Beschreibung
Sigfried Giedion (1888-1968), one of the main protagonists of the architectural avant-garde in Europe, paradoxically achieved this reputation far from his homeland in America. Nearly all of Giedions books written after his initial stay at Harvard University were published in English long before they became available in his native German. Reto Geiser sheds new light on Giedions life and reassesses his work through the lens of cultural transformation and modernization processes. The author questions the unbroken line of developments portrayed in the historiography of modern architecture, and argues that Giedions position in between two cultural spheres not only caused ruptures and contradictions in his work but also productively shaped its reception on either side of the Atlantic.
Autorenportrait
Reto Geiser (*1976) ist Architekt und Architekturhistoriker mit einem Fokus auf die Schnittstellen zwischen Architektur, Pädagogik und Medien. Seit 2011 unterrichtet und forscht er als Gus Wortham Assistant Professor an der Rice University School of Architecture in Houston, Texas.
