Of the many names attached to the Modern design movement, Walter Gropius is one of the most recognized by both designers and design lovers alike. A successful German architect, Gropius is perhaps most widely known as the founder of the Bauhaus and an important figure in modern architecture.
Like his father before him, Gropius began his design career as an architect in Germany. A little known fact about Gropius was despite his obvious brilliance in design, he couldn’t draw—and would often hire people to help him create his ideas. His lack of drawing skills didn’t deter him from getting a job, though, and in 1908 he began working with the firm of Peter Behrens. Along with Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, he also worked alongside Dietrick Marck. After two years he left that firm and started his own with Adolf Meyer in Berlin. It was with Meyer that Gropius began to first get noticed for his modernist ideas, and together they built one of the most important modernist buildings of that period: the Faguswerk in Alfeld-an-der-Leine, Germany. Another important building they collaborated on in this time period was the=2 0office and factory building for the Werkbund Exhibition in Cologne, completed in 1914. After this promising start to his career, Gropius was called upon to join the efforts of World War I, where he thankfully survived to continue his contributions.
In 1915, Henry van de Velde stepped down from his position of master of the Grand-Ducal Saxon School of Arts and Crafts in Weimar. He recommended that Gropius take his place, and so began one of Gropius’ most important contributions to the modernist movement: he eventually turned this school into the internationally known Bauhaus. He would go on to fill the Bauhaus with the talented likes of Paul Klee, Johannes Itten, Josef Albers, Herbert Bayer, László Moholy-Nagy, Otto Bartning and Wassily Kandinsky. The Bauhaus, which is translated to “House of Building” first taught students to use both modern and inventive materials and industrial, easily mass-produced fittings to create everything from furniture to architecture. In 1923, Gropius himself designed a set of door handles that have become so famous they're one of the most important and iconic designs of our time.
Because of the political strife of the period, Gropius was forced to leave Germany in 1934, and moved to Britain until 1937. After Britain, he finally found his way to the United States. Never losing stride in the modernist movement, the house he built for himself in Lincoln, Massachusetts was partially responsible for=2 0bringing what was known in the US as International Modernism to the country (other designers, like Le Corbusier, would help spread modernism to the states even more). If you think Gropius began to slow down as he got older, you’re wrong. He eventually moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts with his assistant Marcel Breuer to teach at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. They collaborated on the Aluminum City Terrace project in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, before ending their professional relationship. In 1944, Gropius became a citizen of the US.
Through his architecture, industrial design and work with the Bauhaus Gropius became famous, but some feel that his most important contribution to the design world came when in 1945 he founded The Architects' Collaborative (TAC), which would eventually become one of the most famous and venerable architecture firms in the world. The original partners of his firm were such notable architects as Norman C. Fletcher, Jean B. Fletcher, John C. Harkness, Sarah P. Harkness, Robert S. MacMillan, Louis A. MacMillen, and Benjamin C. Thompson.
Though Gropius died in 1969 at age 86, his TAC firm lasted until 1995, and his legacy to the modernist design world has lived on since then. Not only famous for the actual projects he's worked on, it’s his ideas and contributions to the modernist movement which will continue to inspire others for lifetimes.
Like his father before him, Gropius began his design career as an architect in Germany. A little known fact about Gropius was despite his obvious brilliance in design, he couldn’t draw—and would often hire people to help him create his ideas. His lack of drawing skills didn’t deter him from getting a job, though, and in 1908 he began working with the firm of Peter Behrens. Along with Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, he also worked alongside Dietrick Marck. After two years he left that firm and started his own with Adolf Meyer in Berlin. It was with Meyer that Gropius began to first get noticed for his modernist ideas, and together they built one of the most important modernist buildings of that period: the Faguswerk in Alfeld-an-der-Leine, Germany. Another important building they collaborated on in this time period was the=2 0office and factory building for the Werkbund Exhibition in Cologne, completed in 1914. After this promising start to his career, Gropius was called upon to join the efforts of World War I, where he thankfully survived to continue his contributions.
In 1915, Henry van de Velde stepped down from his position of master of the Grand-Ducal Saxon School of Arts and Crafts in Weimar. He recommended that Gropius take his place, and so began one of Gropius’ most important contributions to the modernist movement: he eventually turned this school into the internationally known Bauhaus. He would go on to fill the Bauhaus with the talented likes of Paul Klee, Johannes Itten, Josef Albers, Herbert Bayer, László Moholy-Nagy, Otto Bartning and Wassily Kandinsky. The Bauhaus, which is translated to “House of Building” first taught students to use both modern and inventive materials and industrial, easily mass-produced fittings to create everything from furniture to architecture. In 1923, Gropius himself designed a set of door handles that have become so famous they're one of the most important and iconic designs of our time.
Because of the political strife of the period, Gropius was forced to leave Germany in 1934, and moved to Britain until 1937. After Britain, he finally found his way to the United States. Never losing stride in the modernist movement, the house he built for himself in Lincoln, Massachusetts was partially responsible for=2 0bringing what was known in the US as International Modernism to the country (other designers, like Le Corbusier, would help spread modernism to the states even more). If you think Gropius began to slow down as he got older, you’re wrong. He eventually moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts with his assistant Marcel Breuer to teach at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. They collaborated on the Aluminum City Terrace project in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, before ending their professional relationship. In 1944, Gropius became a citizen of the US.
Through his architecture, industrial design and work with the Bauhaus Gropius became famous, but some feel that his most important contribution to the design world came when in 1945 he founded The Architects' Collaborative (TAC), which would eventually become one of the most famous and venerable architecture firms in the world. The original partners of his firm were such notable architects as Norman C. Fletcher, Jean B. Fletcher, John C. Harkness, Sarah P. Harkness, Robert S. MacMillan, Louis A. MacMillen, and Benjamin C. Thompson.
Though Gropius died in 1969 at age 86, his TAC firm lasted until 1995, and his legacy to the modernist design world has lived on since then. Not only famous for the actual projects he's worked on, it’s his ideas and contributions to the modernist movement which will continue to inspire others for lifetimes. 
