Mackintosh’s Hill House Becomes an International Iconic House!

SPECIAL – Czech Classics

Record Number of Modern House Museums Newly Affiliated with Iconic Houses

Laichter House: The Story of Burnt Books and Broken Bricks

Iconic Houses Network Members' Meetup London, November 4

Remembering Irving J. Gill

Iconic Houses in the Media

Interview in Leading Catalan newspaper ARA

Bauhaus Villa in Berlin For Sale

Historical Exhibition, Marie-Laure de Noailles, Painter, Conversation

Our Badge of Honour

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Early Furniture Designs by Le Corbusier on Permanent Display in Maison Blanche

Photo Report City Icons Amsterdam

Healing Through Architecture

Reopening An Iconic Modernist Landmark

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MORE MIES - Pure Architecture in Haus Lange Haus Esters

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Modernism Week Lecture: 12 Years of Iconic Houses

Aluminaire House Grand Opening

Exhibition Icons of the Czech Avant-Garde

An Elementalist and Mediterranean Architecture

Icon for Sale - Loos Villa: Haus Horner

SPECIAL – Iconic Dreams Europe - Sleep in an Iconic House!

SPECIAL – Iconic Dreams North America - Sleep in an Iconic House!

SPECIAL – Dutch Delights!

SPECIAL - Vacances en France!

SPECIAL – German Greats!

SPECIAL - Casas Icónicas en España!

SPECIAL – Northern (High)Lights!

SPECIAL – Iconic Artist Residencies

SPECIAL – Iconic Collective Housing

SPECIAL – Women & Iconic Houses

Public Screenings and Private Streaming of Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House

Support the Frankfurt Declaration (on Housing)

Winy Wants a World Wonder

Welcome Atelier Volten!

Sleep in a Modernist Gem – Huis Billiet in Bruges

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - 100 Years Van Zessen House

Exclusive Tour and Film Screening Package

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Icons of the Czech Avantgarde

Icon for Sale - Casa Legorreta

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Hurray! 10 Years Iconic Houses

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Meet Conference Co-Chair Maria Szadkowska

Eighteen Iconic Houses Under One Roof

17 June - 'Pioneers-film' Screening Amersfoort

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Van Eesteren House Museum

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Welcome Vila Volman! Jewel of Czech Functionalism

Movie Night: Adolf Loos- Revolutionary Among Architects

'Inside Iconic Houses' Case Study House #26 Webcast in Webshop

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'Inside Iconic Houses' - Online Tour Program

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Rietveld Houses Owners Association

Corberó Space: New Life for Hidden Jewel

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Pierre Cuypers' House and Workshops

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Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Van Doesburg Rinsema House

Welcome Rietveld's Van Daalen House!

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Watch Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House Now On Demand

Icon Saved: Dorchester Drive House

Welcome Umbrella House!

Iconic Houses in the Netherlands – Berlage’s Masterpiece

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Het Schip

Inside Iconic Houses - Tour of Maison Cazenave

Inside Iconic Houses Tours Vizcaya Museum & Gardens in Miami

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Inside Iconic Houses tours Roland Reisley's Usonian Frank Lloyd Wright House

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Portraits of the Architect - Interview with Gennaro Postiglione

Test Labs for New Ideas - Interview with Natascha Drabbe

Inside Iconic Houses - Isokon Building

Inside Iconic Houses - 16 December: Sunnylands with Janice Lyle

BCN-BXL Coderch-De Koninck - Beyond Time

New Chairman Architect Nanne de Ru on The Perfect Platform

Health and Home - Interview with Beatriz Colomina

A Life Less Ordinary – Interview with Valentijn Carbo

Invisible Women - Interview with Alice T. Friedman

Winy Maas on the Green Dip

Anita Blom on Experimental Housing of the 1970s

Women’s Worlds - Interview with Natalie Dubois

The Culture of Living - Interview with Robert von der Nahmer

Hetty Berens: A Fresh Take on Modernism

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July is Iconic Houses Month

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Save Maison Zilveli - Sign the Petition!

