Elizabeth Bauer (golfer)
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Elizabeth (Bauer) Mock (later Kassler) (1911 – February 8, 1998) was director of the Department of Architecture and Design at the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
(MoMA) and a university professor. She was a charter apprentice at
Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...
's
Taliesin Taliesin ( , ; 6th century AD) was an early Britons (Celtic people), Brittonic poet of Sub-Roman Britain whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the ''Book of Taliesin''. Taliesin was a renowned bard who is believed to ...
, and the first former Taliesin fellow to join the MoMA staff. She was an influential advocate for
modern architecture Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architectur ...
in the United States. Elizabeth Bauer Mock Kassler was born in
Lexington, Massachusetts Lexington is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located 10 miles (16 km) from Downtown Boston. The population was 34,454 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The area was originally inhabited by ...
in 1911 as Elizabeth Bauer to Alberta Krouse Bauer, a homemaker, and Jacob Bauer, a New Jersey state highway engineer. Her older sister was
Catherine Bauer Wurster Catherine Krouse Bauer Wurster (May 11, 1905 – November 21, 1964) was an American public housing advocate and educator of city planners and urban planners. A leading member of the "housers," a group of planners who advocated affordable hou ...
, a prominent public housing advocate and urban planning educator, and her younger brother was Louis Bauer. She graduated from the Vail Deane School in 1928. In 1932 she graduated from
Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...
, where she majored in English. After college she became one of the first fellows at
Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...
’s Taliesin studio near
Spring Green, Wisconsin Spring Green is a village in Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,566 at the 2020 census. The village is located within the Town of Spring Green. It is perhaps best known for the architect Frank Lloyd Wright's estate ...
. It was at Taliesin where she met her first husband, Rudolph Mock, a draftsman from
Basel, Switzerland Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's third-most-populous city (after Zurich and Geneva), with ...
who worked in Wright’s studio from January 1931 to April 1933. After their marriage, they briefly lived in
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. Her involvement with the MoMA started in 1937 when she began working part-time for the museum’s Curator of Architecture and Industrial Design, John McAndrew. A year later she co-circulated her first exhibition, “What is Modern Architecture?”. She became McAndrew's full-time assistant in 1940. When McAndrew was dismissed in 1942, Mock became the director. She remained at MoMA until 1946. During her time there, she produced many exhibits, including: “Built in the U.S.A.: 1932–1944” (1944), “Tomorrow’s Small House: Models and Plans” (1945), and “If You Want to Build a House”. She curated seven MoMA exhibitions in total between 1938 and 1946. In 1946 and 1947, she and Rudolph lived in Knoxville, TN designing pre-fab housing for the Tennessee Valley Authority. Some of the buildings were in Fontana Village. In 1948, she separated from Rudolph and moved to
Taliesin West Taliesin West ( ) is a studio and home developed by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States. Named after Wright's Taliesin studio in Spring Green, Wisconsin, Taliesin West was Wright's winter home and st ...
with her son Fritz for one season. In 1949 she became an assistant professor of architectural history and librarian at the
University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...
. After her divorce, she married Kenneth Stone Kassler in 1951 and moved to
Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...
. In Princeton she continued to write for architecture journals, the MoMA, and popular magazines. Kassler died in 1964, the same year Bauer became a
research associate Research associates are researchers (scholars and professionals) that usually have an advanced degree beyond a Bachelor's degree such as a master's degree or a PhD. In some universities/research institutes, such as Harvard/Harvard Medical Scho ...
at the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
where she served until 1971. According to
Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...
's Research Chair in Art History, Kristina Huneault, Mock's books "strove to persuade a new generation of homebuyers of how modernism might improve their lives and the quality of North American architectural culture overall.” They include ''If You Want to Build a House'' (1946), ''The Architecture of Bridges'' (1949), and ''Modern Gardens and the Landscape'' (1964, known then as Elizabeth B. Kassler). Her book on bridges is described by
Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...
as "the first major book on bridges to give a modern viewpoint." ''Modern Gardens and the Landscape'' is considered the authoritative survey of its subject. It was billed by the MoMA as "the first book to discuss the relationship between the modern garden and the natural landscape in terms of contemporary aesthetics." ''Modern Gardens and the Landscape'' included the works of
Burle Marx Roberto Burle Marx (August 4, 1909 – June 4, 1994) was a Brazilian landscape architect (as well as a painter, print maker, ecologist, naturalist, artist and musician) whose designs of parks and gardens made him world-famous. He is credited wi ...
,
Bernard Rudofsky Bernard Rudofsky (April 1905 – March 12, 1988) was an Austrian American writer, architect, collector, teacher, designer, and social historian. His most notable work is '' Architecture Without Architects: A Short Introduction to Non-pedigreed A ...
,
Gunnar Asplund Erik Gunnar Asplund (22 September 1885 – 20 October 1940) was a Swedish architect, mostly known as a key representative of Nordic Classicism of the 1920s during the last decade of his life. At this time, he was a major proponent of the mode ...
and
Luis Barragan Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...
. Her books were all published by the Museum of Modern Art. A 1979 visit to
Taliesin West Taliesin West ( ) is a studio and home developed by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States. Named after Wright's Taliesin studio in Spring Green, Wisconsin, Taliesin West was Wright's winter home and st ...
inspired her to put together a retrospective directory of the Taliesin Fellowship in time for its 50th anniversary (in 1982). She collected all the listings herself, and in 1981 published 450 copies of ''The Directory, 1932–1982, The Taliesin Fellowship, A Directory of Members''. This was the first such directory in Taliesin history and it inspired the
Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Taliesin West ( ) is a studio and home developed by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States. Named after Wright's Taliesin (studio), Taliesin studio in Spring Green, Wisconsin, Taliesin West was Wright's ...
to develop similar directories. In 1990 she retired to a
retirement community A retirement community is a residential community or housing complex designed for older adults who are generally able to care for themselves. Assistance from home care agencies is allowed in some communities, and activities and socialization op ...
in Lexington, Massachusetts.


Exhibitions curated at Museum of Modern Art

* ''Planning the Modern House'', Aug 25–Sep 21, 1942 * ''Modern Architecture for the Modern School'', Sep 16–30, 1942, with Rudolf Mock * ''Look at Your Neighborhood,'' Mar 29–Jun 25, 1944, with Rudolf Mock and Clarence Stein * ''America Builds,'' 1944, with G. Holmes Perkins * ''Built in U.S.A.,'' 1944 ** Exhibition catalog ''Built in USA: 1932-1944'' Edited by Elizabeth Mock, 1944 * ''Building with Wood'', Nov 15, 1944–Feb 18, 1945 * ''Integrated Building: Kitchens, Bathrooms, Storage'', with Suzanne Wasson Tucker and Greta Daniel, Feb 21–May 13, 1945 * ''A New Country House by
Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...
'', Jun 18–Sep 3, 1946


References


External links


Pioneering Women of American Architecture, Elizabeth Bauer Mock Kassler
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mock, Elizabeth Bauer American landscape architects American women landscape architects People associated with the Museum of Modern Art (New York City) 20th-century American architects Modernist architects from the United States American architecture writers Architecture educators University of Oklahoma faculty 1911 births 1998 deaths People from Lexington, Massachusetts Writers from Massachusetts Vassar College alumni 20th-century American writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers