Building Culture ― Ernst May and the New Frankfurt Am Main Initiative, 1926-1931

Henderson (architectural history, Syracuse U.) is exhaustive in her pursuit of detail about New Frankfurt, especially in the efforts of its primary designer, Ernst May. Henderson begins with the early days of the settlement, which was projected to be a utopia but became real and problematic all too soon. New Frankfurt's housing units varied little in terms of type, form and implied culture. The city of New Frankfurt tried to be inclusive, blending white collar and blue collar, but the financial crisis outside brought in soup kitchens, and far too much reality. When the financial crisis deepened it took New Frankfurt with it, as people moved out to try to find jobs. It passed into memory even before the onset of World War II. Annotation c2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Susan Henderson is a professor at Syracuse University, where she teaches architectural history in the School of Architecture and is on the faculty of the Renee Crown University Honors Program. She specializes in the fields of Islamic and early modern European architectural history. She holds a BA from the University of Washington, a Master of Architecture from MIT, and a PhD in architectural history from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Columbia University.