I am a senior majoring in German and minoring in art history, and am especially interested in German visual culture in the twentieth century. My thesis topic is the role that publicity and fame play in the preservation of architecture, specifically in German mass-housing developments built in the 1920s and early 1930s by progressive architects working in the Modernist style. In my opinion, what was written about them over the years influenced their reputation and has led historians to hold the physical structures in high regard. The significance of the architecture stems in part from the fact that: a) the architects themselves were eager to publicize and promote their theories; b) there were many exhibitions and therefore catalogs, press releases, and critiques drafted of avant-garde designs and applied arts; and c) these buildings fulfilled a much-discussed and often-politicized need for urban housing in post-World War I Germany
