Professor DEBORAH Barnstone
Professor Deborah Ascher Barnstone is both an architectural historian and a registered architect in North Rhine, Westfalia, Germany. She holds a B. A. degree cum laude with High Honors from Barnard College, Columbia University; M. Arch degree from Columbia University; and PhD from Delft University of Technology. She has held academic positions at University of Technology Sydney, Washington State University, Ball State University, Fachhochschule Cologne, and the Boston Architectural Center. She is co-commissioning editor of the Visual Culture in German Contexts Series at Bloomsbury Academic and Vice President of the Association of Architecture Schools of Australasia (AASA).
As an historian, Professor Ascher Barnstone’s primary research expertise is in early 20thcentury German and Dutch art and architecture and early modernism. She has a particular interest in dismantling historical myths by re-examining received histories in order to uncover alternate interpretations of the past.
Barnstone has taught across the curriculum in design studio at all levels, and history and theory. She is also actively supervising doctoral candidates in Australia and Switzerland. She supervises candidates working on modern German and European architectural history.
Professor Ascher Barnstone’s design practice probes aspects of design for the climate crisis. Most recently, she is working on models for better bushfire-resistant architecture in projects for the South Coast of NSW.
Ascher Barnstone’s Project titledArt and Technology a New Unity, looks at Walter Gropius’ elegant 1923 formulation, “Art and Technology – a new unity,” expressed the revised focus for the Bauhaus School but also the sentiments shared by many progressive German architects after the First World War.
Ascher Barnstone is also leading a national project with colleagues from Australia and New Zealand titled, the Australian New Zealand Modernism Working Group. This multi-year effort aims to produce a set of shared resources for academics and students on the development of modernism in ANZ.
- Australian Modernism Working Group since 2018.
- Society of Architectural Historians since 2016.
- German Studies Association since Spring 2004.
- Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, since 1996.
- Registered architect #27333. Architektenkammer Nordrhein Westfalen, Germany, since May 1995.
- August 2023 - Invited to present at CitiLab 23 in Sydney.
- November 2017 - Invited to present at European Green Australia Summit in Berlin, Germany.
- 2003 - Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture National Service Award.
- Spring 2002 - Commendation for outstanding research WSU SOCAM, Convocation.
- 1998 Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture National Design Award.
Grants and Fellowships:
Association of Architecture Schools of Australasia for the Australian Modernism Working Group |
2018 – Present |
Hurlstone Park/Canterbury RSL to support Designing in Sport, a project that is interrogating the reasons for declining participation in sport amongst adolescents with an aim to designing a new sport offering and better sport facilities |
2017 – present |
TU Berlin to support collaboration on the Translocations project with Professor Benedicte Savoy |
2017 – 2019 |
International Grammar School to develop a set of design guidelines and master planning schemes for the school in Ultimo, New South Wales |
January 2015 – January 2016 |
Center for Contemporary Design at University of Technology; to support travel to Germany for research on the World War I and German Avant-Garde project. |
January 2014 |
Worked as part of a team from WSU on a $100,000 grant from the city of Auburn, WA to develop a green master plan for 600 acres in the downtown area. The plan is to include storm water management systems, green energy and water management retrofit ideas for existing commercial and light industrial buildings, new transit proposals, and designs for a transit-oriented community.
