A Bauhaus Birthday

I thought I didn't like Bauhaus as residential architecture. International modernism in my mind was acceptable for more public buildings like Le Corbusier's United Nations. And then I visited the modest home Walter Gropius built for himself in Lincoln, Massachusetts, near Boston.

The setting was remote, although not that far from the Harvard Graduate School of Design where Gropius taught. The day was cold and rainy. The boxy, colorless structure seemed to melt into the dark, wet landscape. And yet even at dusk, the Gropius House conveyed a sense of light and space. You could feel his presence.

Walter Gropius, one of the most influential architects of the 20th century, was born on this day, May 18, in 1883 and died on July 5, 1969. Today, we say, "Happy Birthday!"

See photos of the Walter Gropius House >>

^{Photo © Jackie Craven}