Erich Mendelsohn 1887 1953

Erich Mendelsohn left an important legacy to architecture, which consists in his contribution to “the aesthetic of the machine” movement, his attempt to create a style for Palestinian architecture, his redefinition of the department store typology in the early Twenties and the new form he developed for American synagogues after the Second World War.
This volume edited by Regina Stephan, contains the fruits of years of research and critiques by several leading scholars. Regina Stephan, who lectures in history of architecture at the University of Stuttgart, curated an exhibition devoted to Mendelsohn for the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations, also in Stuttgart, which later travelled to various countries.
The book contains a wealth of illustrations and covers the fundamental periods in the career of German architect Erich Mendelsohn (Allenstein 1887 – San Francisco 1953), which were marked by the Einstein Tower in Potsdam (1921), the Steinberg Hat Factory, Herrmann & Co., in Luckenwalde (1923), the Universum Cinema in Berlin (1931), the Schocken Department Stores in Germany, and private houses and office blocks in the German capital. And also works abroad: the buildings he designed in his years of exile in England, the projects he undertook during the time he spent in Palestine, and the commissions he received from the Jewish Community in the United States.
The essays on his relationship with his studio collaborators and with his wife Luise who exerted a considerable influence on his architecture, are crucial to bringing Mendelsohn and his work sharply into focus. Lastly, in order to give the reader a better understanding of the German architect’s theoretical contribution, the volume examines his relations with the world of culture, and presents his project – never realized – for a Mediterranean Academy of the Arts in the South of France, and his study trips to Palestine, the Netherlands, United States, and Soviet Union.