The City Crown by Bruno Taut

THE CITY CROWN BY BY BRUNO TAUT TAUT

Ashgate Studies in Architecture Series SERIES EDITOR: EAMONN CANNIFFE, MANCHESTER SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, MANCHESTER METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY , UK

The discipline discipline of Architecture Architecture is undergoing undergoing subtle transformation transformation as design awareness permeates our visually dominated culture. Technological change, the search for sustainability and debates around the value of place and meaning of the architectural gesture are aspects which will affect the cities we inhabit. This series seeks to address address such topics, topics, both theoretically theoretically and in practice, through the publication of high quality original research, written and visual. Other titles in this series From Formalism to Weak Form: The Architecture and Philosophy of Peter Eisenman Stefano Corbo ISBN 978 1 4724 4314 4 Suspending Modernity: The Architecture of Franco Franco Albini Kay Bea Jones ISBN 978 1 4724 2728 1 The Architecture Architecture of Industry Changing Paradigms in Industrial Building and Planning Edited by Mathew Aitchison ISBN 978 1 4724 3299 5 Architecture in an Age of Uncertainty Edited by Benjamin Flowers ISBN 978 1 4094 4575 3 Charles Robert Cockerell, Architect in Time Reflections around Anachronistic Drawings Anne Bordeleau ISBN 978 1 4094 5369 7 Forthcoming titles in this series In-Between: Architectural Drawing and Imaginative Knowledge in Islamic and Western Traditions Hooman Koliji ISBN 978 1 4724 3868 3 Phenomenologies of the City Studies in the History and Philosophy of Architecture Edited by Henriette Steiner and Maximilian Sternberg ISBN 978 1 4094 5479 3

The City Crown by Bruno Taut

Translated Translated and Edited Edited by

Matthew Mindrup The University of Sydney, Australia and

Ulrike Altenmüller-Lewis Drexel University, USA

© Matthew Mindrup and Ulrike Altenmüller-Lewis 2015 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Matthew Mindrup and Ulrike Altenmüller-Lewis have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the editors of this work. Published by Ashgate Publishing Limited Wey Court East Union Road Farnham Surrey, GU9 7PT England

Ashgate Publishing Company 110 Cherry Street Suite 3-1 Burlington, VT 05401-3818 USA

www.ashgate.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The city crown by Bruno Taut / [translated and edited] by Matthew Mindrup and Ulrike Altenmüller-Lewis. pages cm. -- (Ashgate studies in architecture) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4724-2199-9 (hbk) -- ISBN 978-1-4724-2200-2 (ebook) -ISBN 978-1-4724-2201-9 (epub) 1. City planning--History. I. Taut, Bruno, 1880-1938. II. Baron, Erich. III. Behne, Adolf, 1885-1948. IV. Scheerbart, Paul, 1863-1915. V. Mindrup, Matthew. editor. VI. Altenmüller-Lewis, Ulrike, 1971- editor. VII. Taut, Bruno, 1880-1938. Stadtkrone. English. NA9090.C58 2015 711’.4--dc23 2015002219 ISBN 9781472421999 (hbk) ISBN 9781472422002 (ebk – PDF) ISBN 9781472422019 (ebk – ePUB)

Printed in the United Kingdom by Henry Ling Limited, at the Dorset Press, Dorchester, DT1 1HD

Contents

List of Illustrations Translators’ Preface Acknowledgements

vii xi xiii

Introduction: Advancing the Reverie of Utopia

1



Title Page Dedication 1

The New Life: An Architectonic Apocalypse Paul Scheerbart

35

2

40 Examples: Historic City Crowns

41

3

The City Crown Architecture The Old City The Chaos The New City Body Without a Head Raise a Flag The City Crown Economic Costs for The City Crown

73 74 76 77 78 79 82 86 98

4

Epilogue: Recent Attempts at Crowning Cities Bruno Taut

101

5

Aufbau Erich Baron

115

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6

Rebirth of Architecture Adolf Behne

125

7

The Dead Palace: An Architect’s Dream Paul Scheerbart

141

Sources List of Figures Contents

143 145 147 

Afterword: The City Crown in the Context of Bruno Taut’s Oeuvre

149

Index

177

List of Illustrations

Black and White Illustrations

Figure 6

Durham.

1.1 Ebenezer Howard, “Garden City,” Image no. 2 of Howard, To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform, 1898. © Town & Country Planning Association.

Figure 7

Adrianople, Selim Mosque.

Figure 8

Augsburg, St Ulrich Church.

Figure 9

Utrecht.

1.2 Bruno Taut, Stadtschema (City Diagram), in Die Stadtkrone, 1917. 1.3 Bruno Taut, Das Glashaus (The Glashaus) at the 1914 Kölner Werkbund–Ausstellung (1914 Cologne Werkbund Exhibition), 1914. 1.4 Bruno Taut, Haus Der Freundschaft in Konstantinople (House of Friendship in Constantinople), 1916.

Figure 10

Assyrian Temple, reconstruction.

Figure 11

Madurai, Great Gopura.

Figure 12 Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem, reconstruction. Figure 13

Cologne.

Figure 14

London.

1.5 Bruno Taut, Das Kristallhaus (The Crystal Building), Sheet 3 of Bruno Taut, Alpine Architecture, 1917.

Figure 15

Selinunt, reconstruction.

Figure 16

Athens.

Original Illustrations

Figure 17

Yangon, Shwedagon Pagoda.

Figure 1

St Barbara by Jan van Eyck.

Figure 18

Salamanca.

Figure 2

Charles Cottet, City Image.

Figure 19

Yangon.

Figure 3

Mont-Saint-Michel.

Figure 20

Buarcos.

Figure 4

Strasbourg.

Figure 21

Tzaffin.

Figure 5

Monte Compatri.

Figure 22

Prenzlau.

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BRU NO TAUT

Figure 23

Angkor Wat.

Figure 48

City crown, plan and elevation.

Figure 24

Cairo.

Figure 49

City crown, perspectival view.

Figure 25

Hebron in Palestine.

Figure 50 Garden City Estate Falkenberg near Berlin.

Figure 26 Kremlin.

Moscow. Great Cathedral in the

Figure 27

Moscow with the Kremlin.

Figure 28

La Chaise-Dieu.

Figure 29

Béziers.

Figure 30

Strängnäs.

Figure 31

Pisa, Piazza del Duomo.

Figure 32

Danzig.

Figure 33

Aden.

Figure 34

Srivilliputtur.

Figure 35

Miao tai tae, Memorial Temple.

Figure 36

Paris.

Figure 37

Figure 51

Street views from Falkenberg.

Figure 52 Schinkel.

Design of a votive church by

Figure 53 Design for a monument of Friedrich the Great on the Leipziger Platz in Berlin by Gilly. Figure 54

Karlsruhe, city plan.

Figure 55

Temple of Confucius in Qufu.

Figure 56

Plan diagram from Howard.

Figure 57

City center of Letchworth

Figure 58

Plan of the city of Qufu.

Figure 59

Augsburg, Elias Hollplatz.

Figure 60

Municipal building for New York.

Speyer.

Figure 61

New York, city skyline.

Figure 38

Mainz.

Figure 62

XXII District in Vienna.

Figure 39

Toledo.

Figure 63

Project for Klein-Hoheim.

Figure 40

Bangkok.

Figure 64

Plan for an Australian capital city.

Figure 41

Chidambaram, Shiva-Pond.

Figure 65 Project for an International World Center.

Figure 42

City crown, east elevation.

Figure 43

City crown, west elevation.

Figure 44 City crown, bird’s eye view looking west. Figure 45

Figure 66 Berlin.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs in

Figure 67

Palace of Justice in Brussels.

Figure 68

The Capitol in Washington.

City skyline.

Figure 46

City plan diagram.

Figure 69 Design of a Monument for the People by Berlage.

Figure 47

City crown, image.

Figure 70

Cathedral in Rouen.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure 71 Palitana, the Great Temple Chamukte. Figure 72

The Great Pagoda of Udaipur.

Colour Plates

1 Bruno Taut, Wohnstadt Carl Legien, Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg, 1928–30. Loggias at housing block. Photo: Laura J. Padgett, January 2009. 2 Bruno Taut, Wohnstadt Carl Legien, BerlinPrenzlauer Berg, 1928–30. Housing block Sültstraße. Photo: Laura J. Padgett, April 2009. 3 Bruno Taut, Wohnstadt Carl Legien, Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg, 1928–30. Housing block Sültstraße. Courtyard elevation and corner balconies. Photo: Laura J. Padgett, January 2009. 4 Bruno Taut, Wohnstadt Carl Legien, Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg, 1928–30. Housing block Sültstraße. Courtyard elevation. Photo: Laura J. Padgett, January 2009. 5 Bruno Taut, Wohnstadt Carl Legien, Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg, 1928–30. Housing block Sültstraße. Staircase. Photo: Laura J. Padgett, April 2009. 6 Single family row houses, north of Argentinische Allee. Reconstruction of the color plan by Bruno Taut illustrating results of the color analysis. Photo of drawing: Helge Pitz, Architekturwerkstatt Helge Pitz – Winfried Brenne, 1976/1977. 7 Bruno Taut, Waldsiedlung Onkel Toms Hütte, Berlin-Zehlendorf, 1926–31. Single family row houses, north of Argentinische Allee. Terraces with glass roof along the garden façade. Illustrating results of the color analysis. Photo of drawing: Helge Pitz, Architekturwerkstatt Helge Pitz – Winfried Brenne, 1976/1977.

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8 Bruno Taut, Waldsiedlung Onkel Toms Hütte, Berlin-Zehlendorf, 1926–31. Single family row houses, north of Argentinische Allee. Illustrating the results of the color analysis. Photo of drawing: Helge Pitz, Architekturwerkstatt Helge Pitz – Winfried Brenne, 1976/1977. 9 Bruno Taut, Waldsiedlung Onkel Toms Hütte, Berlin-Zehlendorf, 1926–31. Yard at Birkenhof. Landscape reminiscent of Taut’s early pastel drawings from nature. Photo: Laura J. Padgett, September 2008. 10 Bruno Taut, Waldsiedlung Onkel Toms Hütte, Berlin-Zehlendorf, 1926–31. Photo: Laura J. Padgett, September 2008. 11 Bruno Taut, Waldsiedlung Onkel Toms Hütte, Berlin-Zehlendorf, 1926–31. Apartment building Waldhüterpfad. View from stairhall. Photo: Laura J. Padgett, September 2008. 12 Bruno Taut, Waldsiedlung Onkel Toms Hütte, Berlin-Zehlendorf, 1926–31. Corner Hochsitzweg and Hochwildpfad. Photo: Laura J. Padgett, September 2008. 13 Bruno Taut, Waldsiedlung Onkel Toms Hütte, Berlin-Zehlendorf, 1926–31. Am Wiesenblau. Garden facades. Photo: Laura J. Padgett, September 2009. 14 Bruno Taut, Waldsiedlung Onkel Toms Hütte, Berlin-Zehlendorf, 1926–31. Photo: Laura J. Padgett, September 2008. 15 Rudolf Steiner, Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland. Built in poured concrete from 1925–8. Photo: Mark Brack, 1989. 16 James Turrell, “Twilight Epiphany” skyspace at Rice University, Houston, Texas, 2012. Photo: Florian Holzherr, 2012.

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Translators’ Preface

Translations of historical texts are by their very nature always a balancing act between historical accuracy, linguistic beauty and an interpretation of the author’s original intent. The works included in this book are certainly no exception. Written under the influence of the First World War, the texts included in Die Stadtkrone represent the hopes and longings of three individuals, Eric Baron, Adolf Behne and Bruno Taut, for a new utopian society made possible by architecture. In three different voices and three different approaches, Baron, Behne and Taut reason for the viability of creating a new garden city where people can live and work in peace and community underneath the shadow of a single, purpose-free glass structure, a city crown. Shortly after the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II on November 9, 1918, the First World War came to an end and a handful of artists and architects joined Taut in forming the Arbeitsrat für Kunst (Working Council for Art) to work with the new socialist government to help forge the cultural politics of the new country. Die Stadtkrone was, for Taut as well as for his friends in the Arbeitsrat für Kunst , Adolf Behne and Walter Gropius, used as a starting point for developing the goals of their new council. Later it was a guideline for Taut’s “Ein Architektur-Programm” (“An Architecture Programme”) from Christmas of the same year and Gropius’ Bauhaus Manifesto of April 1919. So it is surprising that after its publication in 1919, such an important work in the development of modern architecture, urban planning and architectural education has never been translated into English. Taut is still considered one of the most influential architects of the modern movement and his writings had an undeniable impact on the early twentiethcentury architectural culture. For English-speaking audiences, Taut’s Die Stadtkrone is a staple of any discussion surrounding the garden city movement, utopianism, Expressionist or early modern architectural history – all the more reason for our surprise that the anthology had yet to be translated into English. There have been fragments of the anthology’s different texts translated in the literature on Taut and early modern architectural history but never a complete rendition of the anthology’s arguments in their entirety. It was only in 2009 that the Journal of

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Architectural Education solicited us to produce the first English translation of Taut’s title essay, “The City Crown.” Translations not only require a fluency in the original and translated languages but also a deep knowledge of the context in time – in the case of Die Stadtkrone, this includes the historical, cultural, social and political background in which the authors conceived their texts and in which today’s audience will read it. As historical texts, which usually come with antiquated phrasing and expressions that are no longer in active use, the challenge of this translation was to find appropriate English words and syntax that, while accurately describing the context of the German, also mirror the idiosyncrasy of each author’s voice and field of study. When confronted by difficult or unclear phrasing, we made every effort to retain the voice and the intent of the author, adding footnotes to justify our interpretation of the text. Similarly, we sought to add important references to clarify an author’s citation of a work or concept that was either ambiguous or, at times, inaccurate. The texts and images in this translation are organized to retain the original format of the book – a composition of layers intended to guide the reader to understand the efficacy of his city crown proposal. At the outermost layer of the facsimile, the reader encounters two poems from Paul Scheerbart: at the beginning is the poem “Das neue Leben” (“The New Life”) and the end with the short poem “Der tote Palast” (“The Dead Palace”). After having set the poetic tone of the volume with these works, Taut includes 40 examples of historical city crowns to prepare the reader for the subject matter and argue for the necessity of his urban scheme. His title essay then references these images to justify the need for a new city crown that he includes in his urban scheme, a completely conceived garden city accompanied by drawings and images. Immediately following an explanation of the costs, Taut’s section “Neuer Versuch zu Stadtbekrönungen” seeks to substantiate its validity in contemporary architectural practice with additional examples of contemporary city crowns. Under the title “Aufbau”, Eric Baron’s essay then encourages the edification of socialism after the end of the First World War through art and architecture. Adolf Behne concludes by elaborating on Baron’s concept by tracing the decline of art since the Gothic and prophesizes a “Wiederkehr der Baukunst” (“Rebirth of Architecture”) through the cooperation of the arts under architecture. Surrounding the facsimile format, we have added an introduction entitled “Advancing the Reverie of Utopia,” which critically examines the professional and intellectual developments leading to and underpinning Taut’s proposal to advance the English garden city concept with a centralized communal structure of glass, a city crown. The afterword, “ The City Crown in the Context of Bruno Taut’s oeuvre,” sets Taut’s Die Stadtkrone in the context of his overall oeuvre, reviewing the reception of the book at the time of its publication and the impact it had both outside of Taut’s work and for his own career. As a work, we hope this first English translation of Taut’s seminal anthology will become a critical text in architectural studies on the history of European Modernism, urban design theory and Taut’s oeuvre in general.

