FRAGMENTS OF METROPOLIS EAST: THE EXPRESSIONIST HE

Throughout Europe, expressionism powerfully heralded the onset of the roaring twenties—its complexity, verticality, and theatricality crystallizing the essence of the modern metropolis. Enthusiasm for the expressionist vision of a new modern society also captured the cities of Eastern Europe. The surviving fragments in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia bear witness to a determined will of form and a rich, skillful handling of color, material, and light.
            The third volume in this stunning series, Fragment of Metropolis – East documents more than one hundred and fifty buildings throughout Eastern Europe, including works by Otto Bartning, Peter Behrens, Max Berg, and many others. Niels Lehmann’s new photographs are set alongside drawings, an illustrated index of buildings, and maps that help the reader group the buildings by area. Simultaneously a celebration of a lost period and a reminder of the riches it has left to us, Fragments of Metropolis – East is a stunning achievement of historical and artistic preservation.
 

Christoph Rauhut works for the German Cultural Heritage Committee in Berlin. Niels Lehmann is a Zürich-based architect and architectural photographer. Rauhut and Lehmann are also the editors of Fragments of Metropolis—Berlin and Fragments of Metropolis—Rhein & Ruhr, both also published by Hirmer Publishers.