by Lili Eylon

He could easily have been forgotten: he founded no school, there was no institutionalized follow-up to his ideas, and his achievements have been too often ignored.

His buildings, created by in Germany, Poland, Russia, Norway, Great Britain, Israel, and the United States were very influential in their day. But only recently has the importance of Erich Mendelsohn been acknowledged once more.

Mendelsohn was a master of place and identity. And yet, the man who left an architectural legacy in seven countries and possessed three citizenships, spent his life in perpetual, self-imposed exile.

He said: "A man of genius must constantly renew himself, otherwise he is ossified." This principle which he applied to his architecture guided his life as well. The architect who designed charming houses lived most of his life in rented apartments.

His life was full of adversity: the Nazis forced him to abandon his native Germany; World War II and the subsequent lack of work caused him to leave Palestine, which was on the verge of becoming Israel.

He may have belonged nowhere, but in each place to which fate drove him, he knew how to adapt and exhibit great personal and professional resilience.

Kaufhaus Schocken, a department store in Stuttgart, Germany, 1928. Photo: Landesbildstelle Wuerttemberg, Stuttgart Mendelsohn's De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea, England. Photo: De La Warr Pavilion   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.