Modernism in Germany

Modernism in Germany (German: Die Moderne) – electricity in architecture, which in Germany was also referred to as New construction (Neues Bauen).

The establishment of the Werkbund in 1907 in connection with the discussion on the problems and tasks of the new architecture can be regarded as the beginning of modernism in Germany. The roots of German modernism lay in the movements that seek urban reform of cities and the restoration of communication between artistic and craft trades. The exhibition in Cologne in 1914 was a demonstration of the aspirations of modernism. a model factory with glazed, round staircases in the corners (Gropius project). Completely modern and abstract forms, however, had a classicistic symmetrical projection.

The rapid development of new construction occurred after the First World War. The lack of funds for construction activities favored the uncompromising development of architecture on paper. First of all, the majority of creators are guided, temporarily, towards expressionism, and, in time, to give up stylization. There is a minimalist-functionalist trend and parallel dynamic architecture (dynamisches Bauen). Along with the improvement of the economic situation, numerous satellite settlements are created in German cities, designed in a new spirit and saturated with greenery.

Until 1933, Germany was the center of the most intense development of modernist architecture, followed by a break forced by the aesthetic preferences of the Nazi regime, and the best-known architects left the country for professional or political reasons. After the Nazis seized power, conservative architects gradually came to the fore, and the modernistic design method was accepted in industrial facilities. In industrial architecture, those who did not travel outside of Germany found their niche, including Egon Eiermann and Ernst Neufert. Others, like Hans Scharoun, in difficult work conditions, they only dealt with single-family housing.

After the war, architecture in the east and west of Germany developed separately. During the first post-war years in both parts of the country there was a dispute between conservatives wishing to rebuild cities in their historic forms, and radical modernists. In Germany, since the beginning of the 1950s, modernism has been prevalent in a variety sensitive to the material and the environment. Numerous schools of the Günter Behnisch project are created, Egon Eiermann creates office buildings, department stores and industrial facilities. Despite works such as the Berlin Scharoun Philharmonic, West German modernism does not achieve such a significance in the world as the pre-war period.

Eastern socialism was imposed in East Germany, which lasted until around 1958. Later expansion of the cities was already implemented according to the principles of modernism, Hermann Henselmann erected buildings at Alexanderplatz in Berlin and a new center in Leipzig. From the 1960s to 1990, numerous large-panel buildings were built in the GDR, maintained in the forms of modernism.

Principles of Modern architecture

General aesthetic and architectural principles
The technical, then new, basis for the architecture of classical modernism is the use of building materials steel, glass and reinforced concrete.

The aesthetic principles of classical modernism are to be understood as a reaction to the historicizing neo-styles.

The program of extensive architectural theory can be summarized (shortened) in three pointed principles: Form follows function (Louis Sullivan), Less is more (Ludwig Mies van der Rohe) and the statement of a polemic already written in 1908 by Adolf Loos ornament and crime. On the one hand, the design should be derived from the architectural function. This often manifests itself in the visibility of the building skeleton of a building and the supply lines. On the other hand, the design is often of ascetic simplicity.

Organic Stylistics
The strict design occasionally leads to the misunderstanding that classical modernism can be reduced to strict orthogonality. Although this applies z. For example, for the architects of de Stijl, others just developed a predilection for curved shapes, taking advantage of the then new possibilities of concrete construction. The expressionist style of Erich Mendelsohn is certainly to be attributed to the Classical Modern and largely dispensed with the use of the right angle, as well as Frank Lloyd Wright and later the representatives of organic building (eg Hans Scharoun) or the Brazilian Oscar Niemeyer.

Decoration and decorative ornamentation
Modernism is characterized by the rejection of the concept of ornament, which was coined by Adolf Loos. Ornament und Verbrechen (1908) is the title of the essay in which Adolf Loos speaks up against the decorative ornamentation. Originally conceived as a countermovement to the varied style imitation of the 19th century with its ornamental overload, modernism was propagated through the Bauhaus in Weimar and later in Dessau to its own style. From the 1930s to the 1940s, modernism spread to the United States, conquering almost the entire world from there.

Aesthetic contrasts
Although the architecture of the Classical Modern is based on certain common principles, it is not a clearly defined style in the true sense, but rather an epoch. The attitude to the right angle or the curved shape determines z. B. different aesthetic positions. The use of predominantly glass and steel or of concrete can lead to very different results. So the declared goal for Mies van der Rohe was the total space: inside and outside should merge into each other. He achieved this, for example, in the Berlin New National Gallery by the complete abandonment of load-bearing walls. Instead, the space is limited only by glass. Another tendency, especially in theBrutalism, on the other hand, relies on solid concrete – which, of course, produces a completely different effect.

