A trio of Bauhaus visionaries were commemorated this morning with an English Heritage blue plaque, unveiled at the famed Isokon building where the honorees Walter Gropius, Marcel Breur and László Moholy-Nagy once lived and worked. 

Celebrating the links between notable figures of the past with buildings of the present, the commemorative signs provide intriguing glimpses into the the built environment's past. From pioneering black figures who helped shape the city of London to Britain's prized literary figures, the plaques call attention to where these famous persons lived and worked, and where history was made. 

The Isokon Building, which is itself, one of the finest achievements of modern design, presented a unique opportunity to honor part of that movement's legacy. 

“To be able to recognize three prominent individuals of the Bauhaus – Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer and László Moholy-Nagy – together on the same building where they lived and worked is an excellent opportunity to honor their significant contribution to the fields of art, architecture and design" said Kate Mavor, Chief Executive of English Heritage. "It is highly appropriate that their joint blue plaque will appear on the Isokon Building, itself an example of radical modern design," she added.

The Isokon is where Gropius and his wife, Ilse, lived after leaving Germany in 1934, fleeing the increasingly destructive Nazi Party. He loved it so much—recalling that "this building became an exciting housing laboratory, both socially and technically"—that they remained there until moving to the U.S. in 1937. Fellow Bauhaus émigré László Moholy-Nagy also took a flat in the building at this time, with Marcel Breuer moving in soon after. 

A progressive experiment in a new way of living, the apartment complex, which has also been granted Grade I listing, fostered the Bauhaus teachers, leaving behind a legacy of progressive ideas for architecture, design and urban society.