REBUILDING OUR COMMUNITIES
Walter Gropius, L. Moholy-Nagy [introduction]
Walter Gropius, L. Moholy-Nagy [introduction]: REBUILDING OUR COMMUNITIES. Chicago: Paul Theobald, 1945. First edition [An Institute of Design Book "First of a series of monographs . . . under the editorship of L. Moholy-Nagy, expounding the basic philosophy and creative approach of the Institute of Design, Chicago"]. Slim quarto. Thick printed wrappers. 62 pp. 42 black and white illustrations. Book design and typography by Morton Goldsholl. Wrappers lightly worn and upper corners gently bumped. Rear panel rubbed, but a very good or better copy.
8.5 x 11 softcover book with 62 pages and 42 black and white photographs, illustrations, charts, floorplans and diagrams. Book issued in conjunction with a lecture held in Chicago, February 23, 1945, under the joint auspices of the Institute of Design, the Chicago Association of Commerce and the Chicago Plan Commission. Introduction by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy; biographical and bibliographical note. Includes examples of work in planning by the author in collaboration with Marcel Breuer.
Book design by Morton Goldsholl that perfectly reflects the influence of the Bauhaus aesthetic in the postwar Chicago publishing industry.
One of Chicago's great cultural achievements, the Institute of Design was among the most important schools of applied arts in twentieth-century America. It began as an outpost of experimental Bauhaus education and was home to an astonishing group of influential teachers and students.
Born and educated in Germany, Walter Gropius (1883-1969) belongs to the select group of architects that massively influenced the international development of modern architecture. As the founding director of the Bauhaus, Gropius made inestimable contributions to his field, to the point that knowing his work is crucial to understanding Modernism. His early buildings, such Fagus Boot-Last Factory and the Bauhaus Building in Dessau, with their use of glass and industrial features, are still indispensable points of reference. After his emigration to the United States, he influenced the education of architects there and became, along with Mies van der Rohe, a leading proponent of the International Style.
For anyone it is always a good idea to begin at the beginning, especially the designer who really should know one end from the other. — Morton Goldsholl
Morton Goldsholl (1911-1995) was a lifelong resident of Chicago, where he studied at the Chicago Institute of Art and the Institute of Design and, in 1955, formed Morton Goldsholl Associates. He was a faculty member at The Abraham Lincoln School for Social Sciences, the educational institution run by the Communist Party USA. Goldsholl carved out his niche with corporate identity programs, packaging, and animated commercials, and produced the Good Design Logo for the Merchandise Mart and the Museum of Modern Art in 1950.