Walter Gropius (Gropius)

Gropius, Walter (Gropius), (1883-1969), eminent German architect, theorist of architecture, one of the founders of functionalism, has consistently worked on the principles of rationalism in architecture. He left Germany after the Nazis came to power. Born May 18, 1883 in Berlin, the great-grandson of Martin Gropius, a famous architect-classicists of the XIX century. He studied at the Technische Hochschule Berlin and Munich (1903-07), was influenced by Peter Behrens, who was an assistant in 1907-10. Gropius sought to identify the functional purpose of buildings in their appearance, which led to the novelty of architectural forms: for example, glazing tape, spanning the building a shoe factory "Fagus" in Alfeld (Lower. Saxony, 1911, in conjunction with A. Mayer), emphasize the ease of curtain wall. In the administrative building at the exhibition "German Verkbunda in Cologne (1914) emphatically contrasted with the brick walls of light metal constructions and glazing.

In 1918, Gropius was headed by School of Applied and Fine Arts in Weimar, combining them in 1919 called "State Bauhaus". During his work in "Bauhaus", he was one of the first to explore the possibilities for creating new forms in contemporary architecture and design, which are incorporated in industrial production. Being engaged in social issues as architecture, Gropius in mass production of things, in-house industrial saw a means of democratization of architecture and living environment of human. After the collision with the conservative government of Weimar, . Gropius translates "Bauhaus" in Dessau, . where it is building for a new building (1925-26), . became a manifesto he puts forward the principles of rationalist architecture, here the task of organizing the functional processes dictates the asymmetrical placement of the mass of the building,
. In 1928, Gropius moved to Berlin, devoting himself to the problem of t. n. cheap housing. Developed reception "lowercase building", in which the standard case are arranged in parallel rows (pos. Dammershtok near Karlsruhe, 1927-28), created several prototypes of economical apartments, widely used in West. Europe

. In 1934, after the Nazis came to power, Gropius left Germany, . two-year stint in London with Maxwell Fry, . created a number of buildings, . example, . Impingtonsky Rural College (1936-39), . contributed to the spread of functionalist architecture in Britain,
. In 1937 he moved to the United States, where he became a professor (1937-52) of the architectural department at Harvard University in Cambridge Univ. In 1946 he designed a set of academic buildings at Harvard University (1949-50) and the University of Baghdad (1961). Has constructed neoclassical building of the U.S. embassy in Athens (1957-61), Skyscraper Airlines Pan Airlines in New York (1963). He died in Boston after heart surgery July 5, 1969.