The anti-mediterranean in the literature of modern architecture

In the heated battles to define modern architecture in Germany at the beginning of the twentieth century, well-chosen propaganda images played a vital role in shaping public opinion as well as the profession. ¹ Architects on all sides of the debates used the nascent media culture of the day to make their often complex arguments memorable and easily understood. Many of the most potent images were created in the wake of Stuttgart's large Weissenhof housing exhibition of 1927, designed by an all-star cast of modern architects from around Europe. Walter Curt Behrendt's well-known book from the same year, for example, used a heroic, flag-waving view of the Weissenhof Siedlung to pronounce the “victory of the new building style.” ² Similar images were strategically placed on the covers and title pages of books by Ludwig Hilberseimer, Adolf Behne, and the German Werkbund to celebrate the arrival of modern architecture. ³