How a Building Tells a Story - Recorded Event

Toolkit for Owners of a Modern House

13 Aalto Sites Nominated for UNESCO World Heritage

Villa Beer At Risk - Sign the Petition!

Business Cards of Stone, Timber and Concrete in the Brussels Region 1830-1970

Exhibiting & Visiting Modernist Monuments

Fostering Well-Researched Responsible Design

ICONS AT RISK

Enjoy a virtual visit to the California House and a Q&A with architect Peter Gluck

Exhibition 'Modernism and Refuge'

A Hidden Gem of Postmodernism

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An Online Chronicle of the Douglas House

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A Mendini temple in Amsterdam

IH-lectures USA & Canada Feb 2020 on Melnikov House

Sponsors and Friends

An Afternoon with the Glucks

Chandler McCoy on Making Modern Houses Sustainable

Catherine Croft: Getting Away from the Demolition Mentality in the UK

Patrick Weber on Discovering an Unknown Icon

Fiona Fisher on Iconic Interiors

Jocelyn Bouraly on Villa Cavrois

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Danish Moderns – Looking Back at Our Mini-Seminar

Venturo house complements Exhibition Centre WeeGee’s offering

Lecture report: Remembering Richard Neutra

Hôtel Mezzara and the Guimard Museum project

We welcome 13 new members!

BREAKING NEWS: 8 Wright Sites Inscribed on Unesco World Heritage List!

LECTURE 29 August - Raymond Neutra: My Father and Frank Lloyd Wright

Iconic Reads

Iconic Houses End Year Message

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Kohlberg House Restoration in Progress

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An Iconic Saga

Restoring Eileen Gray’s Villa E-1027 and Clarifying the Controversies

Modernism on the East Coast

Iconic Houses in Latin America

Conference testimonials

House Tours May 2018 

Expert Meetings

Natascha Drabbe - Iconic Houses: The Next Chapter

Terence Riley -KEYNOTE SPEAKER- on Philip Johnson

New era for Villa E-1027 and Cap Moderne

Hilary Lewis on Philip Johnson and his Glass House

John Arbuckle on Great House Tours

William D. Earls on the Harvard Five in New Canaan

Stover Jenkins on Working for Philip Johnson

Frederick Noyes on his Father’s House

Scott Fellows and Craig Bassam on their Passion for Preservation

Jorge Liernur -KEYNOTE SPEAKER- on Latin American Modernism(s)

Fabio Grementieri on Modernism in Argentina

Catalina Corcuera Cabezut on Casa Luis Barragán

Renato Anelli on Lina Bo Bardi’s Casa de Vidro

Tim McClimon on Corporate Preservation

Amanda Nelson on Building Donor Relationships

John Bacon on Planned Giving

Jean-Paul Warmoes on the Art of Fundraising in America

Chandler McCoy on Why Less is More

Katherine Malone-France on Moving with the Times

Anne Mette Rahbæk on Philanthropic Investments and Preservation

Peter McMahon on Saving Modern Houses on Cape Cod

Toshiko Kinoshita on Japanese Modern Heritage Houses

Roland Reisley on Life in a Frank Lloyd Wright House

5th Iconic Houses Conference May 2018

Kristin Stone, Pasadena Tour Company

Restoring the past: The Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Home Studio