Acknowledgements

This English translation of Bruno Taut’s Die Stadtkrone is a work that has been many years in the making. We would like to thank first of all George Dodds, who expressed interest in this project as chief editor of Journal of Architectural Education in 2006 and commissioned our translation of Taut’s title chapter. It was Dodds’ enthusiasm that gave us the impetus to approach Ashgate Publishing in 2012 for their support to complete a translation of the entire book. In preparing this translation, we enjoyed the support of many people. Special thanks must go to Franziska Zürcher-Mindrup, who selflessly gave of her assistance turning the sometimes ambiguous imaginings of Die Stadtkrone’s four authors into something reasonably comprehensible in English. It was because of her early assistance that we were able to see the project in its entirety as a viable endeavor. We are also especially grateful to Mark Brack, who provided us with many hours of insightful suggestions how to phrase and re-phrase parts of the texts that were at times barely comprehensible in the original German. For this, we would also like to thank Tony Flynn, Frank Trommler, David Raizman, Jon Coddington and Ross Anderson for their candid remarks on the translations and encouragement to reappraise the legibility of critical points on the texts. Discussions with them allowed us to further gauge questions of context and interpretation. We owe a debt to Ufuk Ersoy for providing critical insight into the introductory chapter “Advancing the Reverie of Utopia.” Many thanks also to Paul Emmons, Marcia Feuerstein, Ellen Sullivan and Barbara Klinkhammer, who in early conversations inspired the idea for the “Afterword: The City Crown in the Context of Bruno Taut’s Oeuvre.” Careful reading and suggestions provided by Rosemarie H. Bletter and Manfred Speidel were greatly appreciated and helped us to finalize this book. At Ashgate, we must extend our most sincere gratitude to Valerie Rose, who enthusiastically supported this project from the very beginning. We would also like to thank Charlotte Edwards and our production editor Adam Guppy, as well as our proofreader Jon Lloyd. We are grateful for their patience and help throughout this process.

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Lastly, we would like to extend a special thanks to both our families who – in their unique ways – sacrificed much of their own time and energy to make this project possible.

Introduction: Advancing the Reverie of Utopia Matthew Mindrup

Let us build a tower whose summit will touch the skies – Those who conceived the idea of this tower could not have built it themselves, so they hired thousands of others to build it for them. But these toilers knew nothing of the dream of those who planned the tower. While those who conceived the tower did not concern themselves with the workers who built it. The hymns of praise of the few became the curses of the many. BABEL! BABEL! BABEL!—Between BABEL!—Between the brain that plans and the hands that build, there must be a Mediator. 1 Maria (Character) in Metropolis , 1927

On August 28, 1917, the German architect Bruno Taut sent the completed draft Stadtkrone (The The City Crown) Crown) to the Diederichs Verlag in Berlin, of his anthology Die Stadtkrone ( Germany.2 Published shortly after the end of the First World War, the leaflet Stadtkrone as the “Darstellung eine announcing its publication described Die Stadtkrone Gestaltung, eine Form, ein Ideal” (representation of a design, a form, an ideal) to stimulate the common work of mankind towards the creation of a single structure, a crown “über dem leeren Chaos der Städte” (over the empty chaos of the city).3 Metropolis ascribes a The character of Maria in Fritz Lang’s 1927 utopian drama Metropolis similar role to the “Mediator,” who she believes will unite the different classes in constructing a Tower of Babel. In Lang’s film, the inhabitants of a large industrial city are separated into two classes: wealthy residents, who live a carefree life in artificial pleasure gardens abounding with flowers, fountains and exotic birds, and a subterranean working class, living beneath the city in poor conditions and making the entire paradise above possible. By exaggerating the polarization of the two classes, Lang sought to expose the social and urban problems that had emerged since the Industrial Revolution in Europe and Germany in particular. 4 It was because of his own experiences with civic disorder in German cities that Taut had the inspiration to develop Die Stadtkrone. Born in 1880, Taut grew up in the Gründerzeit (founding (founding time), a period of rapid industrial and economic development following the unification of Germany in 1871. As technical developments in farming had reduced the need for people to

2

1.1 Ebenezer Howard, “Garden City,” Image no. 2 of Howard, To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform, Reform , 1898. © Town & Country Planning Association.

THE CITY CROWN BY BY BRU NO TAUT TAUT

work in agriculture, the mass immigration of labor from the countryside to the cities (known as the “Landflucht”) caused the populations of large German cities to dramatically increase in size between 1871 and 1901. 5 Miles of speculative apartments were built to house the lower classes in what came to be known as Mietskasernen (rental Mietskasernen (rental barracks) grouped around multiple courtyards court yards in deep, poorly lit city blocks.6 Here entire families lived in tiny, poorly ventilated rooms without indoor plumbing to work long shifts in the factories. Meanwhile, the middle and upper classes lived in well-lit, respectable, generously proportioned apartment Metropolis. In the buildings recalling the personification of the classes in Lang’s Metropolis. decade before Lang began filming Metropolis filming Metropolis in 1925, Taut belonged to a small group of artists, architects and sociologists who vigorously challenged the value of the city as a congested, fast-paced industrial organism. organism. One of the most important urban proposals of the Industrial Revolution read closely by Taut and his colleagues emerged from the English parliamentary shorthand writer Ebenezer Howard. 7 Disappointed with the quality of contemporary urban life, Howard proposed a model by which people could access the employment opportunities offered by cities and still enjoy a healthy quality of life in proximity to nature. In a small book from 1898 entitled To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform, Howard proposed the creation of new suburban suburb an towns that were of a limited size, planned in advance and surrounded by a permanent belt of agricultural land (Figure 1.1). 8 In his proposal,

INTRODUCTION: ADVANCING THE REVERIE OF UTOPIA

3

Howard reasoned that his new towns would be free of slums and that their inhabitants inhabitants could enjoy the benefits of social opportunities, places of amusement, amusement, chances of employment and higher wages associated with living in a town and access to the beauty of nature, fresh air and low rents found in the countryside. 9 To To argue his point, Howard created his famous (and remarkably simplistic) Three Magnets Magnets diagram to illustrate his solution to the question carefully placed in its center: “Where will the people go?” In the diagram, a magnet is superimposed on three types of living environments, including “Town,” “Country” or “Town-Country” and their respective characteristics. With individuals represented as needles, Howard reasoned that “Human society and the beauty of nature are meant to be enjoyed together”; his solution was that “the two magnets must be made one.”10 Appropriately organized, each “garden city” would be the perfect blend of “town” and “country,” remaining largely independent, managed by citizens who had an economic interest in them and financed by a group of trustees who leased the lands to its residents.11 It was under the influence of the First World World War that Taut Taut envisioned a new way to advance Howard’s garden city concept by merging it with a dominant central communal structure of glass and concrete he called a “city crown.” With fewer architectural commissions during this time, Taut devoted much of his efforts to the development of his new urban scheme, a utopian garden city of socialism and peace that he believed could overcome national and social differences by means of architecture and more specifically through a city crown. Modeled after the European medieval cathedral or Indian temple, Taut’s crown was to act as a towering secular beacon of social harmony around which the political, commercial and residential quarters would be organized. This crystalline structure of glass would be the material expression of a new living community in close contact with nature and industry unified by cosmic transcendental thoughts of the collective good.

THE CITY CROWN PROPOSAL Published in 1919, Taut included his utopian garden city proposal in Die Stadtkrone accompanied by contributions from the architectural critic Adolf Behne, the Expressionist poet Paul Scheerbart and the journalist Erich Baron. Taut placed his title essay, “Die Stadtkrone,” at the center of the anthology accompanied by drawings including two elevations (East and West) and a bird’s-eye view (West) Stadtsilhouette (City Skyline), Stadtschema (City Stadtschema (City Diagram), a combination leaving a Stadtsilhouette (City plan-elevation drawing, oblique view and perspective views of the city center, and both aerial and street-side perspectives of his own garden city of Falkenberg, Germany in the pages after it. In his urban scheme, Taut proposed the construction of a city for 300,000 inhabitants who live in garden city-style housing: “rows of low, single-family houses with deep gardens for every house … so that the residential area itself becomes a horticultural zone.” Taking his inspiration from Howard’s city of Tomorrow , Taut Taut decentralized decentralized industry and distributed housing near horticulture, agriculture and parks to promote a healthy quality of life, large enough to permit a

4

1.2 Bruno Taut, Stadtschema (City Stadtschema (City Diagram), in Die Stadtkrone, Stadtkrone, 1917.


complete social lifestyle, but not larger. 12 Similar to Howard, Taut’s ideal city is a large circle but with a much larger diameter and ten times as many inhabitants. Stadtschema of Taut’s garden city As the Stadtschema illustrates, the form of his city is not randomly determined but employs a series of concentric circles to define and segregate its physical, social and economic requirements (Figure 1.2). Similar to a medieval city, Taut first encircles his garden city with a ring-like wall, not of stone fortification walls but trees. Then, four main streets cross the entire city in wide arches defining an area of 500–800 meters in its center where Taut has located the central facilities and the crown itself. Additional circles in-between the middle and the edge of the city define the rows of residential buildings in a north–south direction. Shorter connecting streets interrupt these long lines leading to the city center. The main streets to the north and south of the city center define the edges of funnel-shaped fields that extend away from the center to the east and west. To the east, Taut locates a church, city administration buildings, commercial buildings and a train station on whose lines industrial areas can develop outside of the city borders to the north and the south. In the west, classrooms and hospitals are planned in a “‘… large sector-shaped park [that] brings good air into the city from the woods and fields.”13 In Taut’s city plan, the complex geometrical arrangement of circles permits the centrally located civic structure to connect itself to internal residential neighborhoods and external externa l industrial or commercial zones. While the centripetally oriented residential quarters are directed towards the city center, recreation and industry are located in sectors that open themselves to the surrounding countryside and as many neighboring cities as possible. Nevertheless, despite the effectiveness of Taut’s scheme, he asks “can all of our life’s needs be fulfilled by comfort, ease and pleasantness?” pleasantness?”14 For all time, Taut argues, cities have gravitated around a single structure that could unite the longing and hopes of people in a community.15 To To restore this structure to the fabric of a contemporary co ntemporary garden city, c ity, he proposes the construction of five buildings in its center to meet the social interests of its community and to fulfill their artistic and entertainment needs. Taut’s Taut’s garden city is built up in layers, from a residentially planned exterior to a community-used interior. As one progresses from the residential zones toward the city center, they are are greeted by stores, cafes and restaurants. restaurants. Then, Then, from this commercial zone, reading halls, museums, aquariums and glass agricultural houses are accessible via tree-line courtyards. Finally, inside an innermost colonnade ring, the political and institutional structures that typically occupy the center of a city have been replaced by the places for entertainment and education, concert


5

and public houses, a theater and opera. This hierarchy of buildings is an image of what Taut refers to as the “human stratification” of the city’s inhabitants, who are not differentiated by their social class, but by their tempers and desires. 16 In this way “the entire city is accessible to everyone; and people go to where they are drawn.”17 However, unlike the prescribed activities occurring in the innermost building group, they are only the base of the most important structure in Taut’s city scheme, a huge glass Kristallhaus (crystal house), while the crown is reserved for the people without a single dedicated purpose. For this Kristallhaus, Taut makes a distinction between “buildings” whose purpose it is to provide social or communal experiences, like a theater and a people’s house, and “architecture” that has its raison d’etre in the social wishes of the community containing “nothing but a wonderful room” remaining “quiet and empty.”18 In Die Stadtkrone, this “architecture” that Taut describes as a combination of concrete, iron and colorful glass has to be rooted “in the inner spiritual life and existence of mankind … including all that through which he perceives his own value and relation to the world.”19 For Taut, a city always had a crown about which its citizens would gravitate. It was “the highest structure in a townscape … a religious building” that could “convey our deepest feelings about mankind and the world.”20 However, compared to the religious orientation of historical city crowns, Taut contended that religion was no longer necessary as a force around which to organize contemporary cities. In the contemporary conception of the city, Taut argued that the former unifying power of the Christian Church separated itself into smaller congregations and instead promoted socialism as a new faith that could “unite the longings and hopes of people in community.” Taut already spoke of these thoughts in an article from 1914 where he lamented Hans Poelzig’s loss of the Berlin Opera House competition. As he argued, it is not a conventional view of architecture based upon “Modern Imperialism, Caste Structures and Ethnicity,” but the “typical ideal of our days that everyone sympathizes with today,” the “social thought” that can inspire “the new in architecture.” 21 This “social thought” that Taut refers to as a “new form of Christianity” in “Die Stadtkrone” embodies what he argues to be an urge to “enhance the well-being of mankind” and “to feel as one, solidly united with all mankind.” For Taut, it is this solidarity that can motivate the “many hands and material means” to give “material expression for that which slumbers in all mankind.”22 To justify his thesis that a non-religious structure can crown a city, Taut includes 18 images of proposed and contemporary civic structures to accompany his essay “Neuere Versuche zu Stadtbekrönungen” (“Contemporary Examples of City Crowns”). Since a city’s crown should be a center of the community’s spirit and “represent our view of life,” Taut wants to use cultural and meetinghouses for the crown and not political institutions or existing religious structures. 23 Rather, the aim of Taut’s “Die Stadtkrone” is to promote socialism by restoring the spiritual representation of a community to city centers near theaters and gardens, and near all new buildings that emerge from social idealism.24 To prepare the reader for his garden city proposal, Taut surrounded his text and designs with contributions from Behne, Scheerbart and Baron. Under the title “Aufbau” (“Building-Up”), Baron encourages the edification of socialism after

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the end of the First World War through art and architecture. Behne elaborates on Baron’s concept by tracing the decline of art since the Gothic and prophesizes a “Wiederkehr der Baukunst” (“Rebirth of Architecture”) through the cooperation of the arts under architecture. Taut’s aim for the construction of a communal purposefree city crown of glass is to give the city brilliance and vitality, but also peace, silence and eternal longing – qualities that Scheerbart underlined in two poems that the editor of Das hohe Ufer , Hans Kaiser, argued in 1919 that Taut uses like “Schutzheilige” (patron saints) to his anthology: the beginning with the poem “Das neue Leben” (“The New Life”) and the end with the short poem “Der tote Palast” (“The Dead Palace”).25 In his own essay, Taut traces the importance of “city crowns” in previous cultures, arguing that the erection of new cities and towns without this essential binding element would only produce a “Rumpf ohne Kopf” (“Body without a Head”). 26 To validate his point, Taut includes “40 Beispiele alter Stadtbekrönungen” (“40 Examples of Historic City Crowns”) from international cities including Mont Saint-Michel, Strasbourg, Durham, Angor Wat and Bangkok. 27 A similar sense of internationalism is implied by Baron’s essay that argues for a new global architecture of socialism. For Behne’s text, Taut includes two images: the Gothic Kathedrale zu Rouen (Cathedral of Rouen) at the beginning and the Indian Palitana der grosse Tempel Chamukte (Palitana, The Great Temple of Chamukte) at the end. With these examples Taut wants to extend Behne’s study of the Gothic cathedral, and the picture frame in particular, to Indian temples. Together, the texts and images in Taut’s anthology suggest that his proposal is not limited to European cities but a human phenomenon that transcends geography and culture. As a complete work, the texts and images in Taut’s anthology are composed in layers through which the reader is guided to understand the efficacy of his city crown proposal. In an essay about Bruno Taut, Mathias Schirren supports this reading comparing the structure of Die Stadtkrone to a medieval reliquary in which the most sacred, the drawings of the city crown are hidden in its core. Schirren makes this comparison based upon a short essay Taut published in 1919 entitled “Bildschreine” (“Picture Shrine”), wherein Schirren argues Taut provides a possible explanation for the composition of his book reasoning that a work of art should be segregated from the activities of everyday life because it may dull the eye and distract the mind.28 As Taut explains, an artwork should be framed and hidden in the middle of a shrine that has been “adapted to the subject of the picture.” 29 The drawings that Taut locates in the center of his anthology are comparable to such an artwork framed by additional texts and images. The historic examples at the beginning prepare the reader for the subject matter and argue for the necessity of Taut’s urban scheme, while his section entitled “Neuer Versuch zu Stadtbekrönungen” (“Recent Attempts at Crowning Cities”) explains its costs and includes contemporary examples to substantiate its validity in contemporary architectural practice. A letter to his wife Hedwig from August 13, 1917 indicates that Taut had only organized the texts and images into a “concept book” at a very late stage in the planning of his anthology when he included Jan van Eyck’s painting of St Barbara as the cover page.30 In van Eyck’s representation, St Barbara is sitting on a hill,


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holding a palm branch and reading an open book while the tower from which she became enlightened is under construction in the background. Speidel notes that Taut did not include a title to van Eyck’s drawing in the City Crown reasoning that he probably knew the authorship and the role of Saint Barbara as the patron saint of craftsmen but wanted to give it a new meaning in its new context. For Speidel it was “a personal dedication to [Taut’s] wife” but this doesn’t take into consideration that the Saint, like the reader, is fondly reading a book (the city crown?) while a unified community is building their own city crown in the background.

