Walter Gropius: An Illustrated Biography

A stunning visual biography of the life of Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus, and one of the world’s most influential architects

This illustrated biography tells the story of Gropius’s life, beginning with his shattering experiences in World War One, his turbulent marriage to the notorious Alma Mahler, the establishment of the Bauhaus, and the tragic death of their daughter Manon.

After Gropius’s agonized decision to leave Nazi Germany in 1933, the book explores his life in exile in London and then his move to America in 1937, where he lived and worked until his death in 1969.

Features more than 375 illustrations including letters, telegrams, sketches, drawings, photographs, posters, brochures, and other ephemera. The authors present the life of Walter Gropius as not just a key figure of 20th-century architecture, but as an extraordinarily generous person - a connector, protector, and benefactor who improved the lives and careers of all those with whom he came into contact.

This is the first comprehensive illustrated biography of one of Modern architecture’s most important figures.

Leyla Daybelge and Magnus Englund are self-confessed ’Bauhaus obessives’, with a specialist interest in Walter Gropius. They are co-authors of the 2019 book Isokon and the Bauhaus in Britain, detailing the little-known story of Walter Gropius’s life and work in London during the 1930s. Magnus and Leyla have delivered dozens of highly acclaimed lectures on the Bauhaus and Walter Gropius.