1938. A complete run in four volumes, issues 61, 96, 112, and 101 pp. Octavo (8 5/8 x 6 1/4 inches). Original printed wrappers with plastic spiral binding. Some toning and soiling to covers, nos. 1 and 4 with some small cracks and splits to plastic, light edgewear especially to no. 1, some pencil notations to back covers of issues 2 and 3, interiors clean and bright, overall very good. London: Percy Lund Humphries & Co. Ltd., 1938-1939.

Focus was a short-lived publication produced by students at London's Architectural Association. The editorial which opens the first issue reads, "We were born in the war. Much that follows in this journal can be orientated to that one fact...We have set out to produce a journal where we can develop our still chaotic ideas on the foundations of those built by certain older men (in age, not spirit) who early in this century had realised contemporary problems...We hope that representatives of any architectural student organisation or school will get in touch with us. To continue, the widest support is absolutely necessary."

The four issues of the journal cover architecture, design, and some developments in art, with contributions by and about some of the most important figures of the time. Contributors included distinguished architects and critics such as Le Corbusier, Gerhard Kallmann, Justin Blanco-White, Moholy-Nagy, Naum Gabo, Sigfried Giedion, Aalto, and others. Some of the topics, movements, buildings, and architects covered include Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer, modern training methods for architects, plastics, the Finnish housing development at Sunila, the Bauhaus, Frank Lloyd Wright, timber housing, Winchester Hospital, and Richmond High School for Girls in Yorkshire. The issues are profusely illustrated throughout including reproductions from photographs, floor plans, maps, drawings, and some illustrated advertisements.

Book ID: 53462

Price: $3,500.00