Walter Gropius

Walter Adolph Georg Gropius was a German-American architect born on May 18, 1883, and passed away on July 5, 1969. He is best known for founding the Bauhaus School, which became a major influence in modern design and architecture. Gropius was one of the pioneers of modernist architecture and helped shape what is called the International Style.

In 1934, Gropius moved from Germany to England, and three years later, he moved again to the United States. There, he taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and worked on many important buildings. He often worked with another architect, Marcel Breuer, and was also a founding partner of a design firm called The Architects Collaborative.

For his amazing contributions to architecture, Gropius received the AIA Gold Medal in 1959, one of the highest honors in the field. His ideas and buildings continue to inspire architects and designers around the world.

Early life and family

Walter Gropius was born in Berlin. He was the third child in his family. His great-uncle Martin Gropius was an architect who helped design a museum in Berlin.

In 1915, Gropius married Alma Mahler. They had a daughter named Manon in 1916. Sadly, she passed away from an illness when she was 18. Later, Gropius married Ise Frank, and they adopted a child named Ati.

Career

Walter Gropius started his career in architecture by working with a famous designer named Peter Behrens. He later opened his own office with a friend, Adolf Meyer, and together they designed a shoe factory that showed new ideas in modern architecture.

After World War I, Gropius became the leader of an art school in Weimar, which he turned into the famous Bauhaus School. This school taught new ways of designing buildings and everyday objects. Gropius designed many important buildings, including a new school building in Dessau and houses for families.

In the 1930s, Gropius had to leave Germany because of the rising Nazi government. He first went to England and then to the United States in 1937. In the U.S., he taught at Harvard University and designed homes that showed his modern style. He also worked with other architects to create housing projects and university buildings.

Gropius believed in working together as a team, which he showed when he joined a group of architects called The Architects Collaborative. They designed many homes and public buildings that were both modern and practical.

Death

Walter Gropius passed away on July 5, 1969, in Boston, Massachusetts, at the age of 86. He had been in the hospital since June 7 with an illness affecting his glands. Doctors performed an operation on June 15, which went well, and there was hope he would fully recover. Though he seemed strong and kept improving for a week, his lungs later had trouble working properly, and he sadly passed away while asleep.

Legacy

Walter Gropius is remembered today for his many buildings and for a place in Berlin named after him, Gropiusstadt. In the early 1990s, a set of books called The Walter Gropius Archive was published, covering all of his work as an architect. A CD audiobook named Bauhaus Reviewed 1919–33 includes a long interview with Gropius spoken in English.

After Gropius passed away, his wife Ise made sure his papers were divided into two groups. With help from the Thyssen Foundation, photos were taken of all the papers. The later papers, from after 1937, and photos of the earlier papers went to the Houghton Library at Harvard University. The earlier papers and photos of the later papers went to the Bauhaus Archiv, which moved from Darmstadt to Berlin. In 1980, Mrs. Gropius gave the Gropius House in Lincoln to Historic New England, where it is now a museum that people can visit. In 1988, the Gropius House was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Bauhaus Center Tel Aviv in the White City honors the largest collection of Bauhaus buildings in the world.

Honours and recognition

Walter Gropius was honoured with many awards for his work. In 1954, he received a special degree from the University of Sydney. In 1959, he was given the AIA Gold Medal for his contributions to design. Many years later, in 2008, Google Doodle celebrated his 125th birthday. The buildings he helped create were also recognized as important, being added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1996.

Selected buildings

Walter Gropius designed many important buildings around the world. Some of his most famous works include the Bauhaus school in Dessau, Germany, built between 1925 and 1932, and his own home in Lincoln, Massachusetts, USA, built in 1937. He also helped design schools, houses, and big public buildings in places like Chicago, New York, and Baghdad.

Gallery

[Bauhaus](/wiki/Bauhaus) Dessau building, built 1925–1926

[Gropius House](/wiki/Gropius_House) (1938) in Lincoln, Massachusetts

The Alan I W Frank House

[Aluminum City Terrace](/wiki/Aluminum_City_Terrace) (1944)

Front view of the modern reconstruction of Gropius's house in Dessau (1925–1926). It was destroyed during World War II. This reconstruction (2014) was not built as an exact replica of the original house.

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  Part of the Törten Housing Estate (Siedlung Dessau-Törten) designed by Gropius (1926–1928)

Dessau Employment Office (Arbeitsamt) designed by Gropius in 1927 and built between 1928 and 1929

The Gropius House (1938) in Lincoln Massachusetts