George Walter Gropius was a German architect born in 1883 who is considered one of the pioneers of modern architecture. He studied architecture in Berlin and Munich but did not receive a degree. Some of Gropius's most notable works include the Fagus Factory in Germany, considered an early example of modern architecture; the Bauhaus Archive in Berlin, which houses artifacts from the Bauhaus school; and the Gropius House in Lincoln, Massachusetts, his first commission in the United States. Gropius emphasized simplicity, geometric forms, and the use of modern materials like steel and glass in his designs. He was influential in spreading the principles of the International Style and modernist architecture around the world.

2. EARLY LIFE
• FULL NAME: GEORGE WALTER GROPIUS
• BORN IN BERLIN ON 18 MAY 1883
• HE WAS THE THIRD CHILD OF WALTER ADOLPH GROPIUS AND MANON AUGUST
• EARLIER HE WAS TAUGHTED BY HIS FATHER.

3. EARLY EDUCATION
• EDUCATED IN PRIVATE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
• 1903 HE LEFT THE SCHOOL AND WENT TO THE TECHNICAL UNIVERSITYIN MUNICH AND STUDIED
ARCHITECTURE.
• ALTHOUGH HE STUDIED ARCHITECTURE IN BERLIN AND MUNICH (1903-1907) BUT HE DIDN’T
RECEIVED NO DEGREE.
• GROPIUS COULD NOT DRAW, AND HE WAS TOTALLY DEPENDENT UPON THE OTHER
DRAFTSMEN THROUGHOUT THE CAREER.
• IN SCHOOL AN ASSISTANT IS HIRED FOR HIM TO COMPLETE HIS WORKS.

4. INSPIRATION
• HIS FATHER AND HIS GREAT UNCLE MARTIN GROPIUS WERE ARCHITECTS, THAT WAS WHY HE
WANTED TO BECOME AN ARCHITECT FROM HIS CHILDHOOD DAYS.
• AND HE WAS ALSO INSPIRED FROM WILLIAM MORRIS.
• WHO WAS AN ENGLISH TEXTILE DESIGNER, ARTIST, WRITER, AND SOCIALIST WHO FOUNDED A
DESIGN FIRM AND ASSOCIATED ENGLISH ARTS AND CRAFTS MOVEMENT.

5. HOBBIES AND INTERESTS
TEA POTS
WINE GLASSES CHAIR DESIGNS

6. HOBBIES AND INTERESTS
STAIRCASE DESIGN
HIS FAMOUS
DOOR HANDLE DESIGN

7. PHILOSPHIES OF WALTER GROPIUS
• SIMPLE GEOMETRY OFTEN RECTANGULAR
• USED OF MODERN METERIALS LIKE STEEL AND GLASS
• SMOOTH SURFACE
• PRIMARY COLORS
• LINEARS AND HORIZONTAL ELEMENTS

8. TECHNIQUE
• THIS ADVOCACY OF INDUSTRIALIZED BUILDING CARRIED WITH IT A BELIEF IN TEAM WORK AND
AN ACCEPTANCE OF STANDARDIZATION AND PREFABRICATION.
• USING TECHNOLOGY AS A BASIS, HE TRANSFORMED BUILDING INTO A SCIENCE OF PRECISE
MATHEMATICAL CALCULATIONS.
• AN IMPORTANT THEORIST AND TEACHER, GROPIUS INTRODUCED A SCREEN WALL SYSTEM
THAT UTILIZED A STRUCTURAL STEEL FRAME TO SUPPORT THE FLOORS AND WHICH ALLOWED
THE EXTERNAL GLASS WALLS TO CONTINUE WITHOUT INTERRUPTION.

9. WALTER GROPIUS
ABOUT ARCHITECTURE
• “TO BUILT IS TO CREATE EVENT”
• ARCHITECT, SCULPTURES, PAINTERS, WE MUST ALL RETURN TO THE CRAFTS!
• FOR ART IS NOT A ‘PROFESSION’. THERE IS NO ESSENTIAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ARTIST AND
THE CRAFTSMAN
• THE ARTIST IS THE EXALTED CRAFTSMAN.

