[CZECHOSLOVAK AVANT-GARDE - ROSSMANN DESIGN FOR AN IMPORTANT ARCHITECTURE EXHIBITION] Výstava bývania v dreve [An exhibition of wooden architecture]. Bratislava, May 8-June 8, 1932

Bratislava: Sväz československého diela, 1932. Oblong octavo (21.1 × 15 cm). Original photo-illustrated wrappers by Zdeněk Rossmann; [24] pp. Numerous illustrations from photographs. Wrappers with very minor rubbing to spine and minimal soil; very good.

Rare catalog, with no copies traced via OCLC, documenting an important exhibition of Slovak interwar architecture on wooden modernist architecture. The overall design of the exhibition and the accompanying materials (catalog, poster) was by Zdeněk Rossmann, the Bauhaus-trained Czech graphic designer, photographer, and art teacher who was associated with DAV in Bratislava and later worked in Brno, Moravia. An architect by training, Rossmann also contributed numerous construction projects to the exhibition as well as an article on the use of wood in construction.

The exhibition reflected the work of the equally Bauhaus-inspired School of Applied Arts (ŠUR) in Bratislava, which had been founded by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in November 1928 and quickly established a woodworking department led by Ferdinand Hrozinka. Held as part of the international trade fair Medzinárodný dunajský veľtrh (International Danube Fair), the exhibition was under the aegis of the Union for Czechoslovak Artcrafts, an overarching reform movement in the tradition of the German Werkbund. The organizing committee included the architects Dušan Jurkovič, Ferdinand Hrozinka, Zdeněk Rossmann, and the head of the ŠUR, Jozef Vydra, among others. Designs for wooden houses were presented by Hrozinka, Rossmann, Jurkovič, Jozef Štěpán, Ivan Šula, and the Associated Arts and Crafts Enterprises (U.P. Závody). The exhibition also contained a theoretical part dealing questions of assembly, wood processing technology, waterproofing, followed by concrete models of constructions as well as a secions of plans and designs. A international component also showcased successful wooden constructions from Germany, Sweden, and the US, with Ivan Šula also contributing an article on wooden single-family homes in the United States.

Rossmann also created the poster for the exhibition, which is held by the Moravian Gallery (Moravská galerie). In 2022, the Slovak Center for Design published a catalog dedicated to the ninety-year anniversary of the exhibition.

As of May 2026, no copies traced via KVK, OCLC. We also could not trace the catalog in any other public holdings, including the Czech and Slovak national libraries.