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Co-Principal Investigator on a grant from the National Science Foundation to fund a pilot course in integrated sustainable design at WSU College of Engineering and Architecture. |
8/1/2009-12/31/2012 |
Saupe Grant for Excellence from the Saupe Fund WSU College of Engineering and WSU School of Architecture and Construction Management |
Spring 2008 |
Grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to pursue research on Breslau. |
Spring 2007 |
Grant from the Technical University of Delft to pursue research on Breslau, |
2006-2007 |
Summer stipend from the Technical University of Delft to pursue preliminary research on my new project |
May 2006 |
Faculty Travel Grant, Washington State University, to pursue preliminary research on my new project. |
May 2006 |
Graduate Fellowship, Technical University of Delft, to support finishing work on my doctoral dissertation. |
Winter and Spring 2004 |
Grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The grant is to support archival research for my book on transparency and postwar German parliamentary architecture. |
21/05 and ending 21/07 2003. |
Travel grant from the British Travel Authority to help fund my trip to the Association of Art Historians of Great Britain’s annual conference. |
April 2003 |
American Association of University Women Fellow |
1991-1992 |
Jewish Foundation for the Education of Women Fellow |
1991-1992 |
Bridgwood Fellow, Columbia University, GSAPP |
1989-1991 |
Selected publications
Publications
Books
- Barnstone, D. (2021). The Color of Modernism: Paints, Pigments and the Transformation of Modern Architecture in 1920s Germany. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
- Barnstone, D. (2018). The Break with the Past: Avant-Garde Architecture in Germany, 1910 - 1925. England: Routledge.
- Barnstone, D. (2016). Beyond the Bauhaus: Cultural Modernity in Breslau, 1918-33. Michigan, USA: University of Michigan Press.
Edited Books
- Barnstone, D., Brett, D. (2024). Modernist Aesthetics in Transition: Visual Culture of the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany. United Kingdom: Bloomsbury. [More Information]
- Makela, M., Barnstone, D. (2022). Material Modernity: Innovations in Art, Design, and Architecture in the Weimar Republic. New York: Bloomsbury.
- Barnstone, D., Otto, E. (2018). Art and Resistance in Germany. London, UK: Bloomsbury Visual Arts.
Book Chapters
- Barnstone, D., Brett, D. (2025). Introduction: Modernist aesthetics in transition. In Deborah Ascher Barnstone and Donna West Brett (Eds.), Modernist Aesthetics in Transition: Visual Culture of the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany, (pp. 1-7). United Kingdom: Bloomsbury. [More Information]
- Barnstone, D. (2024). The Case of Color in 1920s and 1930s German Architecture. In Deborah Ascher Barnstone and Donna West Brett (Eds.), Modernist Aesthetics in Transition: Visual Culture of the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany, (pp. 153-174). United Kingdom: Bloomsbury.
- Barnstone, D. (2023). Inverted Cubism or the Spatial Painting: Adolf Rading's House Dr. Rabe. In Deborah Ascher Barnstone and Maria Makela (Eds.), Material Modernity: Innovations in Art, Design, and Architecture in the Weimar Republic, (pp. 197-220). New York: Bloomsbury.
Journals
- Barnstone, D., Collins, J., Rousset, I. (2023). Report from the AASA Modernism Collaborative. Fabrications, 33(2), 482-485. [More Information]
- Barnstone, D. (2020). Paradoxes of War Critique on Display: The Dresden Bundeswehr Museum of Military History. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art, 20(1), 90-106.
- Barnstone, D. (2018). Style Debates in Early 20th-Century German Architectural Discourse. Architectural Histories, 6(1), 1-9.
Edited Journals
- Brett, D., Barnstone, D. (2018). Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art, 18(1). [More Information]
2025
- Barnstone, D., Brett, D. (2025). Introduction: Modernist aesthetics in transition. In Deborah Ascher Barnstone and Donna West Brett (Eds.), Modernist Aesthetics in Transition: Visual Culture of the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany, (pp. 1-7). United Kingdom: Bloomsbury. [More Information]
2024
- Barnstone, D., Brett, D. (2024). Modernist Aesthetics in Transition: Visual Culture of the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany. United Kingdom: Bloomsbury. [More Information]
- Barnstone, D. (2024). The Case of Color in 1920s and 1930s German Architecture. In Deborah Ascher Barnstone and Donna West Brett (Eds.), Modernist Aesthetics in Transition: Visual Culture of the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany, (pp. 153-174). United Kingdom: Bloomsbury.
2023
- Barnstone, D. (2023). Inverted Cubism or the Spatial Painting: Adolf Rading's House Dr. Rabe. In Deborah Ascher Barnstone and Maria Makela (Eds.), Material Modernity: Innovations in Art, Design, and Architecture in the Weimar Republic, (pp. 197-220). New York: Bloomsbury.