The town planning principles were recorded in the Charter of Athens in 1933 and included not only the rejection of the dense Gründerzeit city, but a radical break with all urban planning traditions. Essential elements were the unbundling of urban functions, an open development and the car-friendly city.

Selected examples of modernism in Germany
AEG turbine factory in Moabita (currently district of Berlin), Peter Behrens, 1907 – steel and glass hall with avant – garde construction. The strongly optically active corner has no structural function and is still a kind of ornament.
Fagus shoe factory in Alfeld, Walter Gropius, 1907 – 1922 – the first object with a glass corner from which the construction was withdrawn. Cubic solids are built of yellow clinker brick.
Bauhaus buildings in Dessau-Roßlau, Walter Gropius, 1926
Housing Estate Podkowa (German Hufeisensiedlung) in Berlin, Bruno Taut, 1925 – 1927 – a mixed housing estate of single- and multi-family houses. In the center of the plan there is a semi-circular pond, surrounded by a multi-family building with a flat roof with a plan of horseshoe about 100 m in diameter, and from the open side there is a terrace. The radius diverges from the center of the alley with terraced houses.
Housing estates in Frankfurt, Ernst May, 1925 – 1930
Housing estate at the Weißenhof in Stuttgart, 1927
Dammerstock estate in Karlsruhe, Walter Gropius and others, 1928 – 1929
Schimke’s house in Löbau i. Sachsen, Hans Scharoun
Schocken department store in Chemnitz, Erich Mendelsohn – the horizontal elevation elevated geometry is finished with vertical accents of staircase stalls.
The Evangelical Church of Remembrance of Emperor Wilhelm I in Berlin, Egon Eiermann, 1963 – the construction of a concrete-glass pavilion and tower took place while preserving the destroyed church in the state of ruin.
New National Gallery in Berlin, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, 1963 – 1969 – a free-standing building at the Culture Forum. On the granite pedestal, which houses the appropriate museum and technical rooms, there is a single-space, completely glazed hall, in which sometimes temporary exhibitions are organized. Its powerful roof in the form of a steel grate girder rests on the eight poles A-pillars withdrawn from the corners. Behind the plinth, the sunken garden adjoins sculpture exhibitions.

Urban projects
Settlements of the Berlin Modern, built between 1913 and 1934, World Heritage since 2008
Wiener Gemeindebauten, 1918-1934
Workers’ settlement Hoek van Holland Rotterdam, JJP Oud 1924-1927
Workers’ settlement Kiefhoek Rotterdam, JJP Oud 1925-1927
Settlement Georgsgarten Celle, Otto Haesler, 1924-1926
New Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main, Ernst May, 1925-1930
Settlement Uncle Tom’s Hut Berlin, 1926-1932
Jarrestadt Hamburg, Karl Schneider, Fritz Schumacher, from 1926
Weissenhofsiedlung Stuttgart, 1927
Werkbundsiedlung Neubühl Zurich, 1928-1932
Gratte-Ciel Villeurbanne 1927-1934
Cité de la Muette Drancy near Paris, Marcel Lods, Eugène Beaudouin 1931-1934
White City Tel Aviv, 1930s
Asmara Eritrea, 1935-1941
Greenbelt-Towns: Greenbelt Maryland 1935-1937, Greenhills Ohio 1935-1938, Greendale Wisconsin 1936-1938
La Colonia Jardines del Pedregal Mexico City, Luis Barragán 1943-1954
Reconstruction of Le Havre, Auguste Perret, 1945-1954
Reconstruction Vieux Port / La Tourette Marseilles, Fernand Pouillon, 1949-1953
Vällingby Stockholm, Sven Markelius, 1947-1955
Lodgings Tuscolano (INA-Casa) Rome, Saverio Muratori / Mario De Renzi / Adalberto Libera, 1950-1956
Chandigarh, Le Corbusier, 1951-1961
Plan capital Brasília, Oscar Niemeyer, 1956-1960
International Building Exhibition in Hansaviertel Berlin, 1957
Grindelhochhäuser Hamburg, 1946-1956
Lafayette Park Detroit, Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig Hilberseimer, 1956-1963
Les Courtillières Pantin near Paris, Émile Aillaud, 1956-1960
Alton Estate Roehampton (London), London County Council, 1958-1959
Meudon-la-Forêt Fernand Pouillon, 1959-1961
New town Wulfen, Fritz Eggeling, 1961
Grands ensembles (Ville nouvelle from 1965): Sarcelles near Paris
New Towns: Milton Keynes, 1968-1971
Arcosanti Arizona, 1970
Miami Beach, Art Deco District, 1930s to 1940s
Napier Art Deco district, 1930s

Source from Wikipedia