This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Bauhaus in Weimar, Germany, by Walter Gropius. Take a look at this New Yorker piece by Dan Chiasson reviewing Fiona MacCarthy’s just published book, “Gropius: The Man Who Built the Bauhaus.” A good primer on Gropius’ own life and his vision for the Bauhaus. I hoping to get to Germany this year. You can even stay at the Bauhaus in Dessau.
The Washington Post travel section this weekend had a nice feature on the Bauhaus architecture of Tel Aviv. I just wished the piece in the paper and online had more images of the buildings. (You can see more images from my recent trip earlier this year and a previous trip.) I do like how writer JoAnn Greco ends her story:
“Spying a coffee shop at the base of a squat apartment building that struggled for recognition from behind black scrawls and overgrown weeds, I decided to take a break. A young woman stood in the doorway, and I asked her whether she lived in the building. ‘No, but I used to live over there,’ she responded, gesturing to another white building down the block. When I asked her what it was like living in a Bauhaus building, she praised the ceiling heights, the cross ventilation, the light. When I asked whether it mattered that the building had architectural significance, she replied, ‘Of course it matters. The Bauhaus is Tel Aviv.’”
I have driven by the WTOP Transmitter Building in Wheaton too many times to count. Always rushing somewhere, I never actually got out of the car to take a look and take a picture of this Bauhaus building on University Boulevard that was once featured in Architectural Record. I finally did today and here is what I found from the Montgomery County Planning Board:
“Marking a new era of communication technology in Montgomery County, the WTOP Transmitter Building is a rare and bold example of International Style. Washington architect E. Burton Corning designed the facility in 1939 and it was completed early in 1940. The transmitter, historically known as WJSV, had a cutting-edge design with a distinctive sculptural quality, lack of ornamentation, and stark simplicity that are hallmarks of the International Style that was virtually unknown in Montgomery County. Influence of the Art Moderne, popular in this era, is evident in curving, streamline surfaces and the use of glass block. Architectural Record featured a two-page spread on the WJSV/WTOP Transmitter, in 1941; one year after the radio station began operation.
“Technological advances in radio broadcasting demanded an appropriately futuristic architectural expression. When the WJSV began operating in 1927, the radio station had a 50-watt transmitter, and there were six million families in the nation with radios. In 1939, WJSV announced plans for a new transmitter to broadcast at 50,000 watts, the maximum power the FCC allowed. The nation’s radio families had grown to 27½ million. WJSV was the principal station for the Columbia Broadcasting System and the Washington area’s most powerful broadcasting station. The Read More >
Bauhaus, facsimile reproduction of a periodical published in Dessau by Bauhaus Dessau, 1926-1931, Nendeln, 1976, National Gallery of Art Library, David K. E. Bruce Fund
How did the Bauhaus, which existed for only 15 years, have such an impact on modern design and thinking? The National Gallery of Art explores this question in Publishing Modernism: The Bauhaus in Print, which runs until Oct. 28. The rise of the Nazis and the dispersal of its leaders and students, especially the settling of Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe in United States, was one way the school’s philosophy was spread. The other was its publishing arm, which not only highlighted architecture but the schools other disciplines as well.
“This exhibition, drawn from the rare book collection of the National Gallery of Art Library, highlights the works published by the Bauhaus and illustrates how changes in its printing activities reflect the evolution of the school,” the museum says in its description of the exhibit. “From a traditional printing shop focused on artists’ woodcuts, engravings, and lithographs, to a typography workshop that would ultimately serve as part of an advertising department, we see the growth of the school along with its leading role in the advancement of modernism.”
Staatliches Bauhaus Weimar 1919-1923, Weimar; Munich, 1923, National Gallery of Art Library, David K. E. Bruce Fund
Focusing on the works published under the auspices of the school, the exhibition features editions of all 14 of the “Bauhausbucher” (Bauhaus books) as well as exhibition catalogues, press materials and writings by Read More >
Josef Albers’ “Glow” (1966). From the Hirshhorn's collection.
On my recent visit to Tel Aviv, as I was strolling along the streets taking pictures of some of the 4,000 Bauhaus buildings and visiting the city’s Bauhaus Center, I marvelled at the impact the Bauhaus school has had on modern architecture, design and the arts long after the Nazis forced its shutdown. After only 14 years (1919-1933), the Bauhaus members had to seek refuge in the United States, Israel and other countries. This dispersion allowed the work to continue and quickly influenced the design thinking around the globe.
Albers' "Steps," (1932). From the Hirshhorn's collection.
You can now get a taste of the creativity at the Hirshhorn Museum, which is holding a major exhibition on the work of German-born Josef Albers, an early student and professor at the Bauhaus.The Hirshhorn possesses one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive collections of work by Albers, who headed Yale University’s Department of Design from 1950 to 1958. The exhibit, “Josef Albers: Innovation and Inspiration,” encompasses nearly 70 works spanning the artist’s 50-year career, many of which are on view for the first time. The exhibit runs through April 11.
Tel Aviv—The rise of the new city of Tel Aviv and the Bauhaus school in Germany was an extraordinary confluence of events in the early years of the 20th century. Jews fleeing Europe seeking a new start and break from the past underpinned by a socialistic fervor. A school of architectural thought promoting new building technology, clean design devoid of non-functional ornament and using architecture and design to solve social problems. It didn’t hurt that many of the Jews fleeing to Palestine were architects who studied under the Bauhaus masters Walter Gropius, Hans Meyer and Mies van de Rohe until the rise of the Nazis in 1933. Many of the architects coming to Tel Aviv’s Mediterranean shores were also influenced by the work and ideas of Le Corbusier. In 2003, UNESCO named the “White City“of Tel Aviv a World Cultural Heritage site. As you walk around Tel Aviv, the “White City” moniker is not always apt. Many of the 4,000 International-style buildings need repair, but that is not cheap. According to the Bauhaus Center’s audio tour I did, it costs $250,000 to restore the exterior of these buildings. Here are some initial shots from my tour. More to come.
Pictured above and below is the 1936 “Thermometer House,” designed by Yehuda Lulka. While one of the key principles of Bauhaus/International Style architecture is a lack of ornament, the architects in Tel Aviv incorporated ornamental features with function. The thermometer-style window allows light into the stairway so Read More >
The Long Weekend column in the Post gives the inside scoop on visiting Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius’ 1938 house in Lincoln, Mass., near Boston. The home, designated a National Historic Landmark in 2002, is owned and maintained by Historic New England.
michael@moderncapitaldc.com
Cell: 301-503-6171
Direct E-Fax: 253-369-5843
Modern Capital
5471 Wisconsin Ave, Suite 300
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
