Ruth adler schnee biography

For a woman whose true desire was to become an architect, Ruth Adler Schnee has done exceptionally well as a pioneer of mid-century modern print design. The Adler family, including the teenaged Ruth, escaped Nazi Germany in the late s and settled in Detroit. Ruth graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in , worked in the New York office of renowned industrial designer Raymond Loewy and subsequently was the first woman to earn a graduate degree in architecture from the Cranbrook Academy of Art, studying under Eliel Saarinen.

Ruth Adler was born on May 13, , in Frankfurt, Weimar Republic Germany, to the German Jewish family of Marie and Joseph Adler.

But in the mids, no architectural firm would hire a woman. Winning the contest, she also attracted the attention of a Chicago architectural firm that decided her designs were just what they needed for their automobile showrooms. That was the catalyst for the pioneering textile designer who is now best known for her bold, colorful abstract designs.

In , while an instructor at Lawrence Institute of Technology, Schnee opened her own design studio. Later, with husband Edward Schnee, she established a retail store in the Harmonie Park area of Detroit featuring avant-garde home furnishings.

Ruth Adler Schnee was a pioneering designer and a dear friend of The Henry Ford.

Her designs were immediately favored by leading architects, including Frank Lloyd Wright, Minoru Yamasaki and Paul Rudolf, who needed appropriate textiles for their modernist buildings. Her designs also appealed to furniture manufacturers like Knoll. In , she signed a year contract with Knoll, at the age of In , she showcased a solo exhibition at the Venice Biennale in Venice and in at the Smithsonian.

Toggle navigation. Ruth Adler Schnee Textile design pioneer escaped Nazi Germany and fought gender discrimination For a woman whose true desire was to become an architect, Ruth Adler Schnee has done exceptionally well as a pioneer of mid-century modern print design. Funding for jhsmichigan. Contact Jewish Historical Society of Michigan info jhsmichigan.

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