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book (design) story #227

konrad wachsmann:
aspekte

otto krauskopf-verlag, wiesbaden, 1961
printer: universitätsdruckerei h. stürtz ag., würzburg
size: 27 x 24 cm
photographer: konrad wachsmann
designer: friedrich vordemberge-gildewart, konrad wachsmann (typography)

architect and engineer konrad wachsmann (1901-1980) is best known for the summer house he built for albert einstein at caputh near berlin in 1929. wachsmann left germany in 1933, and after stays in italy and france (where he joined the french army against hitler) finally fled to the states with the help of einstein.

wachsmann also designed the modernist typography of the book, except the photographic dustjacket for which friedrich vordemberge gildewart (1899-1962) is credited (see a photo of the two friends together in book 226).

"aspekte" (aspects) is not a book about wachsmann's work as an architect but about his hobby – photography.

the amazing fact is these great photographs showing old architecture in italy, croatia and francewere taken by wachsmann 30 years earlier, in the 1930s, using an old leica.

an unusual feature of this book: there are no captions next to the full-page photographs, only numbers – ...

... however there is a "bilderverzeichnis" glued into the front cover, a fold-out list of captions – a very practical idea.