EARLY MAN IFESTATIONS

Despite the dating of Taut’s letter to his wife mentioned at the beginning of this introduction, his proposal to advance the practical social reforms of the English garden city concept with a city crown did not emerge suddenly in the months before its publication. Since the founding of his office with Franz Hoffmann in 1909, one can observe in Taut’s completed projects, publications and correspondences a slow synthesis of experiences in architecture, garden city housing and pavilion design that had crystallized in a project for Constantinople (today Istanbul in Turkey), but were missing so far from garden city designs. Like many German architects at the beginning of the twentieth century, Taut developed an interest in resolving the afflictions caused by the rapid industrialization and concomitant densification of European cities. At the end of the nineteenth century, urban planning theory as a scientific topic with the goal of advising problem solving did not yet exist. In his 1889 book Der Städtebau nach seinen künstlerischen Grundsätzen (City Planning According to Artistic Principles), the Austrian architect and critic Camillo Sitte tried to resolve the distress by rejecting grid planning and the development of over-scaled boulevards and plazas promoting instead the creation of irregular or “organic” urban patterns with more intimate public spaces enhanced by monuments and other aesthetic elements. 31 Sitte’s co-founder of the journal Der Städtebau (City Planning), Theodor Goecke continued to propose new principles for organizing city quarters and street lines according to research based upon social, economic and health issues. 32 Yet, other critics took a more radical approach, calling for a return to the countryside. An observer of English housing reform and co-founder of the Deutscher Werkbund (German Work Federation), the architect Hermann Muthesius argued: Denn wer von den Stadtbewohnern trüg nicht die Sehnsucht nach Feld und Wald, nach Wiesengründen und blühenden Gärten in sich, und wem klänge nicht das Märchen in den Ohren, dass er … mitten in ihnen im eigenen Häuschen leben könnte. [Whoever of the city dwellers does not bear the longing for field and forest, meadow grounds and flowering gardens, and who do not hear the sounds of the fairy tale in the ears, that they could … in the midst of them, live in their own house.] 33

By 1902, the English garden city idea of Ebenezer Howard was carried over to a circle of poets in the commune Neue Gemeinschaft (New Community) located to the west of Berlin in Schlachtensee.34

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The Neue Gemeinschaft was a reform movement that sought emancipation from the effects of industrialization on urban life through a vegetarian, literary and socialist way of life. The movement’s dream of an ideal, socialist urban community lasted only a year, with many of the founding members, including Heinrich and Julius Hart, Bernhard and Paul Kampffmeyer, Bruno Wille and Wilhelm Boelsche, reorganizing themselves as the Deutsche Gartenstadtgesellschaft (German Garden City Society) in 1902. 35 In the following years, it broadened its tasks to accommodate the German conditions and reissued its Deutsche Gartenstadtgesellschaft Programm (Program of the German Garden City Society) as “the winning over of the public to the establishment of garden cities.”36 The ultimate aim of Deutsche Gartenstadtgesellschaft was “internal colonization, which will promote industrial decentralization and with it an even distribution of industrial life across the land through planned establishment of garden cities” and the “expansion of existing towns in the sense of the garden city.”37 Like Howard, the Deutsche Gartenstadtgesellschaft viewed the garden city as a means for replacing the squalor and deprivation endured by the urban working class with a vigorous and healthy quality of life in close communion with the land and countryside.38 The concepts Raymond Unwin developed during his planning of the garden city of Letchworth were summarized in a textbook entitled Town Planning in Practice and published in 1909.39 Unwin’s work was translated a year later into German under the title Grundlagen des Städtebaus (Fundamentals of City Planning), which became one of the earliest, most widely read urban planning textbooks in Germany. Certainly, it was this German translation of Unwin’s textbook that created a strong impetus for Walter Gropius and Taut to participate in an excursion to visit the English garden cities during the same year. 40 Taut’s trip to England had a profound impact upon him. Shortly after returning to Berlin in 1910, he was appointed the advisory architect to the building department of the Deutsche Gartenstadtgesellschaft in 1913.41 In this position, he accepted commissions to plan two garden city projects during the same year at Falkenberg near Berlin and Reform in Magdeburg, Germany. Both estates comprise low-rise terrace houses oriented in north–south rows so that their primary facades were supplied with indirect light throughout the day. An amateur artist who enjoyed studying nature and landscapes with pastels, Taut had the houses at both estates painted in varied colors to relieve the residents from the monotony of the typical gray color of German tenement housing, which, at Falkenberg , became known as the “Tuschkasten Siedlung” (paint box estates).42 Surrounded by residential areas with a central space-like axis leading to a major civic structure, the Akazienhof, Taut clearly took inspiration for his design of the Falkenberg estate in particular from the first English garden city of Letchworth. The late nineteenth-century industrial and economic expansion that encouraged the development of the garden city movement in Germany also fueled a pedagogical, technical and aesthetic reformation of Germany’s industrial and applied arts. At world fairs throughout the nineteenth century, German appliedarts goods were criticized for their “technical backwardness, aesthetic inferiority, and economic worthlessness.”43 To put Germany on a competitive footing with England and the US, the Preußisches Ministerium für Handel und Gewerbe (Prussian


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1.3 Bruno Taut, Das Glashaus (The Glashaus) at the 1914 Kölner Werkbund– Ausstellung (1914 Cologne Werkbund Exhibition), 1914.

Ministry of Commerce and Trade) began in 1884 to wield more control over the education of arts, crafts and trades that were perceived to be out of touch with nineteenth-century changes affecting industrial manufacture. 44 In 1907, an association of German artists, architects, designers and industrialists formed as the Deutscher Werkbund to establish a partnership between product manufacturers and design professionals to enlarge the scope of activities of the Commerce Ministry. In combination with industry, these institutions began to develop national, state and Werkbund-sponsored exhibitions to promote new German industrial and applied arts that emphasized design techniques oriented toward materials, constructional principles and local crafts industries. 45 It was in this context that Taut received an opportunity to showcase the creative architectural applications of steel and especially the glass he later sought to employ in the Kristallhaus of “Die Stadtkrone.” For the steel industry, Taut produced two exhibition pavilions, the Berliner Verkaufskontor für Stahlträger (Berlin Sales Office for Steel Girders) for the 1910 II. Deutsche Ton–, Zement– und Kalkindustrie–Ausstellung (Second German Clay, Cement and Lime Exhibition) in Berlin and the Monument des Eisens (Monument of Iron) at the 1913 Internationale Baufach–Ausstellung (International Building Trades Exhibition) in Leipzig, Germany. Contrary to his simple, pragmatic housing developments in Berlin and Magdeburg, Taut’s exhibition pavilions were conceived as mechanisms to create vivid optical and partly haptic experiences of the materials they were intended to market. Similarly, while his Falkenberg

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Garden City was under construction in 1913, Taut had the sudden inspiration to explore the potential of glass for the Deutsche Werkbund ’s 1914 Kölner Werkbund–Ausstellung (1914 Cologne Werkbund Exhibition) and approached the glass industry for sponsors. 46 As a minor young architect with few sponsors and a personally initiated versus officially sponsored experimental pavilion, the Werkbund ’s executive board was hesitant to include Taut’s proposal in the exhibition.47 Paid for in large part out of his own pocket, Taut erected a glass and concrete “net cupola” on a curved concrete apron (Figure 1.3). Taut’s ‘Glashaus’, like that for the Berliner Verkaufskontor für Stahlträger and the Monument des Eisens, used the material being advertised to construct the pavilion itself. Taut’s Glashaus filmically orchestrated the visitors’ sensory experiences up, around and down narrow glass block stairs, next to colored light filtering through brightly colored Luxfer prisms to an internal waterfall in the lower floor. With colored tiles and a kaleidoscope slowly projecting abstract patterns on an opaque screen, the “gleaming, transparent, reflective character” of the structural and material effects of Taut’s Glashaus were repeated almost verbatim in his description of the Kristallhaus of “Die Stadtkrone,” whose “steel and concrete construction” forms the framework that supports “prismatic glass fillings, colors and colored mosaics.”48 Although Taut’s choice of glass for the construction of the Kristallhaus had its beginnings in the Cologne Glashaus, its most significant promotion as an architectural building material must be attributed to his friendship and ensuing collaboration with the poet of glass architecture, Paul Scheerbart. In a series of fantasy novels including Das Paradies, Die Heimat der Kunst (Paradise, The Home of the Arts) and Rakkóx der Billionär (Rakkóx the Billionaire) from 1889 and 1901, respectively, Scheerbart had been developing the theme of an earthly paradise ornamented by architectures of color and glass. 49 During July 1913, Taut had finished the model of the Cologne Glashaus pavilion when he met Scheerbart whose fantasies of glass architecture must have immediately appealed to him.50 Taut and Scheerbart were in frequent correspondence throughout 1913 and 1914.51 The confluence of ideas between Taut and Scheerbart is evident in Scheerbart’s dedication of “Glasarchitektur” to Taut and Taut’s inscription of Scheerbart’s 14 aphorisms on the drum course of the Glashaus. These aphorisms included: “Das bunte Glas zerstört den Hass” (colored glass destroys hatred); “Ohne einen Glaspalast ist das Leben eine Last” (without a glass palace, life is a burden); and “Das Glas bringt uns die neue Zeit; Backsteinkultur tut uns nur leid” (glass brings us a new era; brick culture only makes us sad).52 Echoing Scheerbart, Taut designed the Glashaus with the important concept of removing the limits of solid walls to allow the interpenetration of “inner” and “outer” space. As Scheerbart argued in the first aphorism of his 1914 published “Glasarchitektur” (“Glass Architecture”): If we want our culture to rise to a higher level, we are obliged, for b etter or worse, to change our architecture. And this only becomes possible if we take away the closed character from the rooms in which we live. We can only do that by introducing glass architecture, which lets in the light of the sun, the moon, and the stars, not merely through a few windows, but through every possible wall, which will be made entirely of glass – of colored glass. The new environment, which we thus create, must bring us a new culture. 53


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To justify the open empty inner spaces of his pavilion design, Taut provided a guide for visitors in which he explained that “The Glashaus has no other purpose than to be beautiful.” 54 During the same year, he developed the same concept in an article for Walden’s Der Sturm periodical entitled “Eine Notwendigkeit” (“A Necessity”), but cited the Expressionist painters as his inspiration and not Scheerbart.55 In “Eine Notwendigkeit,” Taut sought to justify his own aims for the pavilion’s design and at the same to encourage his fellow architects to follow the contemporary Expressionist painters in developing a new architectural spirit. As he explains, what he has in mind is not the painting of facades or an adoption of the “external forms of painting” to architecture because the “functions of the frame are by nature different from those of the picture surface.” 56 Rather, holding up the Gothic cathedral as the favored prototype, Taut calls architects to lead the other arts in creating a magnificent new unity of architecture, painting and sculpture whose construction of glass, iron and concrete would help revitalize and renew modern art through a new artistic expression free from utilitarian aims. 57 In “Die Stadtkrone,” Taut sublimated this new quest for architecture into his Kristallhaus: Here architecture again renews its beautiful bond with sculpture and painting. It will all be one work in which the performance of the architect is found in his conception of the entirety; the painter through glass paintings that are removed but also inspired by the world; the sculptor’s art that is inseparable form the whole. 58

In the spirit of a functionless unity of the arts proposed in “Eine Notwendigkeit” or the prismatic experience of color and light in the Glashaus, Taut’s Kristallhaus was intended to contain “nothing but a wonderful room” in which “full sunlight showers in a high room and splits into numerous fine reflections.” 59 As a city crown, Taut’s new architecture would provide the occasion for a city to redeem the “necessity” he spoke of in 1914 and connect it with the “social commitment” of its citizens in their community buildings. 60 Yet Taut remained unresolved during this time between the conflicting demands of function and simplicity in the Deutsche Gartenstadtgesellschaft , and the aesthetic delight and artistic fantasy of the Sturm group. At the time that Taut published “Eine Notwendigkeit,” he also wrote a critique of a proposed opera house in Berlin for the Sozialitische Monatshefte. Contrary to his call for the construction of a new utilitarian-free architecture in “Eine Notwendigkeit,” Taut argued in “Der Architektenkongress” (“The Conference of Architects”) that the spirit of the age would be better expressed by the architecture of garden cities than by monumental buildings. It was not until he came upon the idea of reintegrating a city crown into the English garden city concept that he was put into the unique position of navigating the interconnections between the spiritual leadership of Expressionism and the practical social reformism of the Deutsche Gartenstadtgesellschaft . During July 1914, the First World War broke out in Germany and Taut was forced to discontinue the development of his ideas in “Eine Notwendigkeit” in order to maintain his office in Berlin and support the war effort through civil service.

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WRITING DIE STADTKRONE

After deliberately weakening his health (with cigarettes and coffee) in order to avoid being conscripted into the military, Taut enlisted in the civil service in 1915, initially working for the Militär-Neubauamt (the Military’s New Building Department) in Spandau and then in Plaue an der Havel and later as an “engineer” at the Stella Werke (Stella Works), an iron furnace factory in Bergisch-Gladbach. 61 Despite his new commitments, Taut returned to his call for an alternative work of architecture in an open letter to the March 1916 Werkbund Kongress (Werkbund Conference) in Bamberg entitled “Darlegungen” (“Statements”). Although no copy of the letter survives, in his study of Taut’s inter-war architectural and utopian activities, Iain Boyd Whyte has attempted to reconstruct the contents of “Darlegungen” from extant letter conversations between Taut’s fellow Werkbund members, Walter Gropius and Karl Ernst Osthaus. 62 In Bruno Taut and the Architecture of Activism Whyte reasons that Taut’s “Darlegungen” attacked war, contemporary architectural education and the weakened, democratic structure of the Werkbund . More importantly, Whyte claims it painted an ideal picture of a future architecture and, in particular, one that corresponded to the Kristallhaus in Die Stadtkrone.63 In the same month Taut published “Darlegungen,” he wrote to his brother Max that he had a “brilliant idea” for a new project. 64 Although these early musings about the development of a new architecture might suggest that Taut had already begun to work on Die Stadtkrone in March 1916, there is no firm documentary evidence that it inspired the Kristallhaus in it. Rather, Taut’s entry for the 1916 Deutscher Werkbund ’s Haus der Freundschaft (House of Friendship) competition in Constantinople was perhaps the most important project for his development of Die Stadtkrone during the wartime period. To be designed was a large “artistic” building on the hill of the old city near the Hagia Sophia. In his “Nachwort” (Afterword) to the 2002 re-publication of Die Stadtkrone, Manfred Speidel illuminates the chronology of events surrounding the competition that led to Taut’s development of the anthology. 65 As Speidel argues, the “Orient” must have opened a new perspective for Taut who in his “Reiseeindrücke aus Konstantinopel” (“Travel Impressions of Constantinople”) claims to have suddenly seen in the east “the true mother of Europe and our slumbering desire always goes there.” 66 For his design of the Haus der Freundschaft , Taut used his Glashaus as a model, proposing the construction of a large cupola of concrete ribs and colorful glass fillings on top of a simple flat square block supported by arcades (see Figure 1.4). Clearly, Taut also used the Cologne Glashaus as a model for the Kristallhaus in “Die Stadtkrone,” while his travel impressions and the two silhouette drawings (east and west) in the text suggest that the mosques of old Constantinople, which both “emerge from the entanglement of houses and back into them … like a pyramid in silhouette” reinforce the harmonic “sound” of the entire city.67 Taut’s former employer and mentor, the architect and pedagogue Theodor Fischer, made a similar observation of historical cities that are crowned by meaningful urban structures that organize: Gliederung der Massen nach Herrschenden und Beherrschten … die Zusammenfassung aller Teile in eine Einheit … in der alle Teile vom Geringsten bis zum Haupte ihre eigenste Bestimmung haben und schön sind dadurch …


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1.4 Bruno Taut, Haus Der Freundschaft in Konstantinople (House of Friendship in Constantinople), 1916.

