct insight in-to his life and work in British exile.
Andreas Schätzke teaches the history of architecture and urban design at the Technische Universität Kaiserslautern. His research fields include architecture and urban design in post-war Europe and the relations between architecture, politics and society in the 20th century.
- ISBN-13
- 9783936681758
- Publisher
- Edition Axel Menges
- Imprint
- Edition Axel Menges (D)
- Publication date
- 24 October 2013
- Format
- Hardback
- Pages
- 240
- Dimensions
- 285 x 235 mm
- Illustrations
- 130 illus
- Language
- German
