wiedler.ch

book (design) story #134

alfred roth, frank lloyd wright:
usa baut

kunstgewerbemuseum zürich, 1945
printer: gebr. fretz ag., zürich (cover+photos); buchdruckerei berichthaus, zürich
size: 21 x 15 cm
designer: max bill

in 1945, an exhibition about modern architecture in the u.s.a. was shown in zurich. max bill (1908-1994) designed the poster and catalogue cover. squares standing on a corner are a format that bill often used in his paintings, too – influenced by mondrian. bill preferred all lowercase spelling, as seen in the museum's name and his signature.

max bill became a militant against traditional, axial page layout (see the famous dispute with tschichold), and so i guess the title page is definitely not designed by him. there is an introductory text by johannes itten (1988-1967), the early bauhaus teacher who was director of the school and museum of applied arts in zürich at the time.

below some photos of buildings by frank lloyd wright.