Zdenek Rossmann (1905 – 1984) was a Czech book designer, architect, set designer, and architectural theoretician. He was born in Mährisch Ostrau (Now.. Moravská Ostrava, Czech Republic).
Biography
He was a member of the Devétsil group from 1923 until its closure in 1931 and the Brno Devétsil group 1923-27. This new architectural movement in Czechoslovakia was outstanding for its broad energy and energetic sweep. It is today a highly collective movement and radical and left-wing in its ideology.
He designed publications, including Pásmo (1924—27) and the Fronta compendium (1927). Pásmo published poetry, fiction, and criticism even short film scripts and librettos. It also featured regular reviews of theatre, dance, film, books, exhibitions and social events. His work was based on the principles of Bayer and Tschichold.
His realized architectural work is not numerous. He criticized Le Corbusier’s emotional Functionalism for the anti-social excess of form. Rossmann’s 1929-32 stage sets for the National Theater in Brno were significant examples of Czech Constructivism.
He designed the Pavillion for the newspaper Právo lidu at the “Vystava soudobé kultury’ exhibition in Brno, a significant example of Czech Constructivism.
Sources
Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing. https://amzn.to/3ElmSlL
The Oxford Critical and Cultural History of Modernist Magazines. (2009). United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
Teige, K. (2000). Modern Architecture in Czechoslovakia and Other Writings (Texts and Documents Series). United States: Getty Research Institute.
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