Behind the Scenes: Hendrick de Keyser Association

Crosby Doe, Architecture for Sale

Latin America Special – Focus on Mexico

De Stijl in Drachten

Preserving the Nancarrow House-Studio

Meet the Friends - Nanne de Ru

Latin America Special – Focus on Brazil

Jan de Jong’s House is Latest Hendrick de Keyser Acquisition

Stay in a Belgian Modernist Masterpiece

In Berlin’s Modernist Network

Rietveld-Schröder House Celebrates De Stijl Anniversary

Meet Our New Foundation Board Members

Maintaining Aalto's Studio – Linoleum Conservation

Virtual Tour of a Papaverhof Home in 3D

Getty Grant for Villa E-1027

Plečnik House in Ljubljana

Iconic Dacha

Iconic Houses: A Bohemian Road Trip

Work in Progress: Capricho de Gaudí

11 Le Corbusier Homes now on Unesco World Heritage List

At home with Le Corbusier

Henry van de Velde’s Study in Haus Hohe Pappeln Restored

Lynda Waggoner reports

A Conference to Remember

4th International Iconic Houses Conference

Guest of Honor - Harry Gesner

Fallingwater: European Lecture Tour

Wright Plus 2016 Walk

Susan Macdonald, Getty Conservation Institute

John Mcllwee, Garcia House

Meet the Friends – Elisabeth Tostrup

Iconic Houses: The Story So Far

Willie van Burgsteden, designer Iconic Houses

Buff Kavelman, Philanthropic Advisor

Meet the Friends - Frederick Noyes

Sheridan Burke, GML Heritage

Meet the Friends - Raymond Neutra

Sidney Williams, Frey House

Franklin Vagnone and Deborah Ryan, Museum Anarchists

Meet the Friends - James Haefner

Toshiko Mori, architect

Malachi Connolly, Cape Cod Modern House Trust

Meet the Friends - Penny Sparke

Lucia Dewey Atwood, Eames House

Cory Buckner, Mutual Housing Site Office

Jeffrey Herr, Hollyhock House

Speaking Volumes: Building the Iconic Houses Library

Sarah Lorenzen, Neutra VDL Studio and Residences

Ted Bosley, Gamble House

Keeping It Modern - Getty Conservation Grants

Meet the Friends - Thomas Schönauer

Wim de Wit, Stanford University

Linda Dishman, Los Angeles Conservancy

Jesse Lattig, Pasadena Heritage

Join us in Los Angeles! Update

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Work in Progress: Villa Cavrois

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Conference calls!

Follow us!

Third Iconic Houses Conference a huge success

Conference House Tours Barcelona

Marta Lacambra, Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera

Natascha Drabbe, Iconic Houses Foundation

Special speaker Oscar Tusquets

Jordi Tresserras, UNESCO Network ‘Culture, tourism and development’

Christen Obel, Utzon Foundation

Elena Ruiz Sastre, Casa Broner

Fernando Alvarez Prozorovich, La Ricarda

Tim Benton, Professor of Art History (Emeritus)

Susana Landrove, Docomomo Spain

Rossend Casanova, Casa Bloc

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Jordi Falgàs, Casa Rafael Masó

Documentary La Ricarda

Marga Viza, Casa Míla/La Pedrera

Celeste Adams, Frank Lloyd Wright Trust

Conference 25 November 2014 at La Pedrera

Henry Urbach, The Glass House

Victoria & Albert Museum London November 12

Tommi Lindh, new director of the Alvar Aalto Foundation and Museum

Iveta Černá, Villa Tugendhat

Lynda Waggoner, Fallingwater

Kimberli Meyer, MAK Center

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Barragán House on Screen

Gesamtkunstwerk – An Icon on the Move

Triennale der Moderne 27 September - 13 October 2013

Prestigious Art Nouveau mansions in Brussels open

September 14 + 15: Heritage Days in Paris

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Corbu’s Cabanon: Reconstruction and Lecture

Projekt Mies In Krefeld: Life-sized model of the Krefeld Clubhouse

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Annual Wright Architectural Housewalk: 18 May

Frank Lloyd Wright Homes on Screen

Message from the Editor

Neutra’s House on Screen

Michel Richard, Fondation Le Corbusier

Symposium The Public and the Modern House

Melnikov House on Screen

Iconic Houses in the media

Message from the Editor

Round Table Review

Eileen Gray House on Screen

Copy Culture

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New 20th century Iconic Houses website launches

Philippe Bélaval, Centre des monuments nationaux

Posted July 29, 2024

Bauhaus Villa in Berlin For Sale

Peter Behrens’ House on the Waldsängerpfad in Berlin-Schlachtensee

Between 1929 and 1930 Haus Lewin or Lewin House was constructed for the psychologist Kurt Lewin and his wife Gertrud Weiß Lewin by architect Peter Behrens (1868-1940). Lewin emigrated in 1933 and sold the house to the German actress Gertrud (Trude) Wisten and her Austrian-Jewish husband Fritz Wisten, the actor, director, artistic director of the Jewish Cultural Association, and later the artistic director of the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm and the Volksbühne; they moved in in 1934 and provided refuge for persecuted Jews there.

