Walter Gropius facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius
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Walter Gropius (circa 1919). Photo by Louis Held
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| Born | 18 May 1883 |
| Died | 5 July 1969 (aged 86) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
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| Occupation | Architect |
| Spouse(s) | Alma Mahler Ise Gropius |
| Children | 2, including Manon Gropius |
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| Practice |
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| Buildings |
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Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (born May 18, 1883 – died July 5, 1969) was a famous German architect. He started the well-known Bauhaus School.
Gropius is seen as one of the main founders of modernist architecture. He worked alongside other great architects like Alvar Aalto, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, and Frank Lloyd Wright. He was also a leader in the International Style of building design.
Contents
Early Life and Family
Walter Gropius was born in Berlin, Germany. He was the third child of Walter Adolph Gropius and Manon Auguste Pauline Scharnweber. His uncle, Martin Gropius, was also an architect.
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In 1915, Gropius married Alma Mahler. She was the widow of the composer Gustav Mahler. Walter and Alma had a daughter named Manon in 1916. Sadly, Manon died from polio when she was 18 years old in 1935. The composer Alban Berg wrote his Violin Concerto in her memory.
Gropius and Alma divorced in 1920. Later, in 1923, Gropius married Ilse Frank, who was known as Ise. They stayed married until his death in 1969. They adopted a daughter together named Beate, also called Ati.
Walter Gropius's Death
Walter Gropius passed away on July 5, 1969, in Boston, Massachusetts. He was 86 years old.
He had been admitted to the hospital in June for an illness. After an operation, there was hope he would get better. However, his lungs became congested, and he died peacefully in his sleep.
His Lasting Impact
Walter Gropius is remembered for his many buildings and his ideas about architecture. A district in Berlin, called Gropiusstadt, is named after him.
His work and papers were carefully collected after his death. His wife, Ise Gropius, made sure his important documents were shared. Some went to Houghton Library at Harvard University. Others went to the Bauhaus Archiv in Berlin.
The Gropius House in Lincoln, Massachusetts, where he lived, is now a public museum. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
The Bauhaus Center Tel Aviv in the White City of Tel Aviv has the largest collection of Bauhaus buildings in the world. This shows how important Gropius's ideas were globally.
In 1959, he received the AIA Gold Medal, a very important award for architects.
Notable Buildings and Designs
Gropius designed many important buildings throughout his career. Here are some of his most famous projects:
- 1910–11 The Fagus Factory in Alfeld an der Leine, Germany.
- 1914 Office and Factory Buildings for the Werkbund Exhibition in Cologne, Germany.
- 1925–32 The Bauhaus School and Meisterhäuser (houses for senior staff) in Dessau, Germany. These are some of his most iconic designs.
- 1936 Village College in Impington, Cambridge, England.
- 1937 The Gropius House in Lincoln, Massachusetts, USA. This was his own home.
- 1939-40 The Alan I W Frank House in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (with Marcel Breuer).
- 1942–44 Aluminum City Terrace housing project in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, USA.
- 1949–50 Harvard Graduate Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
- 1957–60 University of Baghdad in Baghdad, Iraq.
- 1958–63 Pan Am Building (now the Metlife Building) in New York. He worked on this with Pietro Belluschi.
- 1960 The Gropiusstadt building complex in Berlin, Germany.
- 1963–66 John F. Kennedy Federal Office Building in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
- 1967–69 Tower East in Shaker Heights, Ohio. This was one of his last major projects.
- 1973–80 Porto Carras in Chalkidiki, Greece. This large resort was built after his death using his designs.
Images for kids
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Gropius with Harry Seidler in Sydney, 1954
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Gropius House (1938) in Lincoln, Massachusetts
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Bauhaus Dessau building, built 1925–26
See also
In Spanish: Walter Gropius para niños