[The masses according to rulers and ruled … the combination of all the parts in a unity … in which all the parts, from the lowest to the head have their own definition and are beautiful …] 68

It was clearly an idea familiar to Taut, who justified the organization of the urban elements in “Die Stadtkrone” in a similar way. Despite the new inspiration Taut found in the Haus der Freundschaft competition, he did not win. Judged by the participants on November 5 and 6, 1916, Taut was eliminated in the first round, with the classical design from the German architect German Bestelmeyer taking first place. 69 Nevertheless, Taut’s experiences in Constantinople must have stimulated him greatly and he began a new project, the conception of a complete new garden city surmounted by a purpose-free “crown.” Taut’s letters to his brother during the winter of 1916–17 indicate that the construal of his Die Stadtkrone anthology progressed rapidly. Just two months after receiving the results of the Werkbund competition, Taut wrote to his brother on December 30, 1916 to wish him a happy new year and let him know about the progress of his new project that permits him to bear his horrible work situation at Plaue an der Havel: Ich habe eineinhalb Wochen lang in der Bibliothek Bände gewälzt und viel fabelhaftes Material gefunden. Jetzt bin ich bei dem Projekt selbst, und auch das rundet sich zu einem Resultat. Es macht mich glücklich, und ich zittere jetzt nur, dass mir der Moloch noch 3–4 Wochen lässt, ehe er mich frisst. Dann kann ich wie ein Vermächtnis etwas zurücklassen, was im G roben wenigstens fertig vorliegt.— Das lässt mich die Konstantinopler Enttäuschung leicht überwinden. [I have tossed volumes [of books] for one and a half weeks in the library and found much fabulous material. Now I am at the project itself and also that one rounds itself to a result. It makes me happy and I tremble only now that the juggernaut leaves me three to four weeks before it devours me. Then I can leave

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something behind like a legacy that is at least roughly already there.—This lets me easily get over the Constantinople disappointment.] 70

By the middle of January 1917, Taut had moved to the Stella Werke, a factory for producing industrial ovens in Bergish-Gladbach, to the east of Cologne, where he was completing his civil service as an “engineer.” As a draftsman of furnaces, Taut was completely uninspired and mentally preoccupied with “other things.” In detail, we learn from a letter to Max on April 14, 1917 that at the end of service each day, Taut would return to his room to work on the Die Stadtkrone anthology, which was at that time very far advanced: Ich sitze hier wie Du weisst nun schon drei Monate als Zeichner für Glühöfen und arbeite Tat für Tag meine 8½ Stunden mit Mühe und Not herunter. Es ist auch so etwas wie Militärdienst: Pünktlichkeit auf die Minute und Urlaub selten und schwer … Es würde ganz und gar abstumpfen, wenn man den Kopf noch mit anderem voll hätte … Diederichs in Jena hat meine “Stadtkrone” angenommen, und es werden vielleicht nächstens die Klischees gemacht. Jedenfalls will er es bei Friedensbeginn herausbringen. Wann wird es aber soweit sein? … [As you know, I sit here already for three months as a draftsman for furnaces and work day after day my 8½ hours down with pain and misery. It is also something like military service: punctuality on the minute, few vacations, and difficult … This would be entirely deadening if one did not have the head full with other things … Diedrichs in Jena has accepted my Die Stadtkrone and the printings will probably be made soon. Anyway he wants to publish it at the beginning of peace. When will it be thus far?.] 71

Excluding his own description of the city crown itself, Taut had completed a draft of Die Stadtkrone by May 10, 1917 when he sent the manuscript and drawings to his brother Max to review. As Taut reported to his wife on May 13, 1917, he found inspiration for the design of the crown only a couple days later: Mir geht es immer gut. Gestern Abend habe ich noch einen richtigen Abschnitt zur Stadtkrone geschrieben, in meinem Arbeitszimmer bei Kampffmeyer vor offenem Fenster mit einer grünen Wiese und bei aufziehendem Gewitter. Kampffmeyer und Baron finden ihn schön. Es ist die Schilderung der höchsten Bauten, Theater, Volkshäuser und des Kristallhauses. Empfunden habe ich es am Freitagabend, als Göttel im Saal in Bergisch-Gladbach spielte, ich die Augen schloss und etwas, den Raum des K ristallhauses in einem Augenblick sah und empfand, wie es mir unbegreiflich war … [I am always well. Yesterday evening I have written a real part of the Die Stadtkrone in my office at Kampffmeyer’s, in front of the open window with a green meadow and gathering storm. Kampffmeyer and Baron found it nice. It is the description of the highest buildings, theaters, public houses and the cr ystal house. I have experienced it on a Friday evening as Göttel played in the hall in Bergisch-Gladbach, I closed my eyes and saw and felt something, the room of the crystal house in one moment how incomprehensible it is to me …] 72

The slightly sloped square glass tower that Taut describes rising above the cross configuration of four large civic structures: the opera, playhouse, and small and


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large community centers recalls the formal massing of the Indian temples he includes in Die Stadtkrone. However, compared to Das Kristallhaus (The Crystal Building) on Sheets 3 and 4 of Taut’s later co-authored utopian project, Alpine Architektur ( Alpine Architecture), the shapes are more determined that those in “Die Stadtkrone” (see Figure 1.5).73 As Speidel similarly notes, when Taut describes the design of the city crown “not finished smoothly and enclosed with walls but of a harmony that is rich and perfect in rhythm,” one does not find any visualization of it in the drawings. 74 Rather, Taut restrained from illustrating too precisely the design of the crown so that it does not influence later executions that may evolve differently and “whose ultimate solution is comprised of many thousands of varied possibilities.”75

ADVANCING THE ENGLISH GARDEN CITY CONCEPT

Although Taut took his inspiration from English garden city designs for the planning of his Falkenberg estate, in “Die Stadtkrone,” he sought to advance Howard’s

1.5 Bruno Taut, Das Kristallhaus (The Crystal Building), Sheet 3 of Bruno Taut, Alpine Architecture, 1917.

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scheme by merging it with concepts he developed in “Eine Notwendigkeit” and the Haus der Freundschaft competition. In a survey of different approaches to city planning that had arisen since the “economic boom” of the Industrial Revolution, Taut summarized in “Die Stadtkrone” the character and aims of the English garden city movement as the creation of: row houses, each with its own garden, in close proximity to horticulture and agriculture. The structure of this new city’s residential streets were practical and profitably laid out to promote living near well-distributed parks. The location of industry and every element of the living city environment were sensible and controlled to exclude real estate speculation. 76

In both Howard and Taut’s schemes, the center of the garden city is surrounded by large public structures, including an “opera house, theater, a large community center and large and small meeting hall” in the case of Taut and a “town hall, principal concert and lecture hall, theater, library, museum, picture gallery and hospital” in Howard’s design. 77 However, instead of an open park at the center of Taut’s city scheme, he merged it with the silhouette of old Constantinople and used the surrounding public structures to support his utilitarian-free Kristallhaus. To this end, he permitted the business and administration buildings that encircle his city crown to slowly increase in height towards the central Kristallhaus so that they “reign powerfully above the entire city.”78 The key to the success of the Kristallhaus in Taut’s garden city scheme was based upon on a faith in Gemeinschaft (community) unified by a common spirituality: a fusion of Christianity and socialism that Taut called “social commitment.” 79 This he explained in “Die Stadtkrone” as: It is the urge to somehow enhance the well-being of mankind, to achieve salvation for self and thus for others and to feel as one, solidly united with all mankind. This feeling lives, or at least slumbers, in all mankind. Socialism, in the non-political, supra-political sense, far removed from every form of authority is the simple, ordinary connection between people and it bridges any gap between warring classes and nations to unite humanity. 80

Taut’s view of Gemeinschaft as a representation of apolitical socialism in “Die Stadtkrone” echoes Gustav Landauer’s 1911 critique of centralized power structures in Aufruf zum Sozialismus (Call to Socialism).81 Both Taut and Landauer argued that the centralized state is the root of all contemporary evils and the surrogate for the natural relationships on which Gemeinschaft should be based.82 Quoting from Alexander von Gleichen-Rußwurm, Taut observes how: Recently, the ideal of the German citizen grew ever more accustomed to letting the state think for him, so one should probably not resent the fact that it finally took possession of the thinking mechanism … In our view, the state is not an end in itself, an organized power, but a structure tasked to serve the interests of all citizens.83

Contrary to the state, Taut and Landauer saw the way to bring about Gemeinschaft was through an intensification of Geist (spirit). In “Die Stadtkrone,” Geist is what


17

humans feel connected to in their innermost being; the bond that links the aspirations and strivings of mankind to one another. 84 Using a reference from Theodor Fechner’s critique of materialism in Die Tagesansicht gegenüber der Nachtansicht (The Day View versus the Night View ), Taut wants to reorient the spiritual focus of the contemporary city away from materialism and the state towards socialism as a new religion that waits like a foot “hovering in the air ready to descend.”85 Whyte reasons that Taut’s section of “Die Stadtkrone” entitled “Architektur” (“Architecture”) was an attempt to give physical and architectural form to Landauer’s Aufruf zum Sozialismus.86 The Christian Middle Ages, said Landauer, were the high point of Geist and the model for a socialist Gemeinschaft in which the will of the Volk found a perfect expression in the constructions of the geistig leaders – the theologians and the master builders. 87 Landauer’s analysis of early Christian’s Geist , Gemeinschaft and religious structures resonates in “Die Stadtkrone,” which Taut believes is not only reflected in the relationship between the Gothic cathedral and its surrounding community but also in the temples created by “every great cultural epoch.” Taut conceived the organization of his city plan around a Kristallhaus that could focus the longing and aspiration of the Volk . In the same spirit as his former teacher and urban planner, Theodor Goecke, Taut organized his city around a central public core – the city crown – and surrounded it by housing, business, industrial and recreational zones.88 His model for the residential areas were the row houses he developed for the Falkenberg estate and included as examples in “Die Stadtkrone.” 89 At a superficial glance, the ideology of pragmatism in the design of the row housing is an expression of Volk with its antithesis in the ideology of the sacred – the expensive and utilitarian-free Kristallhaus as a physical approximation of Geist . Using a quote from Master Eckhart’s “Sprüchen” (“Proverbs”), Taut ascribes to the Kristallhaus the spiritual longings of the Volk who ask God “to make me empty and pure.” Like a cathedral, Taut’s ultimate task for his “empty and pure” architecture is “to be quiet and absolutely turned away from all daily rituals for all times.”90 In this way the architecture of Taut’s entire city crown reflects the mutual ideals of the Gemeinschaft . The buildings surrounding the city crown express the social freedom and the natural social intercourse of the Gemeinschaft , while the Kristallhaus, supported both physically and symbolically by the Volkshäuser , was in this way to embody Geist : A minster, a cathedral above the historic city; a pagoda above the huts of the Indians; the enormous temple district in the square of the Chinese city; and the Acropolis above the simple houses of an ancient city – all show that the climax, the ultimate, is a crystallized religious conception. This is, at once, the starting point and the final goal for all architecture. Its light, radiating onto each building, down to the simplest hut, demonstrates that [buildings] can fulfill the simplest practical needs and still possess a shimmer of such a conception’s glory. 91

In this sequence, the profane architecture of the Volk is illuminated by the glory of Geist in the “crystallized religious conception” that unites society as Gemeinschaft .92 For its imposing scale and communal function but more for its striking beauty, the individuals in Taut’s city would be inspired by the quiet and empty Kristallhaus as

18


a material expression for their deepest feeling about mankind and the world. Its gleaming, transparent, reflective character would radiate its light onto all buildings as a metaphor for the collective good that binds “warring classes and nations” in Gemeinschaft .93 For Taut, the architect alone is the creative artist who can conceive the city crown based on the will of the people. As he explains, because this city crown must unite the inner spiritual life and existence of a community, its form cannot be achieved by satisfying mere functional needs. Rather, what differentiates architecture from building is the imagination of the architect who is not constrained by the basic necessities of a structure and “[t]his shows that the will of the architect as artist is directed by something entirely different than mere practicality. And it is thus quite self-explanatory that this will lies above and beyond mere functionality.” 94 In this position, Taut ascribes the role of “geistig creator” to the architect, whom he reminds us is not free from restraint but must root their imagination in the inner spiritual life and existence of mankind: The architect must remind himself of his noble, priestly, magnificent, even divine profession and try to raise the treasure that lies in the depths of the human soul. In complete self-abandonment, he must immerse himself in the soul of the Volk (people) and discover both himself and his noble profession by giving – at least as a goal – a material expression for that which slumbers in all mankind. As it was at one time, a talismanic, built ideal should again arise and make people aware that they are members of a great architecture.95

Already in “Eine Notwendigkeit,” Taut attributed a unique role to the artist as leader of a society’s spiritual development. As Taut insisted: “great art appears in the work of the individual artist. The Volk can then educate itself through it or can wait until the educators arise.”96 Landauer was also in no doubt as to the identity of this leader who could give birth to the Geist in the Volk – the artists, “inwardly strong individuals, representatives of the Volk , who carried Geist to the Volk .”97 At the 1914 Werkbund conference, Whyte remarks that Taut reiterated his own call for the establishment of a creative elite in an attack on Muthesius’ proposal for the development of artistic “types” that could be merged with mass-production: Art represents a pyramid, which widens towards its base. Above, at the apex, stand the most able – the artists with ideas. The broadening base means nothing more than a leveling down of these ideas. On no account can I understand the typical in any other way, and I find it exceedingly depressing that we cannot bring ourselves to trust simply in the ar tist at the top. 98

A source for Taut’s egoist view of the artist’s role could also be found in Nietzsche’s vision of the artist as superman, elevated above normal humanity. At an early stage in his architectural career, Taut was a convinced Nietzschean and wrote to his brother Max in 1904: “I’ve read Nietzsche’s Zarathustra over the last three months – a book of enormous and serious vitality. I’ve learned a lot from it.” 99 Clearly, Taut’s exposure to such diverse intellectual and artistic figures as Nietzche, Landauer, Fischer, Fechner and Eckhart make it easy to bring “Die Stadtkrone” into connection with their writings. Nevertheless, Taut’s extant correspondence


19

shows that his familiarity with the work of such diverse architectural, philosophical and spiritual leaders were constantly expanded during his composition of “Die Stadtkrone.” Certainly, many of his urban design concepts owe a debt in form and content to his former teacher Theodor Goecke and employer, Theodor Fischer. At the Technische Hochschule Berlin in 1908, Taut learned from Goecke’s lectures that the modern city is a holistic organization of city quarters, traffic, people and nature. Conversely, Fischer anticipated Taut’s concept of the city as an image of the stratification of humankind in his urban building handbook Sechs Vorträge über Stadtbaukunst (Six Lectures on Town Planning), which was published after the war in 1920. 100 Undoubtedly, Nietzsche’s ideas were widespread among European writers and artists at the turn of the century. Taut had read Nietzsche’s Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spoke Zarathustra) from 1904 “with much profit,” but did not share with his brother what he had specifically gained. Again Speidel argues that attempts to connect Nietzsche with thematic strings in “Die Stadtkrone” are not very convincing: Freilich ist es nicht sehr überzeugend, wenn die Themenstränge, die man in der Stadtkrone findet, aus den verschieden Schriften Nietzsches hergeleitet werden: Tauts Glaube an die Spitze der Menschenheitspyramide aus “Anti–Christ” oder seinem künstlerischen Bau ohne Zweck aus der “Fröhlichen Wissenschaft” mit Zitaten herauszulesen, seinen sozialen Gedanken, der “ein Christentum in neuer Form verheisst” als Ergebnis aus Nietzsches “Gott ist tot” zu verstehen, ist zu kurz gegriffen. [It is short-sighted to derive from quotes Taut’s belief in the top of the human pyramid as “Anti-Christ” or his ar tistic building without purpose from “The Gay Science” or to understand his social thought that “brings Christianity in a new form” as resulting from Nietzsche’s “God is dead.”] 101

Similarly, Whyte’s argument that Taut’s ideal city in Die Stadtkrone is an attempt to give physical and architectural form to Landauer’s Aufruf zu Sozialismus is inconclusive. Clearly Taut and Landauer had similar colleagues in the Deutsche Gartenstadtgesellschaft , and from these individuals Taut could have become familiar with Landauer’s writings. However, if Landauer had provided Taut with the intellectual underpinnings for “Die Stadtkone,” why didn’t Taut reference him? Equally problematic are attempts to find inspiration or justification for the conception of the city plan or its crown in the writings of Meister Eckhart or Theodor Fechner, whose writings Taut does reference. In the introduction to his translation of Alpine Architecture, entitled “Empathy and Astral Fantasy,” Mathias Schirren notes that Taut only mentions Fechner for the first time in a letter to his brother Max on April 15 of 1917 while a letter to Taut’s wife from August 13, 1917, weeks before Taut’s Die Stadtkrone was completed, indicate any deeper reading of Eckhart.102 As Speidel argued, Taut’s quote from Eckhart cited earlier brings a very different tone to the chains of perceptions and for this reason it is likely that the quote was only incorporated into the text of “Die Stadtkrone” at the very end.103 A more sagacious approach to the array of references in Taut’s Die Stadtkrone is to see him as an active and thoughtful reader of urban, social and spiritual treatises who used their material to generally support his own arguments in Die Stadtkrone.

