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Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-American
architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
and founder of the
Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...
School, who, along with
Alvar Aalto Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (; 3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, s ...
,
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloy ...
,
Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...
and
Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
, is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of
modernist architecture Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that form ...
. He is a founder of Bauhaus in Weimar (1919). Gropius was also a leading architect of the International Style.


Family and early life

Born in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
, Walter Gropius was the third child of Walter Adolph Gropius and Manon Auguste Pauline Scharnweber (1855–1933), daughter of the Prussian politician Georg Scharnweber (1816–1894). Walter's great-uncle Martin Gropius (1824–1880) was the architect of the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin and a follower of
Karl Friedrich Schinkel Karl Friedrich Schinkel (13 March 1781 – 9 October 1841) was a Prussian architect, city planner and painter who also designed furniture and stage sets. Schinkel was one of the most prominent architects of Germany and designed both neoclassic ...
, with whom Walter's great-grandfather Carl Gropius, who fought under Field Marshal
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Fürst von Wahlstatt (; 21 December 1742 – 12 September 1819), ''Graf'' (count), later elevated to ''Fürst'' (sovereign prince) von Wahlstatt, was a Prussian '' Generalfeldmarschall'' (field marshal). He earne ...
at the Battle of Waterloo, had shared a flat as a bachelor. In 1915 Gropius married
Alma Mahler Alma Maria Mahler Gropius Werfel (born Alma Margaretha Maria Schindler; 31 August 1879 – 11 December 1964) was an Austrian composer, author, editor, and socialite. At 15, she was mentored by Max Burckhard. Musically active from her early yea ...
(1879–1964), widow of
Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...
. Walter and Alma's daughter, named
Manon ''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was firs ...
after Walter's mother, was born in 1916. When Manon died of
polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe sy ...
at age 18, in 1935, composer
Alban Berg Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( , ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sm ...
wrote his Violin Concerto in memory of her (it is inscribed "to the memory of an angel"). Gropius and Mahler divorced in 1920. (She had by that time established a relationship with
Franz Werfel Franz Viktor Werfel (; 10 September 1890 – 26 August 1945) was an Austrian- Bohemian novelist, playwright, and poet whose career spanned World War I, the Interwar period, and World War II. He is primarily known as the author of ''The For ...
, whom she later married.) Gropius married Ilse Frank, known as Ise, on 16 October 1923; they remained together until his death in 1969. The couple adopted Beate Frank known as Ati, the orphaned daughter of Ise's sister Hertha.MacCarthy, Fiona. ''Walter Gropius, Visionary founder of the Bauhous'' (2019). London, Faber & Faber."Recollections by Ati Gropius Johansen, daughter of Walter and Ise Gropius"
, ''ArchitectureBoston'', Summer 2013 issue: American Gropius (Volume 16 n2)
Ise Gropius died on 9 June 1983 in Lexington, Massachusetts. Walter's sister Manon Burchard (1880–1975) is the great-grandmother of the German film and theater actresses
Marie Burchard Marie may refer to: People Name * Marie (given name) * Marie (Japanese given name) * Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973 * Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in Tr ...
and Bettina Burchard, and of the curator and art historian
Wolf Burchard Wolf Burchard is a British-German art historian and museum curator. He joined the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in 2019, where he is responsible for British decorative arts. Life and career Burchard held curatorial positions at the ...
.


Career


Early career (1908–1914)

