Joseph Lluis Sert

(b. Barcelona, Spain 1902; d. Barcelona, Spain 1983)

Joseph Lluis Sert was born in Barcelona in 1902. He graduated from the Escuela Tecnica Superior de Arquitectura in 1929. Sert worked with Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret in Paris before he established his own practice in Barcelona. Sert returned to Paris in 1937 to design the Spanish Pavilion for the World's Fair. Two years later he moved to the U. S. where he worked with the town planning firm of Pal Lest Weiner.

Sert helped organize the first group of architects in Barcelona affiliated with CIAM. In 1942 he edited "Can Our Cities Survive?" for CIAM and from 1947 to 1956 he acted as President. Through his involvement, he advanced the planning theories of the Modern Movement. Sert was also a member of GATEPAC, a group concerned with the role of architects in city planning.

In 1953 Sert became Dean of the Faculty of the Graduate School of Design and Professor of Architecture at Harvard University. During his tenure he established the Urban Design Program, the first formal urban planning course in the United States. In 1955 he established an office in Cambridge, Massachusetts which eventually transformed into the partnership of Sert, Jackson & Associates. The firm designed several houses, offices and university buildings during the 1960s and 1970s.

Through his architecture Sert hoped to achieve a balance of contrasting elements. He worked to effectively and successfully combine people with machines, urban density with support services, and community spaces with private spaces.

In 1981 Sert was awarded the AIA Gold Medal. He died in Barcelona, Spain in 1983.

References
Dennis Sharp. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Architects and Architecture. New York: Quatro Publishing, 1991. ISBN 0-8230-2539-X. NA40.I45. p140-41.

Details

Recipient of the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal, 1981.

"House of Sert", by Jaume Freixa, ArchitectureWeek No. 268, 2005.1214. pC1.1.

"Sert's Miro Foundation", by ArchitectureWeek, ArchitectureWeek No. 87, 2002.0220. pN3.1.

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