10. FAMOUS WORKS
OF
WALTER GROPIUS

11. FAGUS FACTORY,
ALFELD, GERMANY
• THE FAGUS FACTORY,A SHOE LAST FACTORY IN ALFELD IN GERMANY.
• IT IS AN IMPORTANT EXAMPLE OF EARLY MODERN ARCHITECTURE.
• IT WAS BUILT AT ALFELD – AN– DER – LEINE IN 1911.
• IT WAS IN COLLABORATION WITH ADOLF MEYER.
• IT WAS HIS FIRST INDEPENDENT COMMISSION. MOST STRIKING THING: SIMPLICITY AND
CONFIDENCE OF THE ARCHITECTURE.
• IN FAGUS WORKS, GROPIUS BROUGHT THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE PAST FIFTEEN YEARS.
• THE MAIN BUILDING CAN BE SEEN AS AN INVERSION OF THE TURBINE FACTORY.

12. • IT WAS DESIGNED BY GROPIUS KEEPING IN MIND THE SURROUNDINGS. IT WAS CALLED BY GROPIUS
AN ARTISTIC AND PRACTICAL DESIGN.
• FAGUS BUILDING WAS THE FIRST TO EXTRACT THE FULL AESTHETICALLY REVOLUTIONARY
IMPACTFROM THE STRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT.
• FAGUS STRUCTURE WAS ACTUALLY A HYBRID CONSTRUCTION OF BRICK COLUMNS, STEEL BEAMS
AND CONCRETE FLOOR SLABS AND STAIRWAYS.
• IT WAS A STEEL FRAME SUPPORTING THE FLOORS, GLASS SCREEN EXTERNAL WALLS.
• PILLARS ARE SET BEHIND THE FAÇADE SO THAT ITS CURTAIN CHARACTER IS FULLY REALIZED.

13. PLAN

14. ELEVATION

15. PLAN OF MAIN OFFICE BUILDING

16. EXTERNAL VIEW
• GLASS SCREEN WAS USED ALL OVER THE WALLS TO HAVE
PROPER VIEW FROM INSIDE.
• WALLS ARE NO LONGER SUPPORTERS OF THE BUILDING BUT SIMPLE CURTAIN PROJECTING
AGAINST INCREMENT WEATHER.
• IT WAS DOMINATION OF VOIDS OVER SOLIDS. PLANE SURFACES PREDOMINATE IN THIS
FACTORY.
• THE GLASS AND WALLS ARE JOINED CLEANLY AT THE CORNERS WITHOUT THE INTERVENTION
OF PIERS.

17. GLASS FACADE
• IT WAS CONSTRUCTED IN 1911 ACCORDING TO
• WERNER’S PLAN BUT WITH THE GLASS FACADES
DESIGNED BY GROPIUS AND MEYER
AND THEN EXPANDED IN 1913.
• BOTH HAVE CORNERS FREE OF SUPPORTS, AND
GLASS SURFACES BETWEEN PIERS THAT COVER THE
WHOLE HEIGHT OF THE BUILDING.

18. • THE FAGUS BUILDING IS A 40-CENTIMETER HIGH, DARK BRICK BASE THAT PROJECTS FROM THE
FACADE BY 4 CENTIMETRE.
• THE INTERIORS OF THE BUILDING, WHICH CONTAINED MAINLY OFFICES, WERE FINISHED IN THE
MID 20S. THE OTHER TWO BIG BUILDINGS ON THE SITE ARE THE PRODUCTION HALL AND THE
WAREHOUSE. BOTH WERE CONSTRUCTED IN 1911 AND EXPANDED IN 1913.

19. CONSTRUCTUCTION SYSTEM
• THE MAIN BUILDING WAS ERECTED ON TOP OF A STRUCTURALLY STABLE BASEMENT WITH FLAT
CAPS. NON- REINFORCED (OR COMPRESSED) CONCRETE, MIXED WITH PEBBLE DASHING WAS
USED FOR THE BASEMENT WALLS, AN UNFORTUNATE BLEND UNABLE TO SUPPORT GREAT
INDIVIDUAL LOADS.
• THE CEILINGS WERE UNDERPINNED WITH A FORMWORK SHELL AND FINISHED IN ROUGH-CAST
PLASTER ON THE SERVICES INSTALLATION SIDE. THE FLOORS WERE COMPOSED OF PLANKS ON
LOOSE SLEEPERS – THAT IS, SLEEPERS THAT WERE NOT FIXED BETWEEN THE FLOOR JOISTS.
• . ALONG THE SIDE OF THE BUILDING, 3-MILLIMETRE-THICK STEEL PLATES SEALED THE WEDGE
BETWEEN WINDOW FRAME AND PIERS.

