Despite a European training and an early career working with Peter Behrens, a migration from Vienna to the Australian state of Queensland positioned the architect Karl Langer (1903-1969) at the very edge of both European and Australian modernism. Confronted by tropical heat and glare, the economics of affordable housing, fiercely proud and regional architectural practices, and a suspicion of the foreign, Langer moulded the European language of international modernism to the unique climatic and social conditions of tropical Australia. This book will tell Langer's story through a series of edited essays focused on key themes and projects. Published as part of the Bloomsbury Studies in Modern Architecture series, which brings to light the work of significant yet overlooked modernist architects, it is both an examination of an architect's work and international legacy, and also a case study in the trans-global dissemination of design ideas. Studying the architect's built and proposed work, both regional and metropolitan, the scale and reach of Langer's practice will be considered for the first time, showing how, given his continued influence on the contemporary culture of tropical design, Langer has been unjustly ignored by the historiography of both Australian and Modernist architecture to date.

A new title in the Bloomsbury Studies in Modern Architecture series, examining the work of Karl Langer, European-born innovator of tropical modernism.

About the Author
Deborah van der Plaat is Senior Lecturer at the School of Architecture at The University of Queensland. John Macarthur is Professor of Architecture and Director of Research in the School of Architecture, the University of Queensland, Australia.

Reviews
This lavishly-illustrated volume is a fine piece of transnational architectural history writing, documenting the fascinating trajectory of a migrant architect who imported innovative ideas from cosmopolitan Vienna to the provincial Australian tropics and produced work of remarkable local sensitivity. * Johan Lagae, Ghent University, Belgium *
A compelling, innovative and timely story of migration, politics and creative collaboration from occupied Vienna to the tropics of Australia. This impressive constellation of authors each bring a fascinating, and carefully researched dimension to the Karl Langer story, not forgetting the crucial contribution made by Gertrude Langer. * Iain Jackson, University of Liverpool, UK *



Book Information
ISBN 9781350068100
Author Dr Deborah van der Plaat
Format Hardback
Page Count 328
Imprint Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Weight(grams) 812g