Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Finding Ella Briggs: The Life and Work of an Unconventional Architect

Finding Ella Briggs: The Life and Work of an Unconventional Architect

Stratigakos, Despina
Shapira, Elana
Penner, Barbara

Hardcover

ArtistsArchitectsGeneral Art

ISBN10: 0691263957
ISBN13: 9780691263953
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: Oct 14 2025
Pages: 312
Weight: 1.55
Height: 1.00 Width: 6.60 Depth: 9.60
Language: English

The first biography of an extraordinary woman and architect who left her mark on world capitals and reshaped modern design

Ella Briggs (1880-1977) was a talented architect, designer, and writer whose influence was felt on both sides of the Atlantic. She trained with the Viennese Secessionists and brought their radical ideas to Gilded Age New York. She designed modernist housing for the masses in Austria, was jailed as a suspected spy in Mussolini's Italy, and thrived in Weimar Germany before suffering persecution under the Nazis. Fleeing to London, she contributed to England's postwar reconstruction. Yet despite a long and prolific career, her name is largely forgotten today. Finding Ella Briggs restores Briggs to her rightful place in the history of modernist design.

Despina Stratigakos and Elana Shapira bring together an international team of historians to provide the defining biography of this boldly unconventional designer. Whether she was fighting for integration at Europe's architecture schools or writing about innovative houses for American women's magazines like Good Housekeeping, Briggs embodied the transatlantic flow of modernism. This panoramic book uncovers new findings about Briggs, her networks, and projects, recovering the many facets of a life that spanned global borders and cultures.

Beautifully illustrated and drawing on a wealth of previously unpublished research from archives around the world, Finding Ella Briggs is the inspiring story of a woman who defied all obstacles to pursue her dream of designing for the modern client.

With contributions by Megan Brandow-Faller, Celina Kress, Dörte Kuhlmann, Ulrike Matzer, Christine Oertel, Eva B. Ottillinger, Barbara Penner, Sabine Plakolm-Forsthuber, Monika Platzer, Ursula Prokop, Sabrina Rahman, Katrin Stingl, Carmen Trifina, and Christine Zwingl.

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