From Bauhaus to Our House

Walter Gropius, the "grandfather" of steel and glass, conceived his architectural vision in the rubble of WWI and the decadence of Weimar in the decade after. His doctrine found fertile soil in America, where it was time to adopt a new architecture that expressed our now stronger than ever national identity. But Gropius' minimalist ideals were in stark contrast to the actual spirit of the times. Today, Americans look on their own architecture with furrowed brow.

In this engaging work of crit...