Ella Briggs (1880–1977) was a talented architect, designer,
and writer whose influence was felt on both sides of the Atlantic. She trained with the Viennese Secessionists and brought
their radical ideas to Gilded Age New York. She designed modernist housing for the masses in Austria, was jailed as a suspected
spy in Mussolini’s Italy, and thrived in Weimar Germany before suffering persecution under the Nazis. Fleeing to London, she
contributed to England’s postwar reconstruction. Yet despite a long and prolific career, her name is largely forgotten today.
Finding Ella Briggs restores Briggs to her rightful place in the history of modernist design.
Despina Stratigakos
and Elana Shapira bring together an international team of historians to provide the defining biography of this boldly unconventional
designer. Whether she was fighting for integration at Europe’s architecture schools or writing about innovative houses for
American women’s magazines like
Good Housekeeping, Briggs embodied the transatlantic flow of modernism. This panoramic
book uncovers new findings about Briggs, her networks, and projects, recovering the many facets of a life that spanned global
borders and cultures.
With contributions by Megan Brandow-Faller, Celina Kress, Dörte Kuhlmann, Ulrike Matzer,
Christine Oertel, Eva B. Ottillinger, Barbara Penner, Sabine Plakolm-Forsthuber, Monika Platzer, Ursula Prokop, Sabrina Rahman,
Katrin Stingl, Carmen Trifina, and Christine Zwingl.
Despina Stratigakos, Department of
Architecture, University at Buffalo, State University of New York
Elana Shapira, Department of Cultural
Studies, Institute of Studies in Art and Art Education, University of Applied Arts Vienna
REVIEWS & INTERVIEWS
Finding Ella Briggs with Despina Stratigakos and Elana Shapira | PreserveCast, PodBean, November 3, 2025
Wiederentdeckung von Architekturpionierin, Guido Tiefenthaler,
ORF.at, November 4, 2025 (in German)
Finding Ella
Briggs: On Modernism, Women Architects, and New Approaches to History – Despina Stratigakos and Elana Shapira on Their New
Book, interview by Laura McLaws Helms, Sighs and Whispers, November 17, 2025
Best
Books in the year 2025 in Architecture and Design, Financial Times