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AFTER DIE STADTKRONE

Shortly after the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II on November 9, 1918, the First World War came to an end and handful of artists and architects joined Taut in forming the Arbeitsrat für Kunst (Working Council for Art) to work with the new socialist government to help forge the cultural politics of the new country. Die Stadtkrone was used, by Taut as well as by his friends in the Arbeitsrat für Kunst , Adolf Behne and Walter Gropius, as a starting point for developing the goals of their new council. In Taut’s program, over 50 signatures making up the new council called for all the arts to work together under the direction of architects to shape the artistic values and fabric of the new nation. A comparison with Taut’s “Ein Architektur-Programm” (“An Architecture Program”) from Christmas of the same year reveals a number of similarities: both convey a faith in the power of architecture to create a better future, both contain a clear commitment to breaking down artificial divisions between the arts and both argue for the architect to remain in control of the final design. Taut’s “Ein Architektur-Programm” would also be a guideline for Gropius’ Bauhaus Manifesto of April 1919. In “Ein Architektur-Programm,” Taut placed the purpose-free “crown” of “Die Stadtkrone” at the highest point of the city so that it could radiate its spiritual effect on the activities of the artists and educational institutions below. Here, however, Taut no longer refers to it as a “crown,” but simply as “architecture”: The direct carrier of the spiritual forces, molder of the sensibilities of the general public, which today are slumbering and tomorrow will awake, is architecture. Only a complete revolution in the spiritual realm will create this architecture. But this revolution, this architecture will not come of themselves. Both must be willed – today’s architects must prepare the way for tomorrow’s buildings. Their work on the future must receive public assistance to make it possible .104

Contrary to Taut’s proposed schedule of the construction of the Kristallhaus in “Die Stadtkrone,” the development of an “architecture” in “Ein Architektur-Programm” progresses in reverse order: only after the “preparation” of the great common purpose-free building (with experiments for its realization) and after the erection of people’s houses will the housing developments be executed. Perhaps this “architecture” that Taut envisions in “Ein Architektur-Programm” will also require several generations for its realization, but in “Die Stadtkrone,” the Kristallhaus becomes the prerequisite for a “spiritual revolution” after which one can only “correctly” build. By the middle of 1919, political stability in Germany began to return with the enactment of a Weimar constitution. With many of the conservative forces in power, the Arbeitsrat für Kunst ’s hope for social change was severely damaged. The widespread lack of employment limited the professional options of Taut and his colleagues. Hoping to keep the dream of a new civic architectural spirit alive, Taut initiated a utopian correspondence between November 1919 and December 1920 amongst 13 architects, artists, an engineer and a playwright. Now known as the Gläserne Kette (Crystal Chain), the members’ exchange of ideas through written correspondence was unfettered by the demands of


21

practicability, as Taut encouraged the members of the group to speculate on what form the architecture of the future should take. 105 Optimistically, Taut proclaimed that it is perhaps “a good thing nothing is being built ” because ideas and forms had to be given time to “ripen” in a manner that is impossible in a normal working environment.106 Simultaneous with his development of the Gläserne Kette correspondence, Taut had an opportunity to design a city crown for a real project, namely for the Folkwang-Schule in Hagen. Taut received the order from Karl Ernst Osthaus in November 1919 for a “new school with an education system based on the greatest independence of students, working in school workshops and a boarding school life in student communities.”107 After lengthy discussions with Osthaus, Taut developed a layout of the Folkwangschule based on the shape of a parabola, a semi-circular arrangement of residence halls around a seven-sided erected crystal-like structure in the isolated middle of the park. Osthaus remarked in the publication of the journal Genius that the heterogeneous, multi-planned building group would, as Taut aimed for his city crown, unite itself to a whole, and to a satisfactory silhouette with the crystal house. 108 The funding for this project, however, fell through in May 1920 and the school was never realized.109 Shortly after its publication, Taut’s Die Stadtkrone received a handful of reviews that both praised its aims and criticized its arguments. One of the earliest reviews of Taut’s book emerged from his cousin, Hans Kaiser, who “after a long period of unfruitfulness” praised him as “a truly creative person at work. His book projects high out of the flood of books.”110 Another positive meditation of Taut’s proposal in the Westdeutsche Wochenschrift entitled “Zur Wiedergeburt der Baukunst” (“To the Rebirth of Architecture”) also remarked upon the timeliness of his proposal emerging after “Der Weltkrieg hat das Alte zerstört, Gebundenheit gelöst und neue Kraft freigemacht” (The world war has destroyed the old and loosened up its bondage and given it free new power.) The author simply summarizes Taut’s aim as: Der Stadt wieder ihre Krone zugeben, ihre höhere Einheit in dem hochragenden Bau, in dem der Drang aller suchenden Seelen empor zum Licht sich vereinigt zu himmelanstrebenden Auftrieb, ist der Sinn der Baukunst. [To give the city its crown again, its higher unity in the towering construction in which the urge of all seeking souls rises up to the light and unifies itself to the heavenly aspiring buoyancy is the last sense of building art.] 111

In Der Zweeman, the art critic Christof Spengemann also praises Taut’s anthology as “die heutige Zeit durchaus notwendig” (absolutely necessary for our times).112 Lisbeth Stern is similarly surprised in her review, entitled “Stadtkrone,” that after the hardship of more than four years of war, one finds in Taut’s book “ein Glaube an eine gute Zukunft, in der Mensch zum Menschen stehen wird … ohne die Schranken der Stände” (a belief in a better future, in which man will stand with mankind … without the barriers of the classes). In her opinion,“Die Gesichtspunkte, unter denen Taut die frühere Architektur ansieht, und mit denen er an die Arbeit der Zukunft herangeht … ohne die Schranken der Stände” (the aspects under which Taut looks at the former architecture, and with which he approaches the work of the future),

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architecture is “ein Ausdruck der Zeit und ihrer Ideen, die in den Bauten zu Stein geworden sind” (an expression of the time and its ideas that have become stone in the buildings).113 However, it is for this very reason that Das Kunstblatt criticized criticized the “mentality of Taut and also maybe in the spirit of the time which has gone off track … the consequence is a certain fanaticism … that despite the enduring call on socialism and radicalism seems to stand in the contradiction and sense of this Bauzeitung, Emil Fader echoes time.”114 In a very detailed article for the Deutsche Bauzeitung, this acerbic critique at the beginning of the following year. 115 Fader challenges Taut’ Taut’ss assumption assumption whether whether or or not such a proposal could “produce “produce a new and and better people.” Arguing that although a magnificent building may be a reflection of an existing culture, “to lift the cultural level of the people with beautiful architectural architectural designs is an impossible thing.”116 Simply from a pragmatic point of view, Fader argues: “The architect cannot inspire a nation to build by giving them building Crown, thoughts; he must patiently wait until the client comes to him.”117 In The City Crown, though, Taut wanted to play the part of owner and building master at the same time instead of letting “the people come” and to entirely let them be tools of his will and spirit of the time. But to this Fader challenges a deeper assumption in Taut’s proposition that the spirit of the time could create a new form which he argues “is often only forming building types. In the absence of its own style forms the present spirit of the time makes use of existing motifs and adapts them.” 118 The city Taut Taut envisaged overcoming societal strife through the construction of architecture, specifically through its city crown, unfortunately never came true. By 1920, one witnesses a decided shift towards pragmatism and functionality in Kette (Crystal Chain) letters Taut’ Taut’ss speech explaining explaining in one of the last Gläserne Kette from October Octobe r 5, 1920: “In a word, I no longer lo nger want to draw Utopias ‘in principio,’ principio,’ but absolutely palpable Utopias that stand with both feet on the ground.” 119 In 1921 Taut Taut accepted the position as “Stadtbaudirektor” (City Architect) in Magdeburg. Magdeburg. Though constrained constrained by many functional, financial and urban requirements, requirements, the residential quarters Taut designed in Magdeburg and later in Berlin show a delicacy and consideration for their inhabitant that Taut expressed in “Die Stadtkrone” and implemented in his garden city housing projects before the war. Taut’s thoughts, and especially his later realized housing projects, which carry the seeds of his hoped for new society in them, were highly respected. When Taut left Nazi Germany in 1933, first traveling to Japan (via Zurich) for four years when he accepted a teaching position in Istanbul, Turkey, the inspiration for his utopian musings during the First World War. In Turkey he must have felt something like one of the inhabitants of his city in “Die Stadtkrone” returning home. As Professor of Architecture Archite cture at the State Academy Acad emy of Fine Arts, Taut Taut designed a handful of educational buildings, including the Faculty of Languages, History and Geography building at the Ankara University in Turkey. Still today, Taut is considered one of the most influential architects of the modern movement and his writings had a strong impact on the early twentieth-century architectural architectural culture. This first English translation translation of Taut’s aut’s anthology should become a critical text in architectural architectural studies on the history of European modernism, modernism, urban design theory and Taut’s oeuvre in general.


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NOTES

1

Fritz Lang, Metropolis: Metropolis: A Film (London: (London: Lorrimer Publishing, 1974), Publishing, 1974), pp. 57–60.

2

“Weil ich die ganze Stadtkronegeschichte Stadtkronegeschicht e nun hinter mir habe, es ist alles gestern an Diedrichs geschickt, und ich nun nie weiss was ich tun soll” [Because I now have the entire City Crown story behind me, everything was sent to Diedrichs yesterday, and I now never know what to do]. Letter to Hedwig Taut from August 29, 1917, Bruno Taut Archive (hereinafter BTA) 01–14 after Manfred Speidel, “Nachwort,” “Nachwort,” in Bruno Taut, Die Stadtkrone (Berlin: Stadtkrone (Berlin: Gebrüder Mann Verlag, 2002), p. 28, n. 58.

3

Reproduced in Speidel, “Nachwort, “Nachwor t,” p. 3.

4

For a summary of Fritz Lang’s allegorical allegoric al meanings in Metropolis, Metropolis, see Tom Gunning, The Films of Fritz Lang (London: Lang (London: British Film Institute, 2000), pp. 52–83.

5

Kristiana Hartmann, Deutsche Gartenstadtbewegung Gartenstadtbewegung (Munich: (Munich: Moos, 1976), pp. 8–10.

6

Ibid., pp. 10–14; and Dietrich Worbs, Worbs, “The Berlin Berlin Mietskaserne and Mietskaserne and its Reforms,” in Josef Paul Kleihues and Christina Rathgeber (eds), Berlin/New (eds), Berlin/New York: Like and Unlike: Essays on Architecture and Art from 1870 to to the Present Present (New (New York: Rizzoli, 1993), pp. 144–57.

7

Ebenezer Howard was employed employed as a shorthand writer by Gurneys, Gurneys, the official reporters reporters of the British Parliament. F.J. Osborn, “Preface” in Ebenezer Howard, Garden Cities of To-morrow (London: (London: Faber & Faber, 1946), p. 19.

8

Ebenezer Howard, To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform, with New Commentary by Peter Hall, Dennis Hardy & Colin Ward (London: Routledge, 2003), pp. 12–19.

9

Ibid., pp. 5–11.

10

Ibid.

11

Ibid., pp. 12–19. The communal ownership ownershi p of land was crucial to Howard’s ideal that aimed at preventing the kinds of land speculation that had made industrial cities so dense and unlivable in for the working classes.

12

Ibid., p. p. 13; Bruno Taut, “The City Crown,” Crown,” in The City Crown, Crown, ed. and trans by Matthew Mindrup and Ulrike Altenmüller-Lewis (London: Ashgate Publishing, 2015), pp. 86–7.

13

With my inclusion inclusi on of “that” “that ” in brackets: Taut, “The City Crown,” p. 86.

14

Ibid., p. 80.

15

Ibid., p. 82.

16

Ibid., p. 89.

17

Ibid.

18

Ibid., pp. 90–91.

19

Ibid., pp. 74–5.

20

Ibid., p. 82.

21

Bruno Taut, “Das Problem des Opernhaus,” Opernhaus,” Sozialistische Monatshefte, Monatshefte, 20(6) (March, 23 1914): 355–7.

22

Taut, “The City Crown,” Crown,” pp. 75 and 84.

23

Ibid., p. 80.

24

Ibid.

25

These poems poems were were originally originally published published in art and literary journals journals at the end of the nineteenth century. Paul Scheerbart, “Das neue Leben. Architektonische Apokalypse, Die Gesellschaft , 15(4) (1897): 552–8; Paul Scheerbart, “Der tote Palast: Ein Architektentraum,” Pan, Pan, 3 (1898/1899): 162.

24


26

Taut, “The City Crown,” Crown,” p. 79.

27

Ibid., pp. 41–71.

28

Bruno Taut, “Bildschreine,” “Bildsch reine,”Das Das hohe Ufer , 1 (1919): 305 after Matthias Schirren, “Weltbild, Kosmos, Porportion,” in Winfried Nerdinger, Kristiana Hartmann, Matthias Schirren and Manfred Speidel (eds), Bruno (eds), Bruno Taut 1880–1938 (Munich: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt DVA, 2001), p. 104.

29

Ibid.

30

Letter to Hedwig Taut from August 13, 1917, BTA–01–94 after Speidel, “Nachwort, “Nachwor t,”” p. 27, n. 57

31

Camillo Sitte, Der Städte-Bau nach seinen künstlerischen Grundsätzen ( Grundsätzen (Vienna: Vienna: Carl Graeser, Graeser, 1889).

32

Theodor Goecke, “Verkehrstrasse “Verkehr strasse und Wohnstrasse,”Preussische Wohnstrasse,”Preussische Jahrbücher , 73 (1893): 85–104.

33

Herman Muthesius, Landhaus und Garten (Munich: Garten (Munich: 1907; 2nd edn 1910) after Kristiana Hartmann, “Bruno Taut, der Architekt und Planer von Gartenstädten und Siedlungen,” in Nerdinger et al. (eds), Bruno Taut 1880–1938, 1880–1938 , p. 137, n. 9.

34

Hartmann, Hartman n, “Bruno Taut,” p. 138; and Hartmann, Hartmann , Deutsche Gartenstadtbewegung Gartenstadtbewegung,, pp. 27–31.

35

Hartmann, Deutsche Gartenstadtbewegung Gartenstadtbewegung,, pp. 27–31.

36

“Sie erblickt ihr Haupstziel Haupstziel in der Gewinnung des Volkes Volkes für die Begründung von Gartenstädten.” Hans Kampffmeyer, Die Gartenstadtbewegung Gartenstadtbewegung,, 2nd edn (Leipzig [u.a.]: Teubner, 1913), pp. 26–7.

37

“ … ist eine Innenkolonisation, Innenkolonisation, die durch durch planmässiges Begründen von Gartenstädten eine Dezentralisation Dezentralisation der Industrie und damit eine gleichmässigere Verteilung des Gewerbelebens über das Land anstrebt.” Ibid.

38

Howard, To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform , pp. 3–5.

