The Design Geniuses Who Fled Nazi Germany

Guest speaker: Dr. Peter Harris

When Hitler seized power in 1933, many prominent architects persecuted by the Nazis – including Jews, ‘degenerate artists’ and ‘cultural Bolshevists’ – fled. Seeking refuge in such cities as London, New York and Tel Aviv, they transplanted their innovative design concepts, and enriched global architecture with their modernist vision. Learn about the residences of ex-Bauhaüslers Marcel Breuer and Walter Gropius, Bruno Taut’s spectacular housing co-ops, and Erich Mendelsohn and Oskar Kaufmann’s White City. Presented in honour of Holocaust Education Month.

Join us in-person, on Zoom simulcast, or register to receive the recordings!

Thursdays: November 7, 14 & 21
1:00-2:30pm  
Join us in person, on Zoom simulcast or register to receive the recordings!
Series: $36; drop-in: $16

November 7:  The British, then American, partnership of ex-Bauhaüslers Marcel Breuer and Walter Gropius; they introduced the concept of modern residences in America.

November 14:  Erich Mendelsohn and Oskar Kaufmann both fled to Tel Aviv, and produced some landmark buildings of The White City, the largest cluster of Bauhaus buildings in the world.

November 21:  Bruno Taut built spectacular housing co-ops in Berlin (now UNESCO sites), then fled to Turkey.
Dr. Peter Harris is the former Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science of the University of Toronto. A former senior lecturer in the University’s German Department, Dr. Harris has also served as a Special Lecturer in the new Vic One Program at Victoria College. In these different capacities, he has lectured on topics ranging from German Film to Expo ’58, from the German Reichstag Building to Rosie the Riveter. Peter was the Program Coordinator and Lecturer for U of T’s Later Life Learning. He has lectured for the George Brown Seniors Association, LifeLong Learning Mississauga, Bluewater Association of Lifelong Learning in Owen Sound, Life Long Learning in Retirement at Glendon College, and at Hot Docs Curious Minds series. At the Miles Nadal JCC, Peter has given the lectures From The Binoculars Building to Bilbao & Beyond: The Starchitecture of Frank Gehry, The Bauhaus:100 years of Architecture, Art and Design, The Significance of the Feldberg Collection, the virtual series Design Movements in the 19th and 20th Centuries and the fall 2023 multi-access series The Architectural Innovation of Moshe Safdie – we are delighted to welcome Peter back to our building this fall!