In 1908, after studying architecture in
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
and
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
for four semesters, Gropius joined the office of the renowned architect and industrial designer
Peter Behrens Peter Behrens (14 April 1868 – 27 February 1940) was a leading Germany, German architect, graphic and Industrial design, industrial designer, best known for his early pioneering AEG turbine factory, AEG Turbine Hall in Berlin in 1909. He had a ...
, one of the first members of the utilitarian school."Ise Gropius (-Frank)"
. bauhaus-online.de.
His fellow employees at this time included
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloy ...
,
Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...
, and Dietrich Marcks. In 1910, Gropius left the firm of Behrens and together with fellow employee Adolf Meyer established a practice in Berlin. Together they share credit for one of the pioneering modernist buildings created during this period: the Faguswerk in Alfeld-an-der-Leine, Germany, a shoe
last A last is a mechanical form shaped like a human foot. It is used by shoemakers and cordwainers in the manufacture and repair of shoes. Lasts typically come in pairs and have been made from various materials, including hardwoods, cast iron ...
factory. Although Gropius and Meyer only designed the facade, the glass curtain walls of this building demonstrated both the modernist principle that form reflects function and Gropius's concern with providing healthful conditions for the working class. The factory is now regarded as one of the crucial founding monuments of European modernism. Gropius was commissioned in 1913 to design a car for the Prussian Railroad Locomotive Works in
Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was ...
. This locomotive was unique and the first of its kind in Germany and perhaps in Europe. Other works of this early period include the office and factory building for the Werkbund Exhibition (1914) in
Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
. In 1913, Gropius published an article about "The Development of Industrial Buildings," which included about a dozen photographs of factories and
grain elevators A grain elevator is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lower level and deposits ...
in North America. A very influential text, this article had a strong influence on other European modernists, including
Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...
and
Erich Mendelsohn Erich Mendelsohn (21 March 1887 – 15 September 1953) was a German architect, known for his expressionist architecture in the 1920s, as well as for developing a dynamic Functionalism (architecture), functionalism in his projects for department ...
, both of whom reprinted Gropius's grain elevator pictures between 1920 and 1930.American Colossus: the Grain Elevator 1843–1943
, Colossus Books, 2009. american-colossus.com
Gropius's career was interrupted by the outbreak of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
in 1914. He was drafted August 1914 and served as a sergeant major at the
Western front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers * Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...
during the war years (getting wounded and almost killed) and then as a lieutenant in the signal corps. Gropius was awarded the
Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia es ...
twicePaul Davies (30 April 2013
"Walter Gropius"
architectural-review.com.
("when it still meant something," he confided to his friend Chester Nagel) after fighting for four years. Gropius then, like his father and his great-uncle Martin Gropius before him, became an architect.


Bauhaus period (1919–1932)

Gropius's career advanced in the postwar period.
Henry van de Velde Henry Clemens van de Velde (; 3 April 1863 – 15 October 1957) was a Belgian painter, architect, interior designer, and art theorist. Together with Victor Horta and Paul Hankar, he is considered one of the founders of Art Nouveau in Belgium.' ...
, the master of the Grand-Ducal Saxon School of Arts and Crafts in Weimar was asked to step down in 1915 due to his Belgian nationality. His recommendation for Gropius to succeed him led eventually to Gropius's appointment as master of the school in 1919. It was this academy which Gropius transformed into the world-famous
Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...
(a.k.a. Gropius School of Arts), attracting a faculty that included
Paul Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented ...
,
Johannes Itten Johannes Itten (11 November 1888 – 25 March 1967) was a Swiss expressionist painter, designer, teacher, writer and theorist associated with the Bauhaus (''Staatliches Bauhaus'') school. Together with German-American painter Lyonel Feinin ...
, Josef Albers, Herbert Bayer, László Moholy-Nagy, Otto Bartning and
Wassily Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (; rus, Василий Васильевич Кандинский, Vasiliy Vasilyevich Kandinskiy, vɐˈsʲilʲɪj vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ kɐnʲˈdʲinskʲɪj;  – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter a ...
. In principle, the Bauhaus represented an opportunity to extend beauty and quality to every home through well designed industrially produced objects. The Bauhaus program was experimental and the emphasis was theoretical. One example product of the Bauhaus was the armchair F 51, designed for the Bauhaus's directors room in 1920 – nowadays a re-edition in the market, manufactured by the German company TECTA/Lauenfoerde. In 1919, Gropius was involved in the Glass Chain utopian
expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radi ...
correspondence under the pseudonym "Mass." Usually more notable for his functionalist approach, the ''
Monument to the March Dead Monument to the March Dead () is an expressionist monument in the Weimar Central Cemetery in Weimar, Germany that memorializes workers killed in the 1920 Kapp Putsch. A 1920 design produced by Walter Gropius, in collaboration with Fred Forbát, w ...
'', designed in 1919 and executed in 1920, indicates that expressionism was an influence on him at that time. In 1923, Gropius designed his famous door handles, now considered an icon of 20th-century design and often listed as one of the most influential designs to emerge from Bauhaus. Gropius designed the new Bauhaus Dessau school building in 1925–26 on commission from the city of
Dessau Dessau is a town and former municipality in Germany at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the '' Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it has been part of the newly created municipality of Dessau-Roßl ...
. He collaborated with Carl Fieger, Ernst Neufert and others within his private architectural practice. He also designed large-scale housing projects in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
,
Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
and Dessau in 1926–32 that were major contributions to the New Objectivity movement, including a contribution to the Siemensstadt project in Berlin. Gropius left the Bauhaus in 1928 and moved to Berlin.
Hannes Meyer Hans Emil "Hannes" Meyer (18 November 1889 – 19 July 1954) was a Swiss architect and second director of the Bauhaus Dessau from 1928 to 1930. Early life Meyer was born in Basel, Switzerland, trained as a mason, and practiced as an architect ...
took over the role of Bauhaus director. His work was also part of the architecture event in the art competition at the
1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...
.