39

Raymond Unwin, Town Town Planning in Practice: An Introduction to the A rt of Designing Cities and Suburbs (London: T.F. Unwin, 1909).

40

Hartmann, Hartman n, “Bruno Taut,” p. 139.

41

Ibid., p. 142.

42

Kurt Junghanns outlines the development development of Taut’s Taut’s color scheme scheme at these estates: estates: Kurt Junghanns, Bruno Taut, 1880–1938: Architektur und sozialer Gedanke (Leipzig: Seemann, 1998), pp. 23–4.

43

Wilhelm Waetzoldt, “Die Entwicklung Entwick lung des Kunstgewerblichen Kunstgewer blichen Unterrichswesens Unterrich swesens in Preussen,” Deutsche Rundschau, Rundschau, 176 (1918): 228–45, 365–80, after John V. Maciuika, Before the Bauhaus (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 21, n. 60.

44

“Rückblick “Rückbl ick auf die Entwickelung Entwicke lung des gewerblichen gewerblich en Schulwesens Schulwes ens in Preussen von 1884–1909, 1884–190 9,”” Ministerial-Blatt Handels- und Gewerbe-Verwaltung Gewerbe-Verwaltung, 2 (May 6, 1910): 155–64 after af ter Maciuika, Before the Bauhaus, Bauhaus, p. 115, n. 55.

45

Maciuika, pp. 137–216.

46

Kai K. Gutschow “From Object to Installation Instal lation in Bruno Taut’s Taut’s Exhibit Pavilions,” Journal of Architectural Education Education,, 69(3) (2006): 66; Hartmann, Deutsche Gartenstadtbewegung Gartenstadtbewegung,, pp. 104–21 after Iain Boyd Whyte, Whyte, Bruno Taut and the Architecture of Activism (Cambridge: Activism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010 [1982]), p. 30, n. 14.

47

Thiekötter, Kristallisationen, Splitterungen Bruno Tauts Glashaus Köln 1914 (Basel: 1914 (Basel: Birkhäuser, 1993), pp. 15, 158–9, 168; and Kristiana Hartmann, “Ohne einen Glaspalast ist das Leben eine Last,” in Nerdinger et al. (eds), Bruno Taut 1880–1938, 1880–1938 , p. 56, after Gutschow, “From “From Object to Installation in Bruno Taut’s Exhibit Exhibi t Pavilions, Pavilion s,” p. 66.

48

With the exception of Kai Gutschow, who refers refers to the kaleidoscope kaleidoscope as a cinematograph, cinematograph, the structure and experience of Taut’s Glashaus is Glashaus is generally described in the same way. See: Whyte, Whyte,


25

Bruno Taut , p. 35; Rosemarie H. Bletter, Bletter, “The Interpretation of the Glass Dream-Expressionist Dream-Expressionist Architecture and the History of the Crystal Metaphor,” Journal Metaphor,” Journal of the Society of Architectural Architectural Historians, Historians, 40(1) (1981): 20–43; Gutschow, “From Object to Installation in Bruno Taut’s Exhibit Pavilions,” Pavilions,” p. 66; Taut, “The City Ci ty Crown, Crow n,”” p. 88. 49

Paul Scheerbart, “Rakkox der Billionär; Münchhausen Münchhausen und Clarissa,” in Paul Paul Scheerbart, Scheerbart, Dichterische Hauptwerke (Stuttgart: Hauptwerke (Stuttgart: Goverts, 1962), pp. 227–47.

50

Leo Ikelaar, Paul Scheerbarts Briefe von 1913–1914 an Gottfried Heinersdorf, Bruno Taut und Herwarth Walden (Paderborn: Walden (Paderborn: Igel Verlag, 1996), p. 88.

51

Ibid., pp. 97–113.

52

With the exception of “Backsteinkultur “Backstei nkultur tut uns nur leid,” leid,” these English translations are from Whyte, Bruno Taut , p. 36.

53

Paul Scheerbar t, “Glass Architecture, Architec ture,”” in Paul Scheerbart Scheer bart and Bruno Taut,Glass Taut, Glass Architecture and Alpine Architecture, Architecture, Dennis Sharp (ed.), James Palmes and Shirley Palmer (trans.) (New York: Praeger, 1972), p. 41. This English translation is by James Palmes.

54

Bruno Taut, Glashaus (Cologne: Glashaus (Cologne: Werkbund, 1914), p. 289.

55

Bruno Taut, “Eine Notwendigkeit,” Notwendi gkeit,”Der Der Sturm, Sturm, 4(196–7) (February 1914): 174–5.

56

Ibid., p. 125.

57

Ibid. pp. 124 and 126.

58

Taut, “The City Crown,” Crown,” p. 90.

59

Ibid.

60

Ibid., p. 83.

61

Letters from from Taut Taut to his his brother Max from June of 1915 1915 until the end of 1916 indicate that he was employed at the Militär-Neubauamte Militär-Neubauamte in Spandau from June to August 1915 and in Plaue and der Havel from August 1915 to December 1916. Letter to Max Taut, June 11,1915, Max Taut Archive (hereinafter MTA) 01–1090. The letter to Max from November 8, 1916 MTA–01–1153 shows only that he goes “no longer to Plaue.” After Speidel, “Nachwort,” p. 12, n. 23 and p. 14, n. 29.

62

Whyte, Bruno Taut , pp. 45–6.

63

Ibid., p. 46.

64

“Ich habe eine herrliche Idee, aber aber ich bin bin zu matt” matt” (I have a brilliant brilliant idea, but I am am too tired). Letter Letter to Max Taut, March 23, 1916, MTA–01–1153, after Speidel, “Nachwort,” p. 17, n. 37.

65

Speidel, “Nachwort, “Nachwort ,” pp. 14–17.

66

“Der Orient Orient ist die wahre wahre Mutter Europas, Europas, und unsere unsere schlummernde schlummernde Sehnsucht geht geht immer immer dorthin.” Bruno Taut, “Reiseeindrücke aus Konstantinopel,” Kunstgewerbeblatt , 28(3) (1916/1917): 49–50, after Speidel, “Nachwort,” p. 14, n. 31.

67

“Die Moscheen aus dem Häusergewirre Häusergewirre heraus und in es hinein … im Umriss aus der Ferne gesehen ganz wie eine Pyramide.” Ibid.

68

During the time that that Taut Taut worked for Fischer Fischer (between (between 1904 and 1908), 1908), Fischer Fischer taught taught at the Technischen Technischen Hochschule in Hochschule in Stuttgart from 1901 to 1908, where he gave a lecture in 1903 on the historical hierarchy of the city organization organization around a central structure that represented the ruling authority of the city. Theodor Fischer,Stadterweiterun Fischer, Stadterweiterungsfragen gsfragen mit besonderer Rücksicht auf Stuttgart (Munich: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Verlags-Anstalt, 1903), pp. 8–11, with my correction of the citation after Speidel, “Nachwort,” p. 25.

69

Theodor Heuss, Das Haus der Freundschaft in Konstantinopel: ein Wettbewerb deutscher Architekten (Munich: Bruckman, 1918), after Speidel, “Nachwort,” p. 16.

26


70

Letter to Max Taut, December 30, 1916, MTA–01–1153, after Speidel, “Nachwort,” p. 17, n. 38.

71

Letter to Max Taut, February 6 and April 14, 1917, MTA–01–1154, after Speidel, “Nachwort,” p. 19, n. 45.

72

Letter to Hedwig Taut, May 13 1917, BTA–01–94, after Speidel, “Nachwort,” p. 20, n. 46.

73

Matthias Schirren, Bruno Taut–Alpine Architektur : Eine Utopia (Munich: Prestel, 2004), pp. 36–41.

74

Taut, “The City Crown,” p. 90. Speidel make a similar observation in Speidel, “Nachwort,” p. 16.

75

Ibid., p. 92.

76

Ibid., p. 79.

77

Ibid., p. 87; Howard, To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform , p. 14.

78

Taut, “The City Crown,” p. 87.

79

Ibid., p. 83.

80

Ibid.

81

Gustav Landauer, Aufruf zum Sozialismus: ein Vortrag (Berlin: Verlag des Sozialistischen Bundes, 1911). Gustav Landauer, For Socialism, David J. Parent (trans.); introduction by Russell Berman and Tim Luke (St Louis: Telos Press Ltd, 1978). All references will be made to this English edition.

82

Landauer, For Socialism, pp. 42–4.

83

Taut, “The City Crown,” p. 81.

84

“What in stone extends for centuries into the heavens, as a monument of the humanGeistes, must be based on a broad and strong perception” and “[in the city] we can see in front of us everything that humans felt connected to by their innermost being: an architecture of the Geister.” Ibid., p. 75.

85

Gustav Theodor Fechner, Die Tagesansicht gegenüber der Nachtansicht (Leipzig: Verlag Breitkopf und Härtel, 1879), p. 64; Taut, “The City Crown,” p. 81.

86

Whyte, Bruno Taut , p. 54.

87

Landauer, For Socialism, pp. 42–4.

88

Theodor Goecke, “Von den Beziehungen der Zonenbauordung zum Bebauungspläne,”Der Städtebau, 2(1) (1905), pp. 2–5.

89

Taut includes perspective views of his own Falkenberg estate design as visual examples of a garden city. Taut, “The City Crown,” pp. 96–7, Figures 50–51.

90

Ibid., p. 91.

91

Ibid., p. 76.

92

“The community halls similarly express the full harmonic tone of humanGemeinschaft . In them Geist and soul shall be elevated and mature, in order to give the entirety its beauty.” Ibid., p. 89.

93

“Some form of purpose must live in every human breast, a feeling that elevates the individual above everyday concerns and permits him to enjoy the fellowship of this contemporaries, his nation, with all people and with the entire world.” Ibid., p. 83.

94

Ibid., p. 75.

95

Ibid., p. 84.

96

Taut, “Eine Notwendigkeit,” pp. 174–5. With my replacement of “public” by “Volk,” this English translation is from Rosemarie H. Bletter, “Architecture,” in Rose-Carol Washton Long (ed.), German


27

Expressionism, Documents from the End of the Wilhelmine Empire to the Rise of National Socialism (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995), p. 124. 97

Landauer, For Socialism, p. 33.

98

Taut, address to the Werkbund Conference, July 4, 1914 in vol. 7. Jahresersammlung des Deutschen Werkbundes von 2. Bis 6. Juli 1914 in Köln (Jena, 1914), p. 75 after Whyte, Bruno Taut , p. 85, n. 17.

99

Taut, Letter to Max Taut, June 8, 1904, Heinrich Taut Collection after Whyte,Bruno Taut , p. 85, n. 19.

100 Theodor Fischer, Sechs Vorträge über Stadtbaukunst (Munich, Berlin: Oldenburg, 1920). 101 Speidel, “Nachwort,” p. 33. 102 See Schirren, p. 16, n. 25. In Taut’s letter to his wife he remarks how: “Manchmal, oft vor (de)m Einschlafen lese ich ein Kapital von Meister Eckhart. Wunderbare tiefste Weisheit” (“Sometimes, often before going to bed I read a chapter of Master Eckhart. Wonderful deepest wisdom”). Bruno Taut, letter to Hedwig Taut, August 13, 1917, BTA–01–94, after Speidel, “Nachwort,” p. 27, n. 57. 103 Speidel, “Nachwort,” p. 30. 104 Bruno Taut, “Ein Architektur-Programm,” 1st edn, December 1918; 2nd edn Berlin: Arbeitsrat für Kunst, 1919; This English translation from Ulrich Conrads (ed. and trans.), Programs and Manifestoes on 20th Century Architecture (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1975), p. 41. 105 With the exception of the playwright Alfred Brust, who contributed three aphorisms to the correspondence, Taut indicates the names of the participants in his letter to them from December 19, 1919. He later confirms Brust’s naming of their correspondence as a “gläserne Kette” (Crystal Chain). Iain Boyd Whyte, The Crystal Chain Letters: Architectural Fantasies by Bruno Taut and His Circle, Iain Boyd Whyte (ed. and trans.) (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1985), pp. 20–21 and 154. 106 Taut, letter to the Crystal Chain members, November 24, 1919. Ibid., p. 19. 107 “Neuartige Schule mit einem Erziehungssystem auf der Basis größter Selbständigkeit der Schüler, Arbeit in Schulwerkstatten und Internatsleben in Schülergemeinschaften.”Isabelle Ewig, Thomas W. Gaehtgens and Matthias Noell, Das Bauhaus und Frankreich 1919–1940/Le Bauhaus et la France. (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2002), pp. 153–4. 108 Karl Ernst Osthaus, “Die Folkwangschule, Ein Entwurf von Bruno Taut,”Genius, 2 (1920): 199–205. 109 Whyte, Bruno Taut and the Architecture of Activism, pp. 169 and 173. Surviving letters between Taut and Osthaus confirm that Osthaus approached Taut about the school in late November. See Birgit Schulte (ed.), Auf dem Weg zu einer handgreiflichen Utopie (Hagen: Neuer Folkwang Verlag, 1994), p. 150. 110 Das Hohe Ufer , 1(4) (1919): 113–14 after Speidel, “Nachwort,” p. 42. 111 “Der Weltkrieg hat das Alte zerstört, Gebundenheit gelöst und neue Kraft freigemacht.” “Der Stadt wieder ihre Krone zugeben, ihre hohere Einheit in dem hochragenden Bau, in dem der Drang aller suchenden Seelen empor zum Licht sich vereinigt zu himmelanstrebenden Auftrieb, ist der Sinn der Baukunst.” Author unknown, “Zur Wiedergeburt der Baukunst,” Westdeutsche Wochenschrift , 1 (May 23, 1919): 85–6, after Speidel, “Nachwort,” p. 42. 112 Christof Spengemann, “Bruno Taut / Die Stadtkrone / Eugen Diederichs / Jena,”Der Zweeman, 6 (April 1920): 15. 113 Lisbeth Stern (Red.), “Stadtkrone,” Sozialistische Monatshefte, 25 (June 10, 1919): 584–5 after Speidel, “Nachwort,” pp. 41–2. 114 “Mentalität Tauts und vielleicht auch in dem aus dem Gleise geratenen Zeitgeist liegt es … Die Folge ist eine gewisse Schwarmgeisterei, … das trotz dauernder Berufung auf Sozialismus Radikalismus doch im Wiederspruch zu dem Sinn dieser Zeit zu stehen scheint.” Das Kunstblatt , 3(6) (1919): 190.

28


115 Emil Fader, “Gedanken zu Bruno Taut: Die Stadtkrone,”Deutsche Bauzeitung, 54(33) (April 24, 1920): 197–200, after Speidel, “Nachwort,” p. 40. 116 “Ein harmonisch geschichtetes Volk bring wohl eine vorbildliche Stadtanlage hervor, aber eine schön verteilte Gebäudegruppe erzeugt noch keine neuen, besseren Menschen. Ein herrliches Bauwerk ist der Abglanz einer vorhandenen hohen Kultur, jedoch mit schönen Architektur– Entwürfen den kulturellen Stand des Volkes heben zu wollen, ist ein Unding.” Ibid., p. 198. 117 “Der Architekt kann nicht ein Volk zum Bauen anregen, indem er ihm einen Bau-Gedanken schenkt; er muss geduldtig warten, bis der Bauherr zu ihm kommt.” Ibid. 118 “Der Zeitgeist ist nicht immer formschöpferisch, er ist oft nur typenbildend. In Ermangelung eigener Stilformen bedient sich der gegenwärtige Zeitgeist vorhandener Motive und wandelt sie ab.” Ibid., p. 200. 119 Bruno Taut’s letter to Crystal Chain members, October 5, 1920. Whyte,The Crystal Chain Letters, p. 155.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bletter, Rosemarie H., “The Interpretation of the Glass Dream-Expressionist Architecture and the History of the Crystal Metaphor,” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 40(1) (1981): pp. 20–43. Ewig, Isabelle, Gaehtgens, Thomas W. and Noell, Matthias, Das Bauhaus und Frankreich 1919–1940 / Le Bauhaus et la France (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2002). Fader, Emil, “Gedanken zu Bruno Taut: Die Stadtkrone” Deutsche Bauzeitung, 54/33 (April 24, 1920): pp. 197–200. Fechner, Gustav Theodor, Die Tagesansicht gegenüber der Nachtansicht (Leipzig: Verlag Breitkopf und Härtel, 1879). Fischer, Theodor, Sechs Vorträge über Stadtbaukunst (Munich, Berlin: Oldenburg, 1920). ——. Stadterweiterungsfragen mit besonderer Rücksicht auf Stuttgart (Munich: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1903). Goecke, Theodor, “Verkehrstrasse und Wohnstrasse,” Preussische Jahrbücher , 73 (1893): pp. 85–104. ——. “Von den Beziehungen der Zonenbauordung zum Bebauungspläne,” Der Städtebau 2/1 (1905): pp. 2–5. Gunning, Tom, The Films of Fritz Lang (London: British Film Institute, 2000). Gutschow, Kai K., “From Object to Installation in Bruno Taut’s Exhibit Pavilions,” Journal of Architectural Education, 69(3) (2006): p. 66. Hartmann, Kristiana, Deutsche Gartenstadtbewegung (Munich: Moos, 1976). Heuss, Theodor, Das Haus der Freundschaft in Konstantinopel: ein Wettbewerb deutscher Architekten (Munich: Bruckman, 1918). Howard, Ebenezer, Garden Cities of Tomorrow (London: Faber & Faber, 1946). ——. To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform, with New Commentary by Peter Hall, Dennis Hardy & Colin Ward (London, New York: Routledge, 2003).Ikelaar, Leo, Paul Scheerbarts Briefe von 1913–1914 an Gottfried Heinersdorf, Bruno Taut und Herwarth Walden (Paderborn: Igel Verlag, 1996).


