Mendelsohn, Erich

Mendelsohn, Erich (ā`rĭkh mĕn`dəlzōn), 1887–1953, German architect, pioneer of expressionism. He is best known for his exuberant, sculptural design for the Einstein Tower in Potsdam (1919–21). Mendelsohn turned to more restrained forms in such later works as the Schocken Department Stores in Stuttgart (1926–27) and in Chemnitz (1928). He escaped from Nazi Germany to England in 1933 and after 1934 designed medical centers and other buildings in Haifa and Jerusalem. In 1941, Mendelsohn became a resident of the United States, where he designed several impressive synagogues in the Midwest.

Bibliography

See studies by A. Whittick (2d ed. 1956), W. von Eckardt (1960), and B. Zevi (1985).

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Mendelsohn, Erich

(born March 21, 1887, Allenstein, Ger.—died Sept. 15, 1953, San Francisco, Calif., U.S.) German architect. While studying architecture in Munich, he was influenced by the Blaue Reiter group of Expressionist artists. Mendelsohn's Einstein Tower, Potsdam (1919–21), a highly sculptural structure, reflects his early preoccupation with science fiction. In the 1920s he designed a number of imaginative structures, including the Schocken stores in Stuttgart (1927) and Chemnitz (1928), notable for their prominent use of glass in strongly horizontal compositions. He fled the Nazis in 1933 and eventually settled in the U.S.; his American works include the Maimonides Hospital, San Francisco (1946).