The Art of Joining

The German architect Konrad Wachsmann (1901-80) played a major role in the development of industrialized building production, notably through his collaboration with Walter Gropius on a "Packaged House System" for prefabricated homes that could be assembled in under nine hours (Wachsmann was also known for the summer house he designed for Albert Einstein). This catalog collects research conducted at the Bauhaus in 2018 focusing on the decisive and historic importance of the universal wedge connector, one of Wachsmann's key contributions that radically expanded the capacity for industrialized home production in its deceptively simple design, saving considerable time and cost. The collected texts by scientists and designers position the connector as "the cornerstone of an industrialized building system," and elaborately trace the historical contexts of postwar modernism and industrial design that led to the development of this decisive piece of technology.