- Barnstone, R., Barnstone, D. (2023). Live/Work Studio British Columbia. In Verlagshaus Braun,Michelle, Galindo, Kristin, Kress, Franziska, Nauck (Eds.), 1000x Architecture of the Americas. Switzerland: Braun Publishing AG.
- Barnstone, D., Collins, J., Rousset, I. (2023). Report from the AASA Modernism Collaborative. Fabrications, 33(2), 482-485. [More Information]
2022
- Barnstone, D. (2022). Color in Adolf Rading’s House Dr. Rabe. In Deborah Ascher Barnstone and Maria Makela (Eds.), Material Modernity: Innovations in Art, Design, and Architecture in the Weimar Republic. New York: Bloomsbury.
- Barnstone, D. (2022). Lessons of War: Architecture of the East Prussian Reconstruction Effort, 1914-1920. States of Emergency: Architecture, Urbanism, and the First World War, (pp. 51-74). Belgium: Leuven University Press.
- Makela, M., Barnstone, D. (2022). Material Modernity: Innovations in Art, Design, and Architecture in the Weimar Republic. New York: Bloomsbury.
2021
- Barnstone, D. (2021). The Color of Modernism: Paints, Pigments and the Transformation of Modern Architecture in 1920s Germany. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
2020
- Barnstone, R., Barnstone, D. (2020). An Architectural Family Portrait. Making Houston modern: The Life and Architecture of Howard Barnstone. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press.
- Barnstone, D. (2020). Paradoxes of War Critique on Display: The Dresden Bundeswehr Museum of Military History. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art, 20(1), 90-106.
2019
- Barnstone, D. (2019). Androgyny in Oskar Schlemmer's Figural Art. Bauhaus Bodies: gender, sexuality, and body culture in modernism’s legendary art school, (pp. 217-240). London, UK: Bloomsbury Visual Arts.
2018
- Barnstone, D., Otto, E. (2018). Art and Resistance in Germany. London, UK: Bloomsbury Visual Arts.
- Brett, D., Barnstone, D. (2018). Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art, 18(1). [More Information]
- Barnstone, D., Otto, E. (2018). How Art Resists. Art and Resistance in Germany, (pp. 1-23). London, UK: Bloomsbury Visual Arts.
2017
- Barnstone, D. (2017). Max Libermann's Kriegszeit Lithographs: Pro-war or Anti-war? The Art of War (German Visual Culture), (pp. 43-71). Oxford, UK: Peter Lang AG, International Academic Publishers. [More Information]
- Barnstone, D. (2017). Real Utopian or Utopian Realist? Erich Mendelsohn and the Académie Européenne Méditeranée. Passagen des Exils / Passages of Exile, (pp. 109-125). Munchen, Germany: Walter de Gruyter GmbH.
- Barnstone, D., McCloskey, B. (2017). The Art of War (German Visual Culture). Oxford, UK: Peter Lang AG, International Academic Publishers. [More Information]
2016
- Barnstone, D. (2016). Between the Walls: The Berlin No Man's Land Reconsidered. Journal of Urban Design, 21(3), 287-301. [More Information]
- Barnstone, D. (2016). Beyond the Bauhaus: Cultural Modernity in Breslau, 1918-33. Michigan, USA: University of Michigan Press.
- Barnstone, D. (2016). Reaction to the First World War: Max Liebermann and the Kriegszeit Lithographs. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art, 16(1), 71-91. [More Information]
2015
- Barnstone, D. (2015). Bruno Taut and the First World War. In Stavros Alifragkis and Nicholas Patricios (Eds.), Architecture Anthology II: Architects, Design, and Education, (pp. 97-114). Athens: Athens Institute for Education and Research (ATINER).
