"Bauen in Frankreich, Bauen in Eisen, Bauen in Eisenbeton" by Sigfried Giedion

László Moholy-Nagy

1928

A 1928 letterpress book cover by László Moholy‑Nagy that combines a high‑contrast photograph of a towering construction crane with striking red and white typography to announce Sigfried Giedion’s essays on building in France, iron, and reinforced concrete, aiming to visualize the dynamism of modern construction.

At first glance the composition hits you with a diagonal, skeletal crane printed in stark black‑and‑white, its industrial lines sliced through by oversized red block letters that force a tense, energetic read across the image.

The design crystallizes Moholy‑Nagy’s pioneering integration of photography and typography—a touchstone of Bauhaus and modernist graphic practice that helped make photographic montage a primary language for communicating architecture and industrial modernity.

Palette

Exhibitions

Modern Exposition Architecture

1936

Architectural Models from the Collection

1974

Contemporary Architecture in California

1935

Bauhaus: 1919–1928

1938