The house is currently for sale. The Wisten family is keen on handing over the property with its impressive history to the best possible new steward(s). Follow this link for an extensive presentation.

The Architect
Peter Behrens was a German architect, painter, designer, and typographer, considered a pioneer of modern industrial design. Originally an artist, he became a leading figure in functional architecture and industrial design before World War I. He is particularly known as a co-founder of the German Werkbund and for his comprehensive design work for AEG before World War I. He is considered a prototype of the industrial designer and, at the same time, the inventor of corporate design, as he designed everything from letterheads to products such as electric kettles to their factory buildings in a unified sense at AEG. The architectural office led by him gained special significance because several later famous architects - including Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Le Corbusier - had worked there quasi-simultaneously. Follow this link for a sample chapter from the exhibition catalogue: ‘Peter Behrens in Berlin und Brandenburg: Retrospektive und Perspektive’, 2024 Peter-Behrens-Bau, Oberschöneweide.

Peter Behrens in his Berlin studio circa 1928-29. Source: monoskop.org. 

The Lewin House
In Waldsängerpfad, one of the rare houses in Nikolassee was built in the 1920s according to the principles of avantgarde Bauhaus architecture. The broad, white cubic building stands out, especially among the other designed neighbouring houses. The builders, the Lewin family, turned to the already famous architect Peter Behrens. The Lewin house, a late work by the 61-year-old Peter Behrens, who had already gained a great reputation as a form designer and artistic advisor to AEG before World War I, is one of the few houses that the architect consistently designed in the formal language of the Neues Bauen (New Building) Movement. With this house, Behrens demonstrated his ability to implement the modern formal apparatus in an impressive and almost radical manner down to the smallest detail, like his students Walter Gropius, Adolf Meyer, and Mies van der Rohe, who all worked in his office in Neubabelsberg. The Lewin house captivates with its asymmetrical, penetrating cubes and a functional floor plan aimed at expressing ‘the simplicity of the essence of the inhabitant,’ according to Behrens' own explanation.

Like the modular principle applied by Gropius in the Master Houses in Dessau, geometric bodies such as blocks and cubes are nested together to create a variable architecture that clearly expresses the 'division of the floor plan also in the external appearance.' The house has flush steel windows, a flat roof, connecting garden and roof terraces, and an orientation towards the sun, all principles of the New Building. By skilfully exploiting the height difference of the terrain, Behrens designed the elongated building in such a way that a high basement was created, which accommodated both the entrance to the apartment and the two garages facing the street. This allows the living rooms of the two apartments to be opened to the garden at ground level through wide glass doors. The single-story apartment with its own cubic structure next to the two-story main building is clearly visible. A large, partially covered roof terrace connects the two parts of the apartment. The Lewins had the idea that the modernity of the house should also be reflected in the interior. Due to disagreements with Behrens, they opted for the interior design of the renowned architect and designer Marcel Breuer.

Breuer, who had just come from the Bauhaus and at that time ran his own office in Berlin, gave the rooms a deliberately straightforward and functional character that matched the clear floor plan. For this, he used custom-made built-ins, shelving units, and especially steel tube furniture designed by himself, which were produced in series.
With this equipment, a modern bourgeois residence was created that embodied the new lifestyle of a liberal-minded Jewish bourgeoisie down to the smallest detail. Unfortunately, the Lewins could only use their house for a short time. After the Nazis came to power, the Jewish scientist Lewin had no opportunity to pursue his profession in Germany, and he emigrated to the USA in 1933.
All rooms are very bright and kept in white, still radiating a modern look. Fans of the Bauhaus style will be delighted. Thanks to the orientation of the building, the sun moves around the building all day, illuminating the rooms and creating a special and bright living feeling. The original walnut parquet floors are used but still in good condition, showing traces of patina. Many built-in furniture, ceiling lamps, and other items are still in their original condition, as is the solid wood library in the study.
In the living room, there is a semicircular flower window overlooking the street, another Bauhaus unique and an architectural specialty.

