Bruno Julius Florian Taut (May 4, 1880, Konigsberg, Germany - December 24, 1938, Istanbul), was a prolific German architect, urban planner and author active in the Weimar period. May 4 is the 124th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (125th in leap years). ... 1880 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... December 24 is the 358th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (359th in leap years). ... 1938 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Shows the Location of the Province İstanbul Istanbul (Turkish: İstanbul; a contraction of Greek εις την πολιν into the city, the former Constantinople, Κωνσταντινούπολις) is the largest city in Turkey, and arguably the most important. ... Architect at his drawing board, 1893 An architect, also known as a building designer, is a person involved in the planning, designing and oversight of a buildings construction, whose role is to guide decisions affecting those building aspects that are of aesthetic, cultural or social concern. ... Urban planners work with local governments to formulate plans for the short- and long-term growth and renewal of urban and suburban communities. ... Weimar Republic refers to the years (1919-1933) in German history. ...

Taut is best known in the English-speaking world for his theoretical work, speculative writings and a handful of exhibition buildings. Taut's best-known single building is the prismatic dome of the Glass Pavilion at the Cologne Werkbund Exhibition (1914). His sketches for "Alpine Architecture" (1917) are the work of an unabashed Utopian visionary, and he is variously classified as a Modernist and an Expressionist. Cologne skyline at night with river Rhine in the foreground and famous Cologne Cathedral on the right. ... The Werkbund Exhibition of 1914 was held in Cologne, Germany. ... Utopia, in its most common and general meaning, refers to an imaginary perfect society, that does not (yet) exist, or that can never exist because people are unable to reach perfection or endure tyranny forever. ... Le Corbusiers Villa Savoye, 1929-30: The modern style is noted for its rigorous geometrical forms. ... On White II by Wassily Kandinsky, 1923. ...

This reputation does not accurately reflect Taut's extensive body of built work and his social and practical accomplishments.

After training in Berlin and joining the office of Theodor Fischer in Stuttgart, Taut opened his own Berlin office in 1910. The elder architect Hermann Muthesius suggested that he visit England to understand the garden city movement. This trip would have a lasting impact. Muthesius would also introduce him to some of the figures of the Deutscher Werkbund, including Walter Gropius.   Berlin? (pronounced: , German ) is the capital of Germany and its largest city, with 3,426,000 inhabitants (as of January 2005); down from 4. ... Theodor Fischer (1862 - 1938) was a German architect and teacher who trained both German Bestelmeyer and Paul Bonatz, and belonged to the Munich School to which Paul Troost belonged. ... Stuttgart, a city located in southern Germany, is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg with a population of approximately 600,000 as of May 2005. ... The Garden city movement was founded by Sir Ebenezer Howard in England in 1898 as an approach to urban planning. ... The Deutscher Werkbund (English: German Association of Craftsmen) was an association of artists, founded in 1907 in München by Hermann Muthesius, promoting innovation in applied arts and architecture through good design and craftmanship. ... Walter Adolph Gropius (May 18, 1883 – July 5, 1969) was a German architect and founder of Bauhaus. ...

He completed two housing projects in Magdeburg from 1912 through 1915, directly influenced by the humane functionalism and green urban design solutions of the garden city movement. He served as city architect in Magdeburg from 1921 to 1923. Magdeburg, the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, lies on the Elbe river. ...

In 1924 he was made chief architect of GEHAG, a private housing concern, and designed several successful large residential developments ("Gross-Siedlungen") in Berlin, notably the 1925 Horseshoe Development ("Hufeisensiedlung"), named for its configuration around a pond, and the 1926 Uncle Tom's Cabin Development ("Onkel-Toms Hutte") in Zehlendorf, oddly named for a local restaurant and set in a thick grove of trees. The designs featured controversially modern flat roofs, humane access to sun, air and gardens, and generous amenities like gas, electric light, and bathrooms. Critics on the political Right complained that these developments were too opulent for 'simple people'. The progressive Berlin mayor Gustav Böss defended them: "We want to bring the lower levels of society higher." Zehlendorf is the southwestern-most district in Berlin. ...

Taut's team completed over 12,000 dwellings between 1924 and 1931. GEHAG is still in business, and has a horseshoe as its logo as tribute to Taut.

Taut worked in the Soviet Union in 1932 and 1933, and came home in February 1933 to a hostile political environment. He fled to Switzerland, then Takasaki in Japan, where he produced three influential books on Japanese culture and architecture, and did furniture and interior design work. Offered a job as Professor of Architecture at Istanbul Technical University, Taut moved to Turkey in 1936, wrote at least one more book, and designed a number of educational buildings in Ankara, before dying prematurely in 1938. Cities Annaka | Fujioka | Isesaki | Kiryu | Maebashi  (capital) | Numata | Ōta | Shibukawa | Takasaki | Tatebayashi | Tomioka Districts Agatsuma | Gunma | Kanra | North Gunma | Nitta | Oura | Sawa | Seta | Tano | Tone | Usui | Yamada Edit this tempate Categories: Japan geography stubs | Cities in Gunma Prefecture ... Ä°stanbul Teknik Ãœniversitesi (ITU, English Istanbul Technical University) is an international technical university, located in Istanbul, Turkey. ...

A lifelong painter, Taut is unique among his European modernist contemporaries in his devotion to color. He applied lively, clashing colors to his first major commission, the 1912 Falkenberg housing estate in Berlin, which became known as the "Paint Box Estates". The 1914 Glass Pavilion, familiar from black and white reproduction, was also brightly colored. Taut's distinction from his Modernist contemporaries was never clearer than at the 1927 Weissenhofsiedlung housing exhibition in Stuttgart. As opposed to other pure-white entries from Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, and Walter Gropius, Taut's house Number 19 was painted up in primary colors. Mies hated it. 1912 is a leap year starting on Monday. ... 1927 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Stuttgart, a city located in southern Germany, is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg with a population of approximately 600,000 as of May 2005. ... Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies) (March 27, 1886 - August 17, 1969) was an architect and designer. ... Notre Dame du Haut Le Corbusier (October 6, 1887–August 27, 1965) was a Swiss architect famous for what is now called the International Style, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius, and Theo van Doesburg. ... Walter Adolph Gropius (May 18, 1883 – July 5, 1969) was a German architect and founder of Bauhaus. ...

Much of Taut's work in German remains untranslated to English.

External links

• Web page about Bruno Taut (archINFORM database)