Hannes Meyer

two days before the finissage of the exhibition 'Bauhaus' at Martin Grupious Bau in Berlin, which was too crowded to let you see all the numerous exhibits, one architect was never-the-less quite notable (among the other famous names) - Hannes Meyer. Meyer (1889 - 1954) was born in Basel, Switzerland. in 1926 he designed together with Hans Wittwer his two most famous projects, for the Basel Petersschule (in the pic.) and for the Geneva League of Nations Building. both were never built. Walter Grupius appointed Meyer head of the Bauhaus architecture department when it was finally established in April 1927. Meyer brought his radical functionalist viewpoint he named die neue baulehre (the new way to build), suggesting that architecture has only organizational task with no relationship to aesthetics, that buildings should be low cost and that design should fulfill social needs. Meyer became the second director of the Bauhaus school from 1928 to 1930 until he was fired due to his radical Communist opinions. he responded to his dismissal by taking seven students and a secretary to Moscow, forming a group they called the 'Left Column'. after 1936 Meyer returned to Geneva for three years and then emigrated to Mexico City to work for the Mexican government. he returned to Switzerland in 1949.