Ernö Goldfinger – RIBA Drawings Monographs No. 3 (Royal Inst. British Architects (RIBA) Drawings/Mon) - Softcover

Born in Budapest, Erno Goldfinger studies architecture at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris in the 1920s at a time of great artistic ferment. Friendly with leading avant-garde figures such as Basque and Ozenfant, he helped to establish the breakaway atelier of Auguste Perret, the pioneer of reinforced concrete design, who was to be a major influence on his work. Schemes during this Parisian period include the remodelling of apartment interiors for fashionable clients such as Suzanne Blum, the lawyer confidante of the Duchess of Windsor, and the London salon of the beautician, Helena Rubinstein in 1934 he moved to London and unlike many emigre architects who soon left. Goldfinger practised in England until his retirement in 1977. His career reveals a unique insight into the development of Modernism in the UK which is illustrated in this beautiful collection of drawings and sketches from the drawings collection of the RIBA.

Robert Elwall read history at Trinity College, Oxford, and is now Photographs Curator of the British Architectural Library, RIBA. He has curated numerous architectural exhibitions including Unlocking the Thirites (1979) and Pavilions Near and Far (1992), as well as Bricks and Beer (1983) and Photography Takes Command: The Camera and British Architecture (1994) for both of which he wrote the accompanying books. He has also published numerous articles on architecture and photography.