2 Peter Moro and the Men from Marsâ27
In: Applied Arts in British Exile from 1933Search for other papers by Deirdre Fernand in
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The German-born architect Peter Moro (1911â1998) was one of a number of émigrés to Britain who transformed its postwar landscape. A member of the influential Modern Architectural Research Group (MARS), created in 1933 and disbanded in 1957, he helped to promote the Modernist idiom in Britain, notably as one of the chief architects of Londonâs Royal Festival Hall in 1951. Arriving in 1936, he worked for the architect Berthold Lubetkin, himself a refugee from Russia. Through him Moro joined MARS, which proved the starting point for an outstanding career. Yet Lubetkin was openly dismissive of the group, criticising what he regarded as its lack of intellectual rigour. This essay seeks to examine Lubetkinâs view within the context of Thirtiesâ Modernism and its political backdrop. It will argue that MARS, whose members included Walter Gropius, László Moholy-Nagy, Ernö Goldfinger and Serge Chermayeff, played a pivotal role for displaced intellectuals. A forum for cultural exchange, ideas and networking, MARS was of lasting significance to those forging new identities in their adopted homeland.