Post-Bauhaus (1933–1945)

The rise of Hitler in the 1930s would soon drive Gropius out of Germany. Before that, however, he did accept an invitation in early 1933 to compete for the design of the new Reichsbank building and submitted a detailed plan. With the help of the English architect
Maxwell Fry Edwin Maxwell Fry, CBE, RA, FRIBA, FRTPI, known as Maxwell Fry (2 August 1899 – 3 September 1987), was an English modernist architect, writer and painter. Originally trained in the neo-classical style of architecture, Fry grew to favour th ...
, Gropius was able to leave
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
in 1934, on the pretext of making a temporary visit to Italy for a film propaganda festival; he then fled to Britain to avoid the fascist powers of Europe. He lived and worked in the artists' community associated with
Herbert Read Sir Herbert Edward Read, (; 4 December 1893 – 12 June 1968) was an English art historian, poet, literary critic and philosopher, best known for numerous books on art, which included influential volumes on the role of art in education. Read ...
in
Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough o ...
, London, as part of the
Isokon The London-based Isokon firm was founded in 1929 by the English entrepreneur Jack Pritchard and the Canadian architect Wells Coates to design and construct modernist houses and flats, and furniture and fittings for them. Originally called We ...
group with Fry and others for three years, before moving on to the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
with his family. Gropius and his second wife, Ise Gropius, arrived in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
in February 1937, while their twelve-year-old daughter, Ati, finished the school year in England.Gropius House History
Historic New England
Though built in 1938, the Gropiuses believed their house could embody architectural qualities similar to those practiced today, such as simplicity, economy, and aesthetic beauty. In designing his house, Gropius used the approach developed at the Bauhaus. The house the Gropiuses built for themselves in Lincoln,
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
(now known as
Gropius House The Gropius House is a historic house museum owned by Historic New England located at 68 Baker Bridge Road in Lincoln, Massachusetts, United States.
), was influential in bringing International Modernism to the U.S., but Gropius disliked the term: "I made it a point to absorb into my own conception those features of the New England architectural tradition that I found still alive and adequate." Helen Storrow, a banker's wife and philanthropist, became Gropius's benefactor when she invested a portion of her land and wealth for the architect's home. She was so satisfied with the result that she gave more land and financial support to four other professors, two of whom Gropius designed homes for. With the Bauhaus philosophy in mind, every aspect of the homes and their surrounding landscapes was planned for maximum efficiency and simplicity. Gropius's house received a huge response and was declared a National Landmark in 2000."Walter Gropius"
. ncmodernist.org
Gropius and his Bauhaus protégé Marcel Breuer both moved to
Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
, to teach at the
Harvard Graduate School of Design The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is the graduate school of design at Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offers master's and doctoral programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urban ...
(1937–1952) and collaborate on projects including The Alan I W Frank House in Pittsburgh and the company-town Aluminum City Terrace project in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, before their professional split. In 1938 he was appointed Chair of the Department of Architecture, a post he held until his retirement in 1952."Walter Gropius"
Encyclopædia Britannica.
Gropius also sat on the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of th ...
(MIT) Visiting Committee at the end of his career. The well-known architect designed the Richards and Child residence halls on the Harvard campus that were built in the 1950s."GSAS Residence Halls"
. gsas.harvard.edu.
In 1944, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Gropius was one of several refugee German architects who provided information to confirm the typical construction of German houses to the RE8 research department set up by the British
Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of Stat ...
. This was used to improve the effectiveness of air raids on German cities by the Bomber Command of the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. The research was to discover the most efficient way of setting fire to houses with
incendiary bombs Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire (and sometimes used as anti-personnel weaponry), that use materials such as napalm, th ...
during bombing raids. The findings were used in planning raids such as the bombing of Hamburg in July 1943.