- Barnstone, D. (2015). Spectacular Architecture: Transparency in Postwar West German Parliaments. In Jennifer L. Creech and Thomas O. Haakenson (Eds.), Spectacle (German Visual Culture), (pp. 217-242). Switzerland: Peter Lang AG, International Academic Publishers. [More Information]
- Barnstone, D. (2015). Willem Marinus Dudok: the lyrical music of architecture. The Journal of Architecture, 20(2), 169-192. [More Information]
2014
- Barnstone, D. (2014). Hans Scharoun and the First World War. The Journal of Architecture, 19(6), 825-848. [More Information]
- Barnstone, D. (2014). Nomina sunt Omina - Capital City Bonn: Inventing an Image for the Federal Republic of Germany. Journal of Design History, 27(2), 148-166.
- Barnstone, D. (2014). Transnational Dimensions of German Anti-Modern Modernism in the work of Ernst May in Breslau. In Jeffry M. Diefendorf, Janet Ward (Eds.), Transnationalism and the German City, (pp. 89-104). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
2013
- Barnstone, D., Haakenson, T. (2013). Representations of German Identity, German Visual Culture Series. Switzerland: Peter Lang AG, International Academic Publishers. [More Information]
- Barnstone, D. (2013). The 1929 Breslau Werkbund Exhibition: Constructing German Identity in Architecture and Urban Design. In Deborah Ascher Barnstone, Thomas O. Haakenson (Eds.), Representations of German Identity, German Visual Culture Series, (pp. 128-153). Switzerland: Peter Lang AG, International Academic Publishers. [More Information]
- Barnstone, D. (2013). The Breslau Jewish Museum: Disintegration of the Material World. Journal of Modern Jewish Studies, 12(3), 459-478. [More Information]
2012
- Barnstone, D. (2012). An der Oder: River Romance in Breslau. In Tricia Cusack (Eds.), Art and Identity at the Water’s Edge, (pp. 193-211). United Kingdom: Ashgate Publishing.
- Barnstone, D. (2012). Representations of German Identity, German Visual Culture Series. Switzerland: Peter Lang AG, International Academic Publishers. [More Information]
2011
- Barnstone, D. (2011). A Model for Faculty, Student and Practitioner Development in Sustainability Engineering through an Integrated Design Experience. Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, 137(2), 94-101.
2010
- Barnstone, D. (2010). Transparency in Divided Berlin. In Philip Broadbent and Sabine Hake (Eds.), Berlin Divided City, 1945-1989, (pp. 100-115). United Kingdom: Berghahn Books. [More Information]
2009
- Barnstone, D. (2009). Modernism Reconsidered: The Kultur/Zivilsation Dichotomy in the Work of Adolf Rading. New German Critique: an interdisciplinary journal of German studies, 36(108), 39-71.
2008
- Barnstone, D. (2008). Not the Bauhaus: The Breslau Academy of Art and Applied Arts. Journal of Architectural Education, 62(1), 46-55.
2006
- Barnstone, D. (2006). Weimar Era Breslau and Ismar Littmann's Modern Art Collection. The Art Book, 13(4), 2-72.
2005
- Barnstone, D. (2005). The Transparent State: Architecture and Politics in Postwar Germany. London, UK: Routledge (Taylor and Francis).
2004
- Barnstone, D. (2004). From the Zero Hour: Transparency, Gender and Architecture. In Síghle Bhreathnach-Lynch, Tricia Cusack (Eds.), Art, Nation and Gender: Ethnic Landscapes, Myths and Mother-Figures. United Kingdom: Routledge.
2003
- Barnstone, D. (2003). Transparency: A Brief Introduction. Journal of Architectural Education, 56(4), 3-5.
2002
- Barnstone, D. (2002). Building Designs for Living: Studio 804 University of Kansas. Journal of Architectural Education, 55(3), 186-193.
Professor Ascher Barnstone has published widely in scholarly journals such as Journal of Architectural Education, Journal of Architecture, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art,andNew German Critiqueand in numerous edited volumes includingArt and Resistance in Germany and Material Modernity: Innovations in Art, Design and Architecture in the Weimar Republic.
