Walter Gropius

Introduction
Youth and early training
Bauhaus period
Harvard years
Legacy

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images

The Bauhaus Dessau building designed by Walter Gropius features a modernist facade with large glass windows and the word Bauhaus in bold letters on a vertical gray tower.

At a Glance

Walter Gropius summary

Quizzes

Close-up of a palette held by a man. Mixing paint, painting, color mixing.

Artists, Painters, & Architects

Hagia Sophia. Istanbul, Turkey. Constantinople. Church of the Holy Wisdom. Church of the Divine Wisdom. Mosque.

Architecture: The Built World

Bauhaus

63 Questions from Britannica’s Most Popular Visual Arts Quizzes

Related Questions

How did Bauhaus designs become connected with machine production?
How did Peter Behrens influence Walter Gropius’s approach to modern architecture?
How did Walter Gropius believe artists could improve machine-made products?
How did Walter Gropius believe designers should approach a chair, a building, or a city plan?
How did Walter Gropius change architecture education at Harvard University?
How did Walter Gropius connect architecture with furniture design and city planning?
How did Walter Gropius gain early experience in Peter Behrens’s architectural office?
How did Walter Gropius seek to connect art and craftsmanship at the Bauhaus?
How did Walter Gropius serve during World War I?
How did Walter Gropius try to bridge the work of businesspeople, technologists, and artists?
How did Walter Gropius’s teaching at Harvard influence other architecture schools in the United States?
How did early Bauhaus art differ from the school’s later design approach?
How did the Bauhaus combine teaching by artists and craftspeople?
How did the Bauhaus preliminary course prepare students for workshop training?
How did the Gropius House combine Modernist design with New England materials?
How was Walter Gropius remembered after his death in 1969?
What criticism did Walter Gropius later make of the Siemensstadt housing project in Berlin?
What did Walter Gropius design for the 1914 Werkbund Exposition in Cologne?
What features of the Bauhaus building in Dessau reflect the International Style?
What kinds of buildings did Walter Gropius design for the Bauhaus campus in Dessau?
What role did Walter Gropius play in the Deutscher Werkbund?
What was General Panel Corporation’s connection to Walter Gropius’s interest in prefabricated housing?
When and where was Walter Gropius born?
When did Walter Gropius become a United States citizen?
When did Walter Gropius become director of the Bauhaus in Weimar?
When did Walter Gropius begin teaching architecture at Harvard University?
Where did Walter Gropius study architecture before beginning his career?
Where is the Fagus Works designed by Walter Gropius located?
Which buildings made up the Harvard University Graduate Center designed by The Architects Collaborative?
Which crafts were taught in the Bauhaus workshops?
Which features made the Fagus Works an important early example of modern industrial architecture?
Which future Modernist architects worked in Peter Behrens’s office with Walter Gropius?
Which major artists taught at the Bauhaus under Walter Gropius?
Which traditional architecture course did Walter Gropius unsuccessfully try to remove at Harvard?
Which visual features are often associated with Bauhaus designs?
Who collaborated with Walter Gropius on the design of the Fagus Works?
Who developed the Bauhaus Vorkurs preliminary course?
Why did Walter Gropius and Ise Frank leave Germany in 1934?
Why did Walter Gropius believe Bauhaus students should receive practical craft training?
Why did Walter Gropius call the Bauhaus a “house of building”?
Why did Walter Gropius dislike calling Bauhaus design a “style”?
Why did Walter Gropius resign as Bauhaus director in 1928?
Why did Walter Gropius support prefabricated building parts?
Why did Walter Gropius think architects should study modern materials and construction methods?
Why did the Bauhaus move from Weimar to Dessau in 1925?
Why did the Nazi government close the Bauhaus in 1933?
Why is the Bauhaus building in Dessau considered Walter Gropius’s best-known building?
What did Frank Gehry do to his house?
What was Frank Lloyd Wright’s early life like?
What is Frank Lloyd Wright best known for?
How did Frank Lloyd Wright become famous?
Why is Le Corbusier important?
What is Le Corbusier famous for?
How was Le Corbusier educated?
Why is Ludwig Mies van der Rohe so famous?
What is Ludwig Mies van der Rohe famous for?
What was Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s family like?

Visual Arts Architecture

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The Art Story - Walter Gropius

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Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

Walter Gropius - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Walter Gropius

German-American architect

Also known as: Walter Adolph Gropius

Written by

H.F. Koeper

Professor of Architectural History, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Author of American Architecture, 1607–1976.

H.F. Koeper

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

History

Walter Gropius (born May 18, 1883, Berlin, Ger.—died July 5, 1969, Boston, Mass., U.S.) was a German American architect and educator who, particularly as director of the Bauhaus (1919–28), exerted a major influence on the development of modern architecture. His works, many executed in collaboration with other architects, included the school building and faculty housing at the Bauhaus (1925–26), the Harvard University Graduate Center, and the United States Embassy in Athens. Gropius, the son of...

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