Space Packed: The Architecture of Alfred Newmann

Description

Space Packed: The Architecture of Alfred Neumann is the first critical monograph on the work of the Austrian-born modernist architect Alfred Neumann (1900-1968). Based on an exploration of his writings and a close study of his built and unbuilt projects, it unveils and analyses Neumann's approach to architecture in the context of post-war modernism and the establishment of the State of Israel from 1948 onwards. Rafi Segal's book brings to attention again this highly significant, yet largely forgotten figure who contributed vastly to establishing modernism in Israel and who had a lasting impact on the new country's architectural culture. At his time, Neumann was equally renowned and controversial for his original designs that differed from modernist mainstream. Space Packed is divided into four chapters that discuss the development of Neumann's architectural theories, methodologies, and built work during the 1950s and 1960s, against the backdrop of contemporary architectural discourse and the nation-building demands of the new state of Israel. It also features a chronologically-organised and illustrated catalogue of Neumann's buildings and designs, including a vast number of previously unpublished photographs, drawings and sketches.

Rafi Segal is a designer and Associate Professor of Architecture and Urbanism at MIT in Cambridge, MA.