29

Junghanns, Kurt, Bruno Taut, 1880–1938: Architektur und sozialer Gedanke (Leipzig: Seemann, 1998). Landauer, Gustav, Aufruf zum Sozialismus: ein Vortrag (Berlin: Verlag des Sozialistischen Bundes, 1911). ——. For Socialism, trans. David J. Parent (St Louis: Telos Press Ltd, 1978). Lang, Fritz, Metropolis: A Film (London: Lorrimer Publishing, 1974). Maciuika, John V., Before the Bauhaus (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005). Muthesius, Herman, Landhaus und Garten (Munich: Bruckmann, 1907; 2nd edn 1910). Osthaus, Karl Ernst, “Die Folkwangschule, Ein Entwur f von Bruno Taut,”Genius, 2 (1920): pp. 199–205. Scheerbart, Paul, “Das neue Leben. Architektonische Apokalypse,”Die Gesellschaft , 15(4) (1897): pp. 552–8. ——. “Der tote Palast: Ein Architektentraum,” Pan, 3 (1898/1899): p. 162. ——. “Rakkox der Billionär; Münchhausen und Clarissa,” in Dichterische Hauptwerke (Stuttgart: Goverts, 1962), pp. 227–47. ——. “Glass Architecture,” in Paul Scheerbart and Bruno Taut, Glass Architecture and Alpine Architecture, Dennis Sharp (ed.), James Palmes and Shirley Palmer (trans.) (New York: Praeger, 1972). Schirren, Matthias, “Weltbild, Kosmos, Porportion,” in Winfried Nerdinger, Kristiana Hartmann, Matthias Schirren and Manfred Speidel (eds), Bruno Taut 1880–1938 (Munich: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt DVA, 2001). ——. Bruno Taut – Alpine Architektur : Eine Utopia – A Utopia (Munich, Berlin, London: Prestel, 2004). Schulte Birgit (ed.), Auf dem Weg zu einer handgreiflichen Utopie (Hagen: Neuer Folkwang Verlag, 1994). Sitte, Camillo, Der Städte-Bau nach seinen künstlerischen Grundsätzen (Vienna: Carl Graeser, 1889). Stern, Lisbeth, “Stadtkrone,” Sozialistische Monatshefte, 25 (June 10, 1919): pp. 584–5. Taut, Bruno, “Eine Notwendigkeit,” Der Sturm 4/196–7 (February, 1914): pp. 174–5. ——. “Das Problem des Opernhaus,” Sozialistische Monatshefte, 20(6) (March 23, 1914): pp. 355–7. ——. “Reiseeindrücke aus Konstantinopel,” Kunstgewerbeblatt , 28(3) (1916/1917): 49–50. ——. “Ein Architektur-Programm,” 1st edn December 1918; 2nd edn Berlin: Arbeitsrat für Kunst, 1919. This English translation from Ulrich Conrads (ed. and trans.), Programs and Manifestoes on 20th Century Architecture (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1975), p. 41. ——. “Bildschreine,” Das hohe Ufer , 1 (1919): p. 305. ——. Die Stadtkrone: Mit Beiträgen von Paul Scheerbart, Erich Baron, Adolf Behne (Jena 1919; Facsimile with an Afterword by Manfred Speidel, Berlin: Gebrüder Mann Verlag, 2002). Thiekötter, A., Kristallisationen, Splitterungen Bruno Tauts Glashaus Köln 1914 (Basel: Birkhäuser, 1993). Unwin, Raymond, Town Planning in Practice; An Introduction to the Art of Designing Cities and Suburbs (London: T.F. Unwin, 1909).

30


Waetzoldt, Wilhelm, “Die Entwicklung des kunstgewerblichen unterrichswesens in Preussen,” Deutsche Rundschau, 176 (1918): pp. 228–45, pp. 365–80. Washton Long, Rose-Carol (ed.), German Expressionism, Documents from the End of the Wilhelmine Empire to the Rise of National Socialism (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995). Whyte, Iain Boyd (ed. and trans.), The Crystal Chain Letters: Architectural Fantasies by Bruno Taut and His Circle (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1985). Whyte, Iain Boyd, Bruno Taut and the Architecture of Activism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010 [1982]). Worbs, Dietrich, “The Berlin Mietskaserne and its Reforms,” in J.P. Kleihues and C. Rathgeber (eds), Berlin/New York: Like and Unlike: Essays on Architecture and Art from 1870 to the Present (New York: Rizzoli, 1993), pp. 144–57.

BRUNO TAUT

THE CITY CROWN WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM PAUL SCHEERBART, ERICH BARON, ADOLF BEHNE

WITH 72 ILLUSTRATIONS [ORIGINALLY] PUBLISHED BY EUGEN DIEDERICHS JENA 1919

FOR THE PEACEFUL


THE NEW LIFE AN ARCHITECTONIC APOCALYPSE BY PAUL SCHEERBART

36


THE NEW LIFE An Architectonic Apocalypse

S

lowly the old terrestrial globe turns around the old sun that no longer glows and radiates as before. Dark violet the old sun shines, so that it will never be day again – never again on earth. Silent night is everywhere. It is very very still. The sky is as black as the blackest velvet. But the stars sparkle so bright as before – probably brighter, as they are larger. Golden stars they are! The terrestrial globe is entirely white – entirely enveloped with white snow – with luminescent snow! Starry winter night on the heights and in the valley! The dead earth turns ever more slowly. Yet in the velvet black sky, it comes alive. The great archangels come. With colossal white wings, they uer hurriedly here. Rustling through the sky. It becomes so loud; the air is so full of turbulence as if many million tribes of people awake to a new life. But only the archangels come. They are twelve. They are so frightfully large. Six uer around one half of the terrestrial globe and six on the other, so that one sees lile of either side. The angels slowly bow their heads while apping their wings. Their feet oat high over both poles of the earth. With their uering blond curls the twelve heads soon form a magnicent halo of hair around the middle of the terrestrial globe. Initially each archangel takes the large cathedral they carried under their arm into both hands and set it on a high snow range. Then all twelve remove their thick fur gloves and with delicate ngers reach into their ocean-sized backpacks. From their backpacks the angels break out many hundred shiny new sparkling palaces. And with the palaces, they decorate the large snowball that calls itself earth making it colorful and powerfully radiant; at the same time the eyes of the archangels shine as if presenting toys to well-behaved children. After their backpacks are emptied, the angels uer upwards in beautifully large arcs chaing merrily at moderate distance. The earth looks colorful, as if it were strewn with the wings of the most precious bueries, frozen birds of paradise and gleaming diamonds. And the palaces become bright. A million lamps are lit everywhere inside; through the colored glass windows of the high cathedrals and all the many

TH E NE W LI FE : AN AR CH IT EC TON IC AP OC ALYP SE

37

castles, streams the soft thousand-colored light out into the violet snowy night. The violet sun becomes even darker. The distant golden stars also lose much of their brilliance. The black velvet sky gloriously frames the softly glowing earth. And the enormous bells of the cathedrals all ring. A shudder of longing trickles through the expansive snowelds; a new life percolates through the lurking melancholy of the cold terrestrial globe – the eternal life! The dead arise. Everywhere the blanket of snow lifts up. And all the people, who once lived and died on the earth, climb out of their graves, shake o the snow and look at one another in astonishment. When they notice that they are resurrected, they all embrace one another and are so moved. Yes! Yes! Who would not gladly begin a new life! The earth turns still faster. Yet, this great serious moment forebodes a large humorous masquerade, for all people wear clothing, similar to what they wore most frequently in their lifetimes. The beggars walk next to the kings, the priests next to the warriors, the craftsmen next to the scholars – in all the many costumes of all the many times. From the [raw] hide apron to the ironed dress shirt, everything is there. The risen climb up the golden steps to the castles and cathedrals. It is swarming [with people]! All languages of the earth swirl in confusion, resounding powerfully through the entire sky and the bells can be heard no longer. Above, before the doors of the castles and cathedrals, many thousand angels, who are not larger than the people, stand in delicate lime green, pale blue and light red robes and wait. Solemn greeting! Shaking hands and caressing cheeks! Nodding and waving arms! Much laughter! And much smiling comfort! The large castles that consist of pure giant diamonds spray their colorful re so festively into the twilight. And the other jewels of the distant pillared halls of column shine competitively with the pure giant diamonds. And the precious stone growths that soar out of the cathedrals are also so wonderful. The emerald cupolas of individual castles are illuminated from within and throw far into the black velvet sky green beams of light that slowly move. The sapphire towers rise higher than the other towers. And the quiet light that streams out everywhere through the thousand-colored glass windows, shimmers so saintly colorfully and auspiciously. Enormous palace-mountains are enclosed with gigantic opal arches. When the eye wanders from pole to pole, it becomes entranced by the entire radiant glow. The buildings’ magic is so powerful that astonished one asks himself how it is that the risen people become not go crazy. But –as terrible as it is, it is also so true: that most people think merely of the good supper, that according to their expectations will be served by assiduous servants in the cathedrals and palaces. How astonished the risen are when they nd in the interior of all the many brilliant castles

38

THE CITY CROWN BY BRUNO TAUT

no supper! Man and woman look around amazed, to discover nothing. Outside they already painfully noted the complete absence of trees, fruits and vegetables – and now the inside is also entirely of barren stone! Marble and ruby, gold and silver, colorful lamps and colorful walls, charmingly detailed cupolas, a lile velvet and silk, mighty granite columns, sparkling glass groos and similar things, yes, in unmanageable quantity – yet no trace of roast muon, snail salad and re wine! “Angel, where is the supper?” So quickly then, humanity unanimously cries out. The angels silently open small side gates inside the palaces and cathedrals that until then were hidden from the views of the people. Everyone naturally thinks – now it is time to eat, to drink and to smoke. Hey! How happy they are! Meanwhile – this time the disappointment is still much greater. The “old” life grins at the people. “Everything” is resurrected. But their misery does not appear as bad as at the time when the sun still shone brightly. It is framed dierently! In the palace taste! The halls and rooms, in which their former vocation is supposed to be taken up again, are surrounded with so much ne pageantry that the “good” people jump [back] into the old habits with great joy, even if it is also so unsavory like dirty laundry. Yes! Yes! The old life! One must again care for their sick wife, who groans and complains without intermission; in cold silence he begins again the dance of torment from the start, like so often before –a truly good man! Another good man begins, to visit large social events, and at the same time to complain again about his insatiable longing for eternal solitude – exactly like before. A third is not satised with his reputation; he wants to become famous, which naturally does not happen, because he does not know how he would like to do it. A fourth ghts with his former courage his enormous carnal sensuousness and becomes the real ascetic master, let’s again admire his iron willpower, even though he must have a good laugh at himself in each quite hour because as all his power is only a natural and appropriate consequence of debauchery and disgust. A fth hopes always to nd a sack with gold – And what does he nd? A sack with poisonous jokes!! A sixth must seek “money” in vain – because he never nds success!! And a seventh must say “yes” and “amen” to all, which was always dicult for him. And the million others work and reign, command and obey – also exactly like once before. The machines rale again, and the heads of thinkers smoke again, the potato elds bear their mealy fruits again, the drunkards booze again like in the former times and the criminals again break in [to the homes] of the people with means. Everything is as before! – It merely takes place in beautifully framed lovely palaces and cathedrals that are so large that one cannot see them in their entirety. Otherwise there is no dierence.

TH E NE W LI FE : AN AR CH IT EC TON IC AP OC ALYP SE

39

Naturally, the good people are satised with everything – while the evil people are satised with nothing – for them the all invigorating sun of the architecture is not enough – they want supper with oysters and strong drink – uninterrupted pleasure with honky-tonks and sleigh rides. The good angels, who want to soothe and comfort the evil people, say kindly: “Children, you know not at all what is useful to you! Bad times and good are equally distributed in every human life. One without the other is inconceivable. Be sensible! All are not satisable. Is it not enough that we created a comfortable environment for you? You desire to be continuously amused – yet that does not work!” “Why not?” Scream the evil ones. “Because it would bore you!” answer the angels, and they yawn while they think of “perpetual” happiness. The evil ones however laugh – so hatefully that the good angels become seriously angry. “One should actually,” they continue in a sharper tone, “tease you – with ery pincers. Your stupidity must be eradicated with re and sword. You will never understand that ‘dwelling respectably’ is beer than ‘living respectably.’ As the plants of the earth mostly lived only of light and air, so should you now also mostly live of what surrounds you – of the light and of the air of divine architecture, which is ‘true’ art. Is it for you really not enough to be able to live in these heavenly radiant castles? Do you still not know what it means: to be at home in a dream world? That is certainly the stimulating oyster of poverty! What are compared to that all the rabbits of wealth? A great cacophony – nothing else! Your life shall only be a chord in the music of the spheres1 – therefore your painful outcry is not to be done without – otherwise the music of the spheres will be as mushy as rice pudding! You incredible hippopotami!” The evil ones shake with laughter and hold their bellies. The angels, however, remain entirely serious, they say sadly: “You all will not miss out! The torments of the beggars are rewarded equally with joys, of which the poor kings know nothing. In addition to all that, comes this splendid dream world of your wonder palaces.” “Precisely that makes us even more desirous! We want no self-deception!” scream out the stupid villains, who always want to be amused and blessed. “Well, if the self-deception does not t you,” thunder the angels, “then you can go back in your graves. Your cannibalistic stupidity should not spoil for us the new life that we oered you in this bright world!” And the lime green angels with dark green r branches step forward, and with their dark green r branches, strike all the discontents. And the stricken fall over dead. Quickly they are carried out and hastily buried beneath the snow again. Every trace of the evil ones is soon gone. 1

“Music of the spheres” refers to the ancient concept that the planets create a celestial harmony derived from their obits’ proportional relationships.

40


The good people, however, that are grateful they can just live in a brilliant blessed dream world, quietly carry over the torments of their former lives into their new lives, laugh cheerfully about it all and desire no more. When the lime green angels return, they kindly caress the wise heads of the good people. Through the colorful panes of glass, a new and happiness radiates into the snowy night, making it quite strange. Emerald globes illuminate the black universe with green cones of light. Sapphire towers stretch themselves yet higher – like energetic phantoms. Gigantic opal laices shimmer like millions of swarming bueries. Many smaller castles look like lile reies on the white snowball that is called earth. And it is all so solemn and touching in the eternal twilight hours so that everyone can become serene. The archangels bow down to earth for the second time. Like shortly before, the giant blond curls form a magnicent halo of hair. The indescribably large angels place the festively illuminated palaces back in their backpacks, pull on their gloves, take their cathedrals into their arms – and uer away. Soon the entire globe will revolve slowly like just before – like a large snowball that children roll when they construct a snowman. The violet sun glows in the distance like a hanging lamp that runs out of oil. The golden stars twinkle in the deep black velvet sky – like happy radiant castles. And the night is so quiet – so deathly quiet!

