| (b Basle, 18
Nov 1889; d Savosa, Ticino, 19 July 1954). Swiss architect, theorist
and designer. He was born into a family of architects and studied building
at the Gewerbeschule, Basle (1905–9). In Berlin he continued his training
at the Kunstgewerbeschule and attended classes in urban planning at the
Landwirtschafts-Akademie (1909–12). He became increasingly concerned about
housing conditions in the modern industrial city and developed a strong
interest in urban planning and land reform. In 1912 he went to England where
he studied the Co-operative movement and the garden cities of Letchworth,
Bourneville and Port Sunlight for a year. After two years’ military service
in Switzerland (1914–16), he worked for Krupps Housing Welfare Office and
became increasingly interested in using standardized components in the construction
of housing estates. In 1919 he set up his own practice in Basle, where he
designed and supervised the foundation of the Siedlung Freidorf (Freihof)
(1919–24) at Muttenz, near Basle, the first full-scale cooperative housing
estate in Switzerland. The client (Verband Schweizerische Konsumvereine)
rejected the Constructivist approach that Meyer favoured, so he developed
a style based on local Jura building types. In 1924 he founded the Theater
Co-op and collaborated in a wide range of Co-op activities throughout Europe.
Works
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