(1903-1998)

In 1930, Piet Mondrian painted Composition in Red, Blue and Yellow. It was commissioned by Alfred Roth, who asked for the work not to be more than forty centimeters long so he could always have it with him, even when travelling. Although it was eventually donated to the Fine Arts Museum in Zurich, where he was professor of the school of architecture for many years, this painting was the first in the collection of the Swiss architect, who died in October at 95 years old. Born in Wangen, he studied in Zurich and worked with Karl Moser and Le Corbusier, with whom he collaborated on the project for the Palace of Nations in Geneva, and the Weissenhofsiedlung in Stuttgart. Among his most important buildings are the Doldertal apartments, with Emil Roth and Marcel Breuer, his own house and the Swiss pavilion at the 1957 Milan Trienal, but his most important work was as editor, teacher and Modern propagandist. President of the Swiss Werkbund and the CIAM group, he was an editor at the magazine Werk and was the author of Neue Architektur (1940). Alfred Roth firmly believed that architecture could contribute to a better life.