A major voice in the architectural culture of the mid-century, Sibyl
Moholy-Nagy was uniquely engaged with modernism and modernity. As one of
the very few female architectural critics of the time, she was an early
voice articulating doubts about the path modernist architecture was
taking, demystifying the myths of the masters, Mies, Le Corbusier and
Gropius, and questioning their heroic, masculinist approach. Yet her
writings and work are understudied, and have largely vanished from the
canon of scholarly references on modernism.
This book analyzes the significance of the life and work of Moholy-Nagy
and explores the paradoxical aspects of the relationship between
modernism and feminism. Published as part of the Bloomsbury Studies in
Modern Architecture series, which brings to light the work of
significant yet overlooked figures in modernism, it is both an
examination of her work and legacy, and also a study on the roles of
gender and of the changing nature of modernism in its trajectory from
Europe to America.
Drawing on personal papers, diaries, letters and lecture notes, as well
as personal interviews with relatives, colleagues and students, this
study is a key resource for scholars who would like to include the
contributions of women in to their discussions of architecture and
modernism.
