Background
Sibylle Pietzsch was born in Dresden on October 29, 1903 to architect Martin Pietzsch (Deutscher Werkbund) and Fanny Clauss Pietzsch.
Actor art historian university professor architectural historian
Sibylle Pietzsch was born in Dresden on October 29, 1903 to architect Martin Pietzsch (Deutscher Werkbund) and Fanny Clauss Pietzsch.
She is the author of one of the most important and influential studies of his work, Moholy-Nagy: Experiment in Totality, plus several other books on architectural history. After attending the University of Dresden, she became an actress, performing in several films. She eventually became a scriptwriter, and in the late 1920s, met Bauhaus-trained artist and photographer László Moholy-Nagy (1895–1946) while working on a film script.
They had two daughters, Hattula (born 1933), and Claudia (1936–1971).
In 1934, they settled in Amsterdam, and then London for two years. In 1937, the family emigrated to the United States, settling in Chicago.
Her first, and only published novel, Children"s Children, appeared in 1945. After her husband"s death in November, 1946, Moholy-Nagy decided she would become an architectural historian and teacher.
In 1951, after holding teaching positions in Chicago and San Francisco respectively, she got a job as associate professor of architecture history at the Pratt Institute in New York City.
She taught courses on such subjects as urban history and design. She retired from being a full professor in 1969, and became a visiting professor at Columbia University until her death. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Moholy-Nagy had a fulfilling career as an architecture critic, maintaining professional relationships with such figures as Walter Gropius, Philip Johnson, and Carlos Raul Villanueva (whom she would undertake an extensive study of his work).
One her most important books, Matrix of Manitoba: An Illustrated History of Urban Environment, appeared in 1968.
She also made numerous contributions to architecture magazines, such as Architectural Forum and Progressive Architecture. She was also one of the first critics to study post-War Latin American architecture in-depth.
She died in New York City on January 8, 1971.
(Paperback Publisher: Praeger; 2nd Printing edition (1962)...)
After residing together in Germany for over a year and a half, they left due to the rise of Nazism.