Walter Gropius

Walter Gropius was a German-American architect and educator who played a significant role in the development of modern architecture. He was the founder and first director of the Bauhaus School, a revolutionary art and design school that aimed to unify all the creative disciplines and create a new aesthetic for the industrial age. He was also a leading figure of the International Style, a movement that emphasized functionalism, rationalism, and simplicity in architecture. Gropius was born in Berlin in 1883, into a family of architects and politicians. He studied architecture in Munich and Berlin, and joined the office of Peter Behrens, a prominent architect and industrial designer, in 1908. There he worked alongside Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, who would become his lifelong friends and collaborators. He also developed an interest in expressionism and avant-garde art, and became involved with the Deutscher Werkbund, an association of artists and craftsmen that promoted quality and innovation in design. In 1914, Gropius volunteered for military service in World War I, where he was wounded and decorated for his bravery. He returned to Berlin in 1918, and married Alma Mahler, the widow of composer Gustav Mahler. They had a daughter, Manon, who died of polio at age 18. The couple divorced in 1920, and Gropius married Ise Frank, his secretary and companion, in 1923. They adopted a daughter, Beate, who was the orphaned niece of Ise. In 1919, Gropius was appointed as the director of the Grand-Ducal Saxon School of Arts and Crafts in Weimar, which he transformed into the Bauhaus School. He envisioned the Bauhaus as a place where artists, craftsmen, architects, and engineers could work together to create a new culture for the modern world. He recruited faculty members from various fields and backgrounds, such as Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, László Moholy-Nagy, Marcel Breuer, Oskar Schlemmer, and Mies van der Rohe. He also designed the curriculum and the pedagogy of the school, which emphasized experimentation, collaboration, and social responsibility. The Bauhaus faced political and financial difficulties throughout its existence. It moved from Weimar to Dessau in 1925, where Gropius designed the iconic Bauhaus building and the Masters' Houses for the faculty. It moved again to Berlin in 1932, where it was forced to close by the Nazi regime in 1933. Gropius left Germany that year and moved to England with his family. There he worked with Maxwell Fry and founded a group called Isokon that promoted modernist design. In 1937, Gropius accepted an invitation to teach at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. He moved to the United States with his family and became a naturalized citizen in 1944. He influenced a generation of American architects with his teachings and writings on modern architecture. He also founded The Architects' Collaborative (TAC) in 1945 with seven former students. TAC was a cooperative practice that aimed to apply the principles of the Bauhaus to contemporary problems. Gropius continued to design many buildings and projects throughout his career. Some of his most notable works include the Fagus Factory (1911), the Monument to the March Dead (1921), the Bauhaus Dessau (1925), the Gropius House (1938), the Harvard Graduate Center (1950), the University of Baghdad (1959), the John F. Kennedy Federal Building (1966), and the Pan Am Building (1963). He also participated in many international exhibitions and competitions, such as the Weissenhof Estate (1927), the Chicago Tribune Tower (1922), and the Palace of the Soviets (1931). Gropius died in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 5, 1969, at the age of 86. He had been diagnosed with inflammation of the glands, and was admitted to hospital on June 7. He underwent a successful operation on June 15, but his condition deteriorated afterwards. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered in Massachusetts. His grave is located at the Stahnsdorf South-Western Cemetery in Germany, where his father and grandfather are also buried. Gropius is widely regarded as one of the pioneers and masters of modern architecture. He was a visionary leader who shaped the course of art and design in the 20th century. He was awarded many honors and recognitions, such as the AIA Gold Medal (1959), the Albert Medal (1961), the Goethe Prize (1961), and the Royal Gold Medal (1956). His legacy lives on in his buildings, his writings, his students, and his followers.