Recent monographs include:
- Beyond the Bauhaus: Cultural Debates in Breslau, 1918-1933(University of Michigan: 2016),
- The Break with the Past: Avant-garde Architecture in Germany, 1910 – 1925(Routledge: 2018),
- The Color of Modernism: Paints, Pigments and the Transformation of Modern Architecture in Germany(Bloomsbury: 2022),
- Aesthetics in Transition: Visual Culture of the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germanyis slated for publication with Bloomsbury Academic in 2024.
Selected Exhibitions:
International:
Curated and wrote the exhibition text for a permanent exhibition on contemporary architecture that will be installed in the renovated Centennial Hall, in Wroclaw, Poland. The exhibition includes an interactive video table and video projection. The themes focused on sustainability today. September 2011 – present.
New Ski Lodge and Housing for Red Mountain, British Columbia. May-August 2002.
Projects by fourth-year students at the Miner’s Hall, Rossland, B.C.
Motorless Marina, fourth-year student design work on Granville, Island, Vancouver BC. December 2000- March 2001.
International Architecture Exhibition, Vancouver, B.C. Exhibit of recent work at the University of British Columbia Gallery. May 1999.
1997 Architecture Biennial in Sao Paolo, Brazil. The Thickness of the Wall, Interstitial Spaces, Distractive Speculations, exhibition of my students’ work from Spring 1995. October 1997.
1995 Architecture Biennial in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Thickness of the Wall, Interstitial Spaces, Distractive Speculations, exhibition of my students’ work from Spring 1995. October 1995.
Tanja Grunert Gallery, Köln, Germany. The Thickness of the Wall, Interstitial Spaces, Distractive Speculations, exhibition of my students’ work from Spring 1995. August 1995.
Stadtgarten, Köln, Germany. The Urban Box, exhibition of my students’ work from Spring 1995. August 1995.
Public Garden, Briey, France. The Urban Box, exhibition of my students’ work from Spring 1995. July 1995.
National:
1998 Forest Products Association Annual Meeting, Madison, Wisconsin. Challenging the Immobile Mobile Home: The Pettigrew/Federal House, exhibit of the low-cost solar house designed and built in 1997 and 1998. September 1998.
1998 ACSA Annual Meeting in Cleveland, Ohio. Folding Traditions: the Indiana Sukkot Competition, exhibit of a board of pictures and drawings showing the award-winning design.
Regional:
Spokane Soccer Project, Gestalt Studio, Spokane, WA. Sept 2009.
Indiana Sukkot Project, Indianapolis Art Center, Indianapolis, Indiana. October 9, 1997-November 3, 1997.
Buell Gallery, Columbia University GSAPP. End of Year Exhibition, Thesis Project.
May-September 1992.
Columbia University Gallery. Composition with Linear Elements. November 1989.
In the media
Barnstone, D. A., Fiona Brooks and Job Fransen. “Our sporting nation is myth. So how do we get youngsters back on the field?” The Conversation, 6 June, 2017.
Barnstone, D.A. “An Outstanding Fit,” Azure, Sept. 2008, 44.
Barnstone, D. A. “Raising the Roof in Barcelona,” Azure, September 2005, 32-3.
Barnstone, D. A. “The New Black,” Azure, June/July 2005, pp. 64-7.
Barnstone, Deborah Ascher and Robert Barnstone. “Ascher Barnstone,” in “Furniture and Architecture,” AD Architectural Design, Vol. 72, No. 4, July 2002, p. 70.
Barnstone, Deborah Ascher and Robert Barnstone. Invited guest editors for the 8th volume of OnSite magazine, “Architecture and Sewing,” Issue 8, December 2002.
Barnstone, Deborah Ascher and Robert Barnstone, “Embodied Movement,” in OnSite, Issue 5/6, December 2001, pp. 16-19.
Barnstone, D. A. “Erickson’s Well-tempered Museum,” Azure, Sept/Oct 2002, pp. 98-101.
Barnstone, D. A. “House of Stairs,” in Azure, Jan/Feb 2001.
Barnstone, D. A. “Rem Koolhaas’ Seattle Public Library,” Azure, May/June 2001.
Barnstone, D. A. “Interview with Daniel Libeskind,” Newsline, Columbia University Press, New York, New York. March 1991.