The Architects Collaborative

In 1945, Gropius was asked by the young founding members of The Architects Collaborative (TAC) to join as their senior partner. TAC represented a manifestation of his lifelong belief in the significance of teamwork, which he had already successfully introduced at the
Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...
. Based in
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, the original TAC partners included Norman C. Fletcher, Jean B. Fletcher,
John C. Harkness John Cheesman "Chip" Harkness (November 30, 1916 – November 28, 2016) was an American architect who was a founder and partner of The Architects Collaborative (TAC) in Cambridge, Massachusetts with Walter Gropius and six other architects. He ...
,
Sarah P. Harkness Sarah (Sally) Pillsbury Harkness, (July 8, 1914—May 22, 2013), was an American architect. She was a co-founder of The Architects Collaborative (TAC) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She was one of two women among seven young architects who formed th ...
, Robert S. MacMillan, Louis A. MacMillen, and Benjamin C. Thompson. Among TAC's earliest works were two residential housing developments in
Lexington, Massachusetts Lexington is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is 10 miles (16 km) from Downtown Boston. The population was 34,454 as of the 2020 census. The area was originally inhabited by Native Americans, and was fir ...
:
Six Moon Hill Six Moon Hill is a residential neighborhood and historic district of mid-century modern houses in Lexington, Massachusetts. Description Incorporated in 1947, the community originally encompassed 28 houses which were built between 1947 and 1953. ...
and
Five Fields Five Fields is a modernist residential neighborhood in Lexington, Massachusetts developed starting in 1951. It consists of 68 half-acre (0.2 hectare) lots with modernist houses on an 80-acre site designed by The Architects Collaborative (TAC). Pa ...
. Each incorporated contemporary design ideas, reasonable cost, and practical thinking about how to support community life. Another early TAC work is the Graduate Center of
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
in
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
(1949/50)."Walter Gropius"
. bauhaus-online.de.
TAC would become one of the most well-known and respected architectural firms in the world before it closed its doors amidst financial problems in 1995. In 1967, Gropius was elected into the
National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the ...
as an Associate member and became a full Academician in 1968.


Death

Gropius died on July 5, 1969, in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
, aged 86. He had been diagnosed with inflammation of the glands, and was admitted to hospital on 7 June. After an operation was performed successfully on 15 June, there was hope of a full recovery. Gropius described himself as a "tough old bird", and continued to make progress for about a week. However, his lungs became congested and could not supply proper amounts of oxygen to the blood and brain. He lost consciousness, and died in his sleep.


Legacy

Today, Gropius is remembered not only by his various buildings but also by the district of Gropiusstadt in Berlin. In the early 1990s, a series of books entitled The Walter Gropius Archive was published covering his entire architectural career. The CD audiobook ''Bauhaus Reviewed 1919–33'' includes a lengthy English Language interview with Gropius. Upon his death his widow, Ise Gropius, arranged to have his collection of papers divided into early and late papers. Both parts were photographed with funds provided by the Thyssen Foundation. The late papers, relating to Gropius's career after 1937, and the photos of the early ones, then went to the
Houghton Library Houghton Library, on the south side of Harvard Yard adjacent to Widener Library, is Harvard University's primary repository for rare books and manuscripts. It is part of the Harvard College Library, the library system of Harvard's Faculty of ...
at Harvard University; the early papers and photos of the late papers went to the Bauhaus Archiv, then in
Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in the state of Hesse ...
, since reestablished in Berlin. Mrs. Gropius also deeded the Gropius House in Lincoln to
Historic New England Historic New England, previously known as the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA), is a charitable, non-profit, historic preservation organization headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is focused on New England ...
in 1980. The Gropius house was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1988 and is now available to the public for tours.
Bauhaus Center Tel Aviv Bauhaus Center Tel Aviv is an organization concerned with Bauhaus architecture and design in the city of Tel Aviv, Israel. Buildings designed in the International Style, commonly known as Bauhaus, comprise most of the center of Tel Aviv known ...
in the
White City White City may refer to: Places Australia * White City, Perth, an amusement park on the Perth foreshore * White City railway station, a former railway station * White City Stadium (Sydney), a tennis centre in Sydney * White City FC, a football c ...
recognizes the greatest concentration of Bauhaus buildings in the world. In 1959 he received the AIA Gold Medal. On May 17, 2008,
Google Doodle A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running an ...
commemorated Walter Gropius' 125th birthday.


