Product Description

The work of Erich Mendelsohn (1887-1953) is extraordinarily open-minded in its attitude to material and planning, as a result of his completely original form of architectural thinking. Mendelsohn's genius lay in the fact that he was not influenced by his predecessors; rather, his imagination sprung from an entirely personal place, refusing to borrow from any existing artistic forms or styles. He became famous with the "Einsteinturm in Potsdam" (the supreme masterpiece of architectural expressionism, one of the most heretical and revolutionary works in history), the Hat Factory in Luckenwalde, and the Schocken Department Store in Stuttgart. To this day, Mendelsohn's methods remain stimulating and provocative and his work begs to be (re) discovered.Every book in "Taschen's Basic Architecture" series features: approximately 120 images, including photographs, sketches, drawings, and floor plans; introductory essays exploring the architect's life and work, touching on family and background as well as collaborations with other architects; the most important works presented in chronological order, with descriptions of client and/or architect wishes as well as construction problems and resolutions; and, an appendix including a list of complete or selected works, biography, bibliography and a map indicating the locations of the architect's most famous buildings.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #636712 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

About the Author
Arnt Cobbers studied art history, history, and music before writing a dissertation on medieval church architecture. Having worked as an architectural critic, he is now a freelance author in Berlin. Among his many publications are books on architecture in Berlin, as well as on the work of Marcel Breuer, Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies van der Rohe, I.M. Pei, and others. He is also the editor-in-chief of the music magazine Partituren.

Customer Reviews

The Most Underestimated of the Early Modernists
Fans of early Modernist architecture can find whole book shelves of work on Loos, Mies, Gropius, and Le Corbusier. However, when it comes to Erich Mendelsohn, the only popular image that comes to mind is his 1918 Einstein Tower. Yet in the 1920-30's, he was a major figure in Modern Architecture. Mendelsohn built a lot of large commercial buildings during this period. However, he had a couple of strikes going against him. He was not one of the founding members of CIAM and Hitchcock and Johnson treated him as a minor figure in their seminal exhibition on the new International Style fo Architecture. Had Mendelsohn made a few different decisions, today there might be many volumes dedicated to his work.

The German publishing company Taschen has recently released a series of inexpensive monographs on the great architects of the last century. Each of the volumes are sold at slightly under ten dollars. The volumes are beautifully produced and are a real bargain. This series is for all those interested in understanding the architects who have shaped our current world. Highly recommended.