History of the House
The Austrian-Jewish actor and theatre director Fritz Wisten survived the Nazi era in Berlin in a remarkable way. There is a book about ‘The House on the Waldsängerpfad’ (2020) that tells the story of the Wisten family based on the memories of the two daughters, showing how Nazi henchmen and persecuted people often lived side by side on the outskirts of Berlin.
Here are two links with German references to the book 'The House on the Waldsängerpfad':
– Perlentaucher Kultur Magazin: Das Haus am Waldsängerpfad - Wie Fritz Wistens Familie in Berlin die NS-Zeit überlebte.
– Book review: 'Überleben im Berlin der Nazizeit - "Das Haus am Waldsängerpfad".

Fritz Wisten, a popular performer from Vienna, was celebrated in Stuttgart. But with the Nazis coming to power in 1933, he lost his job overnight, although he had been appointed a state actor only five years earlier. He then moved with his family to Berlin, where he could temporarily work as the director and actor at the Jewish Cultural Association.
‘In a way, one enjoyed a kind of 'privileged mixed marriage,' which means that with a Christian wife and Christian baptized children, one was relatively protected,’ explains Thomas Blubacher. For his book ‘The House on Waldsängerpfad,’ he conducted extensive interviews with Wisten's daughters for months, who, despite their advanced age, could still remember the events of that time precisely.
"In this time, it was also very traumatic when both the mother and the father were arrested. Wilhelm Canaris helped the family and ensured that Wisten was not deported, and the mother received a relatively mild sentence’. Wilhelm Canaris, a high-ranking Nazi official and head of the military intelligence service of the Wehrmacht, was an ambivalent figure. Although he was a senior Nazi official, he openly showed sympathy for the Wisten family. Thomas Blubacher explains, ‘Canaris' commitment to the Wistens certainly had Christian motives. His daughter attended confirmation classes with one of Wisten's daughters. His wife, who was active in the community, promised: If you are threatened, we will help you.’

In his book, Blubacher consciously focuses on the immediate neighbourhood of the Wistens, where surprisingly high-ranking Nazi figures such as Walter Gross, the founder and head of the racial policy office, and Reinhard Heydrich, one of the main responsible for the Holocaust and head of the Wannsee Conference, lived.
Despite the danger in their immediate surroundings, Fritz Wisten provided refuge to a Jewish actor. Alfred Balthoff, who later became a renowned Burgtheater actor after the war and was the German voice of Don Camillo's adversary Peppone, had close connections to Wisten's older daughter and was doubly endangered as a Jew and a homosexual.

Blubacher tells: ‘Nevertheless, he had a relationship with a German Wehrmacht soldier. But even more astonishing are stories like when Susanne attended the premiere at the State Theatre in Berlin with Balthoff, and Balthoff said: No one would believe that someone is crazy enough to sneak into the theatre secretly.’
In the insightful epilogue, Thomas Blubacher describes how after the war, there was anything but a smooth reorganization of the Berlin theatre landscape. Fritz Wisten came into conflict with Bertolt Brecht after taking over the management of the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm in 1946.

Thomas Blubacher's ‘The House on the Waldsängerpfad’ connects well-known names like Heinz Rühmann, Theo Lingen, or Gustav Gründgens with lesser-known personalities like the ‘Palestinian Nightingale’ Hede Türk-Börnstein or Susanne Wisten's piano teacher Grete Sultan, who collaborated closely with John Cage after her escape to the USA. A complex network emerges, telling much about life-saving friendships and fateful ignorance. Follow this link to read a sample chapter from the book.

Personalities
In this house, many prominent friends and relatives of the Wisten family came and went. Among others:
Otokar Schindler, the son-in-law of the family, who was a famous Czech artist.
Max Liebermann, a friend of Fritz Wisten. Upon Liebermann's death, Fritz Wisten recited the Kaddish (memorial service) at his grave.

Posted July 29, 2024