20. DESIGN
• ALTHOUGH CONSTRUCTED WITH DIFFERENT SYSTEMS, ALL OF THE BUILDINGS ON THE SITE GIVE A
COMMON IMAGE AND APPEAR AS A UNIFIED WHOLE.
• THE FIRST ONE IS THE USE OF FLOOR-TO-CEILING GLASS WINDOWS ON STEEL FRAMES THAT GO
AROUND THE
• CORNERS OF THE BUILDINGS WITHOUT A VISIBLE (MOST OF THE TIME WITHOUT ANY) STRUCTURAL
SUPPORT.
• THE OTHER UNIFYING ELEMENT IS THE USE OF BRICK.

21. BAUHAUS ARCHIVE
BERLIN
• THIS IS THE MUSEUM OF DESIGN THAT COLLECTS ART PIECES,
ITEMS, DOCUMENTS AND LITERATURE WHICH RELATE TO
• THE BAUHAUS SCHOOL (1919–1933).
• THE BAUHAUS ARCHIVE WAS FOUNDED IN DARMSTADT IN 1960.
• GROPIUS WAS ASKED TO DESIGN IT. IN
• 1964.

22. • HE PRODUCED PLANS FOR A NEW MUSEUM IN DARMSTADT,
WHICH WAS PREVENTED BY LOCAL POLITICS.
• THE FOUNDATION STONE WAS FINALLY
LAID IN 1976 AND THE BUILDING WAS
READY BY 1979.
• THE NECESSARY CHANGES TO THE PLAN WERE
CARRIED OUT BY HIS FORMER COLLEAGUE ALEX
CVIJANOVIC, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE
BERLIN ARCHITECT HANS BANDEL.

23. • HE PRODUCED PLANS FOR A NEW MUSEUM IN DARMSTADT,
WHICH WAS PREVENTED BY LOCAL POLITICS.
• THE FOUNDATION STONE WAS FINALLY LAID IN 1976
AND THE BUILDING WAS READY BY 1979.
• THE NECESSARY CHANGES TO THE PLAN WERE
CARRIED OUT BY HIS FORMER COLLEAGUE ALEX CVIJANOVIC,
IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE BERLIN ARCHITECT HANS BANDEL.

24. PLAN

25. SECTION ROUGHELEVATION

26. INTERIOR
• THE COLLECTION DOCUMENTS THE HISTORY OF BAUHAUS IN ART, TEACHING, ARCHITECTURE
AND DESIGN.
• THE COLLECTION INCLUDES TEACHING MATERIALS, WORKSHOP MODELS, ARCHITECTURAL
PLANS AND MODELS, PHOTOGRAPHS, DOCUMENTS AND A LIBRARY.

27. MATERIALS AND FORMS
• THE BUILDING EMPHASIZED THE DIRECT AND HONEST USE OF MATERIALS AS A FUNCTIONAL
DESIGN.
• THE RESULT WAS RECTILINEAR ARCHITECTURAL FORMS
• STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS SUCH AS STEEL, GLASS AND CONCRETE WERE USED, DIRECTLY AND
HONESTLY, WITHOUT TRYING TO IMITATE ANY OTHER WAY.
• THE COLOURFUL METAL COLUMNS PLACED AT BOTH ENDS OF THE RAMP.

28. GROPIUS HOUSE
LINCOLN, MASSACHUSETT
• THE GROPIUS HOUSE WAS THE FAMILY RESIDENCE OF GROPIUS.
• IT IS NOW OWNED BY HISTORIC NEW ENGLAND AND IS
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
• THIS HOUSE WAS HIS FIRST ARCHITECTURAL
COMMISSION IN THE UNITED STATES.
• HE DESIGNED IT IN 1937, WHEN HE CAME TO TEACH
AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY'S GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN,
AND IT WAS BUILT IN 1938.

