Rudolf Fränkel

Rudolf Fränkel 1901-1974, leading figure in the avant-garde movement.

German-Jewish born in Upper Silesia, member of the Deutscher Werkbund, noted architect whose buildings included the Lichtberg, ‘Fortress of Light’ in Wedding, Berlin.  In 1933 he was forced to leave Germany and moved to Bucharest when that began to feel unsafe he continued on to England in 1937 where he settled for 13 years. He designed several modernist buildings including Halsbury Close in Stanmore, Hertfordshire and was a founder member of the Circle. When war broke out as a German national he was interned briefly as an Enemy Alien he was soon released. Postwar he emigrated to the United States and became a Professor of Architecture at the University of Miami.