wiedler.ch

book (design) story #40

albert sigrist:
das buch vom bauen

verlag "der bücherkreis gmbh", berlin, 1930
printer: verlagsdruckerei volksfreund gmbh, karlsruhe
size: 24 x 17 cm
designer: jan tschichold

"das buch vom bauen" (the book about building) discusses modern architecture from a very socialist point of view. albert sigrist is a pseudonym for alexander schwab (1887-1943) who regularly contributed to the german werkbund magazine "die form". later schwab was a member of the resistance network "rote kämpfer" (red fighters). he died in a nazi prison in 1943.

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this is jan tschichold's (1902-1974) first book design for the bücherkreis. over the next two years tschichold designed most of this socialist bookclub's publications.

i like this laminated pictorial cover – it demonstrates the similarities between "new architecture" and "new typography": asymmetrically placed elements on white surfaces, no ornaments. the photo shows jjp oud's terraced houses that are part of the weissenhof housing estate in stuttgart. the mix of typefaces is typical for tschichold's style of the early 1930s.

there are many photos of great modern architecture – below mies van der rohe's weissenhof building.