29. • THE HOUSE CAUSED A SENSATION WHEN BUILT. IN KEEPING WITH BAUHAUS PHILOSOPHY,
EVERY ASPECT OF THE HOUSE AND ITS SURROUNDING LANDSCAPE WAS PLANNED FOR
MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY AND SIMPLICITY.
• GROPIUS CAREFULLY SITED THE HOUSE TO COMPLEMENT ITS NEW ENGLAND HABITAT ON A
RISE WITHIN AN ORCHARD OF 90 APPLE TREES.
• THE GROPIUS HOUSE MIXES UP THE TRADITIONAL MATERIALS OF NEW ENGLAND
ARCHITECTURE (WOOD, BRICK, AND FIELDSTONE) WITH INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS SUCH AS
GLASS BLOCK, ACOUSTIC PLASTER, AND CHROME BANISTERS.
• THE HOUSE STRUCTURE CONSISTS OF A TRADITIONAL NEW ENGLAND POST AND BEAM
WOODEN FRAME.
• IT WAS DECLARED A NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK IN 2000.

30. SIEMENSSTADT HOUSING ESTATE OR
RING ESTATE, EUROPE
• IT IS A NONPROFIT RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITY IN THE
CHARLOTTENBURG-WILMERSDORF DISTRICT OF BERLIN.
• IT IS ONE OF THE SIX MODERNIST HOUSING ESTATES IN
BERLIN RECOGNIZED IN JULY 2008 BY UNESCO
AS A WORLD HERITAGE SITE.

31. EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES,ATHENS
• THE EMBASSY OF THE UNITED
• STATES IN ATHENS IS THE EMBASSY OF THE
UNITED STATES IN GREECE.
• IT WAS CONSTRUCTED BETWEEN 1959 AND 1961
AND IS A PROTECTED ARCHITECTURAL LANDMARK.
• INSPIRED BY THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE PARTHENON.
• THE OFFICE BUILDING IS 5026 M² AND INCLUDES
OFFICE SPACE FOR OVER 150 PEOPLE.

32. METLIFE BUILDINGPARK AVENUE, NEW YORK
• THE METLIFE BUILDING IS A SKYSCRAPER.
• BUILT IN 1958–63 AS THE PAN AM BUILDING, THEN HEADQUARTERS
• OF PAN AMERICAN WORLD AIRWAYS.
• IT IS IN COLLABORATION WITH EMERY ROTH & SONS,PIETRO BELLUSCHI.

33. JOSEPHINE M. HAGERTY HOUSE
COHASSET, MASSACHUSETT
• LOCATED A FEW FEET FROM THE SHORELINE, IT WAS THE FIRST BUILDING IN THE UNITED
STATES COMMISSIONED FROM GROPIUS.
• THE HOUSE WAS BUILT IN 1938 AND ADDED TO THE NATIONAL HISTORIC REGISTER IN 1997.

34. IMPINGTON VILLAGE COLLEGE
CAMBRIDGESHIRE, ENGLAND

35. MICHAEL REESE HOSPITAL,CHICAGO

36. HARVARD GRADUATE CENTER
U.S.A

37. CONCLUSION
• GROPIUS IS RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF THE FOUR PIONEERS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE, THE OTHERS
BEING MIES VAN DER ROHE, FRANK LYOD WRIGHT AND LE-CORBUSIER.
• GROPIUS WAS A FUNCTIONLIST MOST OF HIS BUILDINGS IN GERMANY, ENGLAND AND AMERICA
ARE CONSTRUCTED THAT AIM TO BE LOGICAL INTERPRETATION OF PURPOSE FOR
INSTANCE:IMPINGTON VALLAGE SCHOOL, HARVARD GRADUATE CENTRE.
• GROPIUS WAS QUICK TO SEE THE ADVANTAGES OF ECONOMY IN THE BUILDINGS.
• GROPIUS WAS EXPERIMENTED IN HIS PROJECTS.
• BEING AN EDUCATOR HIS NATURE MADE HIM READY TO LISTEN TO OTHERS AND GIVE THEM THEIR
FULL DUE. HE WAS ALWAYS READY TO CONSULT AND LEARN FROM OTHERS.

38. THANK YOU