Mapping Lilly Reich

ABSTRACT

Lilly Reich’s architectural legacy has been recognized inconsistently by critics. Praise, ambiguities and omissions have shaped the historical account of one of the first women who, with formal training and as a member of the German Werkbund, innovated in the design of ephemeral architecture, interiors and furniture. Through research based on historical archives, this article maps in detail her professional career and achievements —as an architect and designer, alone and in collaboration with Mies van der Rohe— and compares what she did with what was said about her. The research shows that the parallel line between her work and critique vanishes from when she worked in association with a master of the Modern Movement. The study also finds that the history of later architecture did not recognize her work for decades. The closer Lilly Reich got to Mies the more she disappeared…