Selected buildings

* 1910–1911 the
Fagus Factory The Fagus Factory ( German: ''Fagus Fabrik'' or ''Fagus Werk''), a shoe last factory in Alfeld on the Leine, Lower Saxony, Germany, is an important example of early modern architecture. Commissioned by owner Carl Benscheidt who wanted a radical ...
, Alfeld an der Leine, Germany * 1914 Office and Factory Buildings at the Werkbund Exhibition, 1914,
Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
, Germany * 1921 Sommerfeld House, Berlin, Germany designed for Adolf Sommerfeld * 1922 competition entry for the Chicago Tribune Tower competition * 1925–1932
Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...
School and Meisterhäuser (houses for senior staff),
Dessau Dessau is a town and former municipality in Germany at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the '' Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it has been part of the newly created municipality of Dessau-Roßl ...
, Germany * 1926–1928 Törten housing estate in Dessau. * 1936 Village College, Impington, Cambridgeshire, England * 1936 66 Old Church Street, Chelsea, London, England * 1937 The
Gropius House The Gropius House is a historic house museum owned by Historic New England located at 68 Baker Bridge Road in Lincoln, Massachusetts, United States.
, Lincoln, Massachusetts, USA * 1939 Waldenmark, Wrightstown Township, Pennsylvania (with Marcel Breuer) * 1939–1940 The
Alan I W Frank House The Alan I W Frank House is a private residence in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, designed by Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius and partner Marcel Breuer, two of the pioneering masters of 20th-century architecture and design. This spacious, multi-level ...
, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (with Marcel Breuer) * 1942–1944 Aluminum City Terrace housing project, New Kensington, Pennsylvania, USA * 1945–1959
Michael Reese Hospital Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center was an American hospital located in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1881, Michael Reese Hospital was a major research and teaching hospital and one of the oldest and largest ...
, Chicago, Illinois, USA – Master planned site and led the design for at least 8 of the approx. 28 buildings. * 1949–1950 Harvard Graduate Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA (The Architects' Collaborative)Harvard Graduate Center – Walter Gropius – Great Buildings Online
greatbuildings.com
* 1957–1960
University of Baghdad The University of Baghdad (UOB) ( ar, جامعة بغداد ''Jāmi'at Baghdād'') is the largest university in Iraq, tenth largest in the Arab world, and the largest university in the Arab world outside Egypt. Nomenclature Both University ...
, Baghdad, Iraq * 1963–1966
John F. Kennedy Federal Office Building John Fitzgerald Kennedy Federal Building is a United States federal government office building located in the Government Center area of Boston, Massachusetts, adjacent to City Hall Plaza and diagonally across from Boston City Hall. An example ...
,
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
, USA * 1948 Peter Thacher Junior High School, * 1957–1959 Dr. and Mrs. Carl Murchison House, Provincetown, Massachusetts, USA (The Architects' Collaborative) * 1958–1963 Pan Am Building (now the Metlife Building),
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
, with
Pietro Belluschi Pietro Belluschi (August 18, 1899 – February 14, 1994) was an Italian-American architect. A leading figure in modern architecture, he was responsible for the design of over 1,000 buildings.Belluschi, Pietro. (2007). In ''Encyclopædia Britanni ...
and project architects
Emery Roth Emery Roth ( hu, Róth Imre, July 17, 1871 – August 20, 1948) was an American architect of Hungarian-Jewish descent who designed many of the definitive New York City hotels and apartment buildings of the 1920s and 1930s, incorporating Beaux- ...
& Sons * 1957 Interbau Apartment blocks, Hansaviertel (Walter-Gropius-Haus) Berlin, Germany, with The Architects' Collaborative and Wils Ebert * 1960
Temple Oheb Shalom (Baltimore, Maryland) Temple Oheb Shalom (Hebrew; Lovers of Peace) is a Reform synagogue in Baltimore, Maryland. The highest point in the city is located in its parking lot. History The congregation was founded in 1853 by Jewish immigrants from German Confederation m ...
* 1960 the Gropiusstadt building complex, Berlin, Germany * 1961 The award-winning Wayland High School, Wayland, Massachusetts, USA (demolished 2012) * 1959–1961 Embassy of the United States,
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
, Greece (The Architects' Collaborative and consulting architect Pericles A. Sakellarios) * 1968 Glass Cathedral, Thomas Glassworks,
Amberg Amberg () is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the Upper Palatinate, roughly halfway between Regensburg and Bayreuth. In 2020, over 42,000 people lived in the town. History The town was first mentioned in 1034, at that time under ...
* 1967–1969 Tower East, Shaker Heights, Ohio, was Gropius's last major project. * 1968–1970 Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, West Virginia, USA. Original building expanded with Gropius addition with little alteration to the original structure. Only American art museum to be brought to completion using a Gropius design. * 1973–1980
Porto Carras Porto Carras (Greek: Πόρτο Καρράς), known as Porto Carras Grand Resort, is one of northern Greece's largest and most famous hotels and holiday resorts. It is located on Sithonia, Chalkidiki peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. It is about 12 ...
, at Chalkidiki, Greece, was built posthumously from Gropius designs, it is one of the largest holiday resorts in Europe. NB: The building in
Niederkirchnerstraße Niederkirchnerstraße () is a street in Berlin, Germany and was named after Käthe Niederkirchner. The thoroughfare was known as Prinz-Albrecht-Straße until 1951 but the name was changed by the socialist German government. The street was th ...
, Berlin known as the Gropius-Bau is named for Gropius's great-uncle, Martin Gropius, and is not associated with the Bauhaus.


