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ERICH MENDELSOHN. DYNAMICS AND FUNCTIONS
REALIZED VISIONS OF A COSMOPOLITAN ARCHITECT
Runs: 15.10.2004 to 02.02.2005
Curator: Dr Regina Stephan
CUBE has secured the only UK showing of a major international exhibition on Erich Mendelsohn, one of the most important German architects of the twentieth century.
The Expressionist forms of his Einstein Tower in Potsdam (1920 - 1924) brought early fame for the German Jewish architect Erich Mendelsohn (1887 - 1953), catapulting him into the avant-garde division of international architects. He ran a large office in Berlin building Department Stores, Private Houses, Industrial and Office Buildings, a Cinema and buildings for the Jewish community all over Germany and abroad.
In 1933 he emigrated to England and built up a new practice in London. Being an avowed member of the German Zionist Organisation since his youth another one followed in Jerusalem in 1935. He continued to be successful in Palestine, designing university buildings, hospitals and the villa for Chaim Weizmann in Rehovoth, who later became the first president of Israel. In 1941 the Mendelsohns decided to emigrate to the USA, where Erich Mendelsohn first taught in Yale and Berkeley and finally settled in San Francisco in 1945. He worked on planning and building synagogues, Jewish community centres, a hospital and private houses until he died in 1953.
The exhibition is arranged in various subject blocks. Mendelsohn's life, his links with intellectual circles, his writings and utopian projects feature at the beginning. Twenty-two models, specially made for the exhibition, present his buildings according to type. This includes synagogues, administrative and office buildings, hospitals, factories and private houses. Department stores form an extensive chapter, including the ones he built for Salmann Schocken.
The impact made by the work of Erich Mendelsohn, one of the most important 20th century German architect, can still be felt today. Architects with quite different stylistic approaches draw on his work, including Richard Meier and Helmut Jahn.
This exhibition mounted by the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa) in Stuttgart was devised and developed by Regina Stephan. She is the editor of a comprehensive book on Mendelsohn's work, first published in 1998, which serves now - enlarged - as exhibition catalogue (in German and English).
The exhibition was first presented in the Kunsthalle in Tübingen early in the year 2000. It's tour abroad started with its appearance at the Genia Schreiber University Art Gallery in Tel Aviv. Venues in Holland, Poland, Norway, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Russia and again Poland followed. In 2004 it was shown at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin to mark the 50th anniversary of Erich Mendelsohn's death.
The exhibition at CUBE will be accompanied by a one-day symposium at the University of Manchester (date to be confirmed).
For more information on the exhibition please click here
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