The Jewish contribution to modern architecture, 1830-1930

Architectural Review, The, Nov, 2004 by Timothy Brittain-Catlin

THE JEWISH CONTRIBUTION TO MODERN ARCHITECTURE, 1830-1930

By Fredric Bedoire. Jersey City: KTAV Publishing House, in collaboration with Paideia--the European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden and Kungliga Konsthogskolan, Stockholm. 2004. $49.50

Fredric Bedoire's thesis is that the prosperous Jewish families of the major European and American cities made a decisive contribution to the development of modern architecture in the mid-late nineteenth century as clients, developers and architects. James de Rothschild's palatial house near Paris, Ferrieres-en-Brie, improbably constructed by Pugin's builder George Myers in 1854-59, was a landmark among country homes: it was unhistorical, innovatory, and assertive. In Paris itself, the Pereire brothers created the quintessential modern Paris residential area in the 17th arrondissement; and the Jewish proprietors of the great new department stores, the Grands Magasins du Printemps and the Galeries Lafayette, pioneered the breathtaking iron and glass atria which rapidly defined the modern shop. Berlin industrialists and bankers built splendid villas beside the Tiergarten, as well as the famous domed Oranienburgerstrasse synagogue; they later provided Muthesius and Behrens with prestigious commissions. Messel imported the Paris department store to the German capital; Mendelsohn adapted and modernized it. In Vienna, Jews promoted and developed the Ringstrasse, and built their own palazzos there; in Budapest, where at the turn of the century 70 of the city's 110 architects were Jewish, they developed a distinct architectural style, allied to their identification with Hungarian nationalism. Only in countries such as Sweden and England, where Jews were comparatively tolerated and emancipated, did 'Jewish' architecture largely merge into its surroundings.

This is a rich and complex story, and Bedoire may have been unwise to attempt so much of it in a short (albeit well-illustrated) book. He seems more interested in the villas than in the other structures and so this is mainly about them; and they would unquestionably have merited a book to themselves, raising fascinating questions about the uses and appeal of historicism, new standards of luxury, and the creeping influence of English domestic architecture across Europe. Roger Tanner's translation from Swedish is a little heavy, and I would question some of Bedoire's facts: Guimard was surely not Jewish, although his wife was; and the Einstein Tower was (to Mendelsohn's regret) not built of concrete, but of plastered brick. But there is a great deal of interest here; and much that deserves further study.

Book reviews from this and recent issues of The Architectural Review can now be seen on our website at www.arplus.com and the books can be ordered online, many at special discount.