Gallery

File:Bauhaus.JPG,
Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...
Dessau building, built 1925–1926 File:Walter Gropius photo Gropius house Lincoln MA.jpg, Gropius House (1938) in Lincoln, Massachusetts File:Reception stair.jpg, The Alan I W Frank House File:Aluminum City Terrace, Gropius, HAER PA,65-NEKEN,3-2.jpg, Aluminum City Terrace (1944)


See also

* The Back Bay Center, 1953 Boston proposed development


References


Bibliography

*


Further reading

* ''The New Architecture and the Bauhaus'', Walter Gropius, 1935. * ''The Scope of Total Architecture'', Walter Gropius, 1956. * ''From Bauhaus to Our House'', Tom Wolfe, 1981. * ''The Walter Gropius Archive'', Routledge (publisher), 1990–1991.


External links


Designer portrait on rosenthalusa.com
* More information on Gropius's early years at the Bauhaus can be found in his correspondence with Lily Hildebrandt, with whom he had an affair between 1919 and 1922: Hans and Lily Hildebrandt papers,
Getty Research Institute The Getty Research Institute (GRI), located at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, is "dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts".
, Los Angeles. CA.
''Bauhaus Reviewed 1919–33'' audiobook liner notes at LTM
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gropius, Walter 1883 births 1969 deaths 20th-century American architects Architecture educators Architects from Berlin Bauhaus teachers Black Mountain College faculty Harvard Graduate School of Design faculty 20th-century German architects German emigrants to the United States German Army personnel of World War I Modernist architects from Germany People from the Province of Brandenburg Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal People from Lincoln, Massachusetts People from Saxony-Anhalt Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Honorary Members of the Royal Academy Bauhaus University, Weimar faculty Olympic competitors in art competitions Fellows of the American Institute of Architects Recipients of the AIA Gold Medal Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters