Students have a rare opportunity to view an exhibition of German architect Erich Mendelsohn’s work at the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture Gallery during the collection’s only stop in the United States.
Erich Mendelsohn: Dynamics and Function, Realized Visions of a Cosmopolitan Architect was organized by the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations, Germany and was brought to UH by associate professor of architecture Dietmar Froehlich.
"We are very happy to secure this informative exhibition for our college on one of the pioneers of modern 20th century architecture," Froehlich said in a release.
Unfortunately, few people have heard of his modern architecture in the States; however, some may be familiar with his conceptual design of the Einstein Tower, also known as the Einsteinturm, a collaborative effort by the architect and Albert Einstein that resulted in one of Mendelsohn’s most renowned creations.
"I didn’t know who he was beforehand," architecture senior Marie Abascal said. "The way he thinks about architecture is totally different. The way he designs comes off totally different from other architects."
From his fluid lines, curvaceous hallways and his ability to make an average view become breathtaking, Mendelsohn was undoubtedly cosmopolitan.
"Mendelsohn had an unusual connection to different aspects of art," Curator Regina Stephan of the Technische Universitat Darmstadt, Germany, said in her lecture, "Erich Mendelsohn’s Vision of a New Architecture and his Sources of Inspiration." "He is an unjustifiably underestimated architect."
Erich Mendelsohn: Dynamics and Function, Realized Visions of a Cosmopolitan Architect will be on view through Oct. 11. Admission is free and the viewing is open to the public.