40 EXAMPLES OF

HISTORIC CITY CROWNS


Figure 2 Charles Coet, City Image.

. l e h c i M t n i a S t n o M 3 e r u g i F

. g r u o b s a r t S 4 e r u g i F

Figure 5 Monte Compatri.

Figure 6 Durham.

Figure 7 Adrianople, Selim Mosque.

Figure 8 Augsburg, St Ulrich Church.

Figure 9 Utrecht.

Figure 10 Assyrian Temple, reconstruction.

Figure 11 Madurai, Great Gopura.

Figure 12 Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem, reconstruction.

Figure 13 Cologne.

Figure 14 London.

Figure 15 Selinunt, reconstruction.

Figure 16 Athens.

Figure 17 Yangon, Shewdagon Pagoda.

. a c n a m a l a S 8 1 e r u g i F

. n o g n a Y 9 1 e r u g i F

Figure 20 Buarcos.

Figure 21 Tzafn.

Figure 22 Prenzlau.

Figure 23 Angkor Wat.

Figure 24 Cairo.

. e n i t s e l a P n i n o r b e H 5 2 e r u g i F

Figure 26 Moscow. Great Cathedral in the Kremlin.

. n i l m e r K e h t h t i w w o c s o M 7 2 e r u g i F

. u e i D e s i a h C a L 8 2 e r u g i F

. s r e i z é B 9 2 e r u g i F

Figure 30 Strängnäs.

Figure 31 Pisa, Piazza del Duomo.

Figure 32 Danzig.

Figure 33 Aden.

Figure 34 Srivillipuur.

Figure 35 Miao tai tae, Memorial Temple.

Figure 36 Paris.

Figure 37 Speyer.

Figure 38 Mainz.

Figure 39 Toledo.

. k o k g n a B 0 4 e r u g i F

. d n o P a v i h S , m a r a b m a d i h C 1 4 e r u g i F


THE CITY CROWN

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ARCHITECTURE

M

any thousand times shall be praised the glory of architecture! Mankind cannot face the forces of nature without shelter. It fullls man’s need for protection from inclement weather and the manifold dangers to which he is exposed.1 In this way, the role of architecture for mankind as a “functional art” seems to be a modest one, which satises man’s practical demands in a graceful way. Only when human desire goes beyond the satisfaction of simple functional needs, where people seek an abundance of luxury does architecture become more noticeable and reveal more of itself. In these instances, architecture is not constrained by the satisfaction of bare necessities and for that reason presents itself as a form of art. Overall, the public and those who serve architecture confront it with this point of view today.2 However, architects need not complain. It remains a great accomplishment to fulll people’s recurring and increasing needs. Humanity cannot be nourished without forms that are thoroughly integrated with their needs; forms that purify and support the entire culture through their inner truths. Because it is here, even if only to a modest extent, already a question about metaphysical forms, meaning creations of the imagination, so must the imagination’s meaning and value emerge even stronger when luxury becomes the driving force and function is no longer a limiting factor. 3 In this way, design is no longer concerned only with the unity of form with purpose, because the play of form now serves to increase the enjoyment of life. Rather, design is about the unity of form with a purpose greater than basic needs. It becomes apparent that our view of architecture and the true vocation of the architect are understood too narrowly. To view architecture as nothing more than well-designed functional forms or as ornamental wrappings around our essential needs is to assign it to the role of a craft and places too lile value on its importance. In buildings that demand more than the fulllment of basic necessities, architecture is an art, a play of fantasy, and maintains only a very loose connection with those purposes. However, no eort of the human imagination can lead to profound physical forms if it does not root itself in the inner spiritual life 1

For this translation, we have decided to include the word “shelter” in brackets and use gendered pronouns in lieu of non-gendered language in order to preserve the original character of the text and the culture in which it was wrien. Hereinafter, words or phrases in square brackets indicate additions we have made to our translation of the German text. 2 The term “those who serve it today” refers to architects as professionals who create architecture. From Taut’s perspective, architecture is perceived by the greater public as an art that goes beyond the fulllment of functional needs and it is the architect who gives his life into the service of this art as artist. 3 In this sentence, as in the one before it, Taut uses the word “Formen” (forms, shapes) in the original text. Here, we have added the word “metaphysical” in brackets to clarify a change in the meaning of the word “forms” that Taut himself explains are now to be understood as “creations of the imagination.”

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and existence of mankind. 4 Despite relegating architecture to such a humble position, explaining it by its purpose should no longer be enough if this term “purpose” is not used in a broader and more unrestricted way. 5 Like every other art, architecture must ground itself in the entire being of man, including all that through which he perceives his own value and relation to the world. Because the abstraction of architectural form is given by its nature, it is sometimes mistakenly compared with music. Therefore, the visible core from which it emerges must be especially clear and strong. Architecture can reproduce, only negligibly, the variable tempers of its creator as lyrically as music. What in stone extends for centuries into the heavens, as a monument to the human spirit, must be based on a broad and strong perception. Although one individual may be its spiritual creator, the genesis of a building requires many hands and material means. The architect himself must possess an awareness and knowledge of all the deep feelings and opinions of the populace for whom he wants to build. Of course, his work aspires not only to the ephemeral, in what is called the Zeitgeist , but also to those dormant spiritual forces of generations, cloaked in beliefs, hopes and aspirations that struggle towards the light and in the nobler sense want to build. At rst, it appears necessary to solve tasks based solely on need. Yet, in reality, it is not practical demands, but rather the imagination that creates architecture.6 This shows that the will of the architect as artist is directed by something entirely dierent than mere practicality. And it is thus quite selfexplanatory that this will lies above and beyond mere functionality. Buildings that exhibit a minimal practical purpose or none at all best demonstrate an architect’s volition. Throughout every great cultural epoch, the constructive will of the time was directed at one transcendent building type. The narrow concept of 4

The German word “Dasein” is in this text translated as “existence” when it is describing something physical and as “being” when it is describing something metaphysical. 5 Taut’s elder friend, Hermann Muthesius, writes extensively about the distinction between Baukunst and Architektur in Stilarchitektur und Baukunst. It was Muthesius who suggested that Taut travel to England to study the garden city movement that became an inspiration for much of Taut’s urban ideals in this essay. Hermann Muthesius, Stilarchitektur und Baukunst: Wandlungen der Architektur im XIX. Jahrhundert und ihr heutiger Standpunkt (Jena: Diederichs, 1901). In English: Hermann Muthesius, Style-Architecture and Building-Art , Stanford Anderson (trans.) (Los Angeles: Gey Research Institute, 1994). 6 It is dicult to imagine Le Corbusier’s claim that architecture is a “pure creation of the mind” in Toward an Architecture is not inuenced by the distinction Taut makes here. See Le Corbusier, “Architecture, Pure Creation of the Mind,” in Toward an Architecture , John Goodman (trans.) (Los Angeles: Gey Publications, 2007), pp. 231–51. The original printing of the essay as “Architecture III, pure création de l’esprit” occurred in the tenth issue of Le Corbusier and Amédée Ozenfant’s periodical L’Esprit nouveau. Le Corbusier-Saugnier, “Architecture, pure création de l’esprit,” L’Esprit nouveau, Revue internationale illustrée de l’activité contemporaine , 16 (May 1922): 1903–20.


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building construction applied today is a complete inversion of what it was in the past. A minster, a cathedral above a historic city; a pagoda above the huts of Indians; the enormous temple district in the square of the Chinese city; and the Acropolis above the simple houses of an ancient city; these all show that the pinnacle, the highest point, is the crystallized religious conception – both the starting point and the nal goal for all architecture. This spiritual light, radiating onto each building, down to the simplest hut, demonstrates that buildings can fulll the simplest practical needs and still express a shimmer of brilliance. The depth and power of this philosophy of life is not limited to large buildings alone. Their intensity and passion creates beauty in the small as well. Embedded within the task of the architect, this alone achieves the correct valuation of scale and prevents the blurring of boundaries of which our times suer between the big and the small, the sacred and the profane. 7 During the gothic era, this devotion inspired the incredible adventurousness of the cathedrals and produced the restless interpenetration of the practical and constructive needs of the people in the simplest of buildings.

THE OLD CITY

T

he fabric of the old city is a precise image of the inner structure of mankind and its thoughts. It is so obvious that we can see in front of us everything that humans felt connected to by their innermost being: an architecture of the spirit. Altogether, huts, dwellings, and town halls build up to and culminate in a cathedral, temple, or something that one could call a great architecture, a unique building. Beyond the actual construction, the cohesion of this fabric is so tight that it embraces and unies mankind, through their enjoyment of life, their world-views, and all forms of art. Architecture permeates through all existence and this in itself turns it into architecture. Can architecture and its meaning ever be overestimated? It is a carrier, expression, and touchstone for every period. We need not study cultural history, the particulars of everyday life, or the political and religious doctrines of dierent epochs to clearly see in the stony witnesses what had fullled humanity. Because it connects generations, architecture represents a second life for man; it is the truest mirror. It declares what long deceased prophets have learned and dynasties have believed. 8 For this reason it seems that the phrase “building art” is too limited for something that embodies life, and worlds of thought, rendered in stone. The mirror of the old city image is true, pure, and unclouded. The greatest buildings were derived from the highest thoughts: faith, God, and religion. The house of God governs every village and small city, just as the cathedral reigns majestically over large cities. This is quite dierent from what we see today in the tenement housing that extends beyond the old city plan. That it was a religious thought that created the majesty of these edices needs no 7 8

Taut seems to contradict himself here. A life that goes beyond the lifetime of a generation, a heritage that lives on.

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explanation. The often-prominent position of fortications and castles has nothing in common with religious architecture. These were chosen to satisfy the practical need for fortied protection, a value they no longer possess in today’s warfare. The cathedral, with its truly egregious nave and even less practical tower (purpose as a basic need), remains the city’s actual crown. Despite the strong political independence of the old city, the town halls, civic buildings, guild houses, and so many others subordinate their beauty and glory to the cathedral, as do the multicolored jewels that surround a sparkling diamond. In them rests everything that should represent the highest of ideas: the towered city walls, the chain of gabled houses that enclose the city hall, small church towers, and nally the main church. Together, these elements build a closed, increasingly intensied rhythm that culminates precisely at the top. Given the wealth of its overowing life, the city’s component parts may not always be recognized so clearly, but its inherent organization is apparent. A religious-clerical presence alone cannot explain this aspiration, because it was the result of deeper religious needs. No maer how you try to explain this phenomenon, whether or not it was consciously intended by the old masters, it exists and is inseparable from our conception of the old and beautiful city. 9 The same presence is found in the distant past, and yes, even more prominent in the impressive temple systems of antiquity or in the temples and pagodas of Asia, where the removal of fortication walls often evoke an even more powerful contrast to the simple dwellings of common people.

THE CHAOS

W

ithout any particular justication, one perceives the old city as an organism that grew into its present form. Although the particularities of dierent localities resulted in numerous variations, what essentially remains the same is that the city developed around the cathedral and the city hall. It then grew outward towards the city walls that were originally located very far from the center so that, in the case of a siege, the rural population could ee inside. How the city must now transform itself when the intoxicating eect of the economic boom brings about an increase of trac by the train! Tenements, factories, and oce buildings glued themselves onto the old core and, despite the mammoth scale of the expansion, threatened to smother what still remains of the true center. Because a combination of old and new was no longer possible, conceptions of city planning were rife with uncertainty and confusion. Finally, after too much time had passed, one perceived the instability of the city’s chaotic condition. It appeared impossible to clean such an Augean stable of culturelessness. 10 The neglect of all fundamental requirements of building and 9

Here, the term “Meister” refers to “Baumeister” (master builder). 10 In Greek mythology, the fth labor of Hercules was the cleaning of the stables of Augeas, the King of Elis, in one single day. Owning the greatest number

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planning had become too pervasive.11 “The paradise, the home of art” vanished and had become “the hell, the home of the power hungry” (Scheerbart). 12 Cities so transformed certainly stood in the most beautiful harmony with their being that, according to the laws of nature, always provokes a unity of content and form. Even the lthiest tenement quarters, yes every single house, always stands in harmony with the life that goes on inside of it, no maer how ugly it is. Moreover, if a divinity arrived and suddenly deposited the most beautiful quarters, after some time life in such new houses would be similarly altered. Nevertheless, given this state of the chaos, it would really require a God. The few people who perceived the hopelessness and ugliness of this materialistic existence could only slowly dig and search for a new order of things by departing from individual points of view.

THE NEW CITY

A

t rst, people were entrenched in a romantic love for the beauty of the old city image and sought, through the study of the single street and square forms, a new aesthetic orientation (Camillo Sie).13 In addition, research was conducted on a new concept of urban planning according to social, economic and health issues. The goal was to organize the city quarters and street lines, as well as to discover everything upon which a new city could be built in the rst place (Theodor Goecke).14 This line of thinking formed a new theory called “urbanism.” In large part, however, it remains until today only supercially understood by some followers and usually limited to formalistic terms. In substance though, this new theory turned out to be a fertile seed for the future. One after another, all the progressive forces were carried away by the doctrines of urbanism. Owing to many designs and theoretical studies, today we have an idea as to how best organize a modern city. At least in theory, the distribution of residential quarters, industry, business quarters, public schools, and administrative buildings nally found a xed form. Restructuring and reorganizing an existing city was, however, of cale in Greece, the King had neglected his stables, which had never been cleaned. Hercules succeeded in cleaning the stables by rerouting two rivers and thus washing out all the dirt. 11 The fundamental rules of urban planning were no longer considered and uncontrolled building had occurred, creating chaos in the cities that Taut considered unbearable. 12 Taut is quoting from Paul Scheerbat’s book: Paul Scheerbart, Das Paradies. Die Heimat der Kunst (Berlin: Commissions Verlag von George und Fiedler, 1889). 13 Camillo Sie, Der Städte-Bau nach seinen künstlerischen Grundsäen (Vienna: Carl Graeser, 1900). In English: City Planning According to Artistic Principles , George Roseborough Collins and Christiane Crasemann Collins (trans.) (London: Phaidon Press, 1965). 14 Theodor Goecke was professor for urban planning at the Technische Hochschule Charloenburg in Berlin where Bruno Taut visited his lectures in 1908.

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not enough.15 Research continued regarding the new forms that the new city must take, so that its inhabitants would be happy. This critical review led to the theoretical rejection of tenement housing and to the understanding that building small single-family row houses would be feasible. The garden city movement aimed at the creation of a new city. It included row houses, each with its own garden, in close proximity to horticulture and agriculture. The structure of this new city’s residential streets were practical and protably laid out to promote living near well-distributed parks. The location of industry and every element of the living city environment were sensible and controlled to exclude real estate speculation. The British vigorously promoted this manner of city design, leading to “the rst garden city of Letchworth,” one hour’s train ride from London. 16 Many suburban selements dependent upon a metropolis were constructed in Germany along a similar philosophical line.17 Although often obscured by compromises, a new idea lives in the garden city movement, providing fruitful suggestions for expanding and improving the planning of existing cities. A new idea directs all these heads and hands; it is the model of a new city. A deep desire directs us all: according to Aristotle, we want cities in which we can live not only safely and healthily, but also happily. This longing rests so deep in our psyche that we have no need to look back to the old. With pride, we know our own wishes and inclinations that dier signicantly from those of the past. We endeavor to ll them with hope, unencumbered by all inhibitions.

BODY WITHOUT A HEAD

18

T

his idea of the new city will bear fruit and we shall be happy that we have it. It is for us the secure promise that our descendants will live beer and more beautifully. 15

Here, and throughout the text, we translate the word “disziplinieren,” meaning literally “to discipline,” as “to restructure” when it is being used to refer to an unruly existing city that will be disciplined according to a new set of ideas or rules. 16 Ebenezer Howard, Garden Cities of To-morrow (London: S. Sonnenschein & Co., Ltd, 1902). The German translation was rst published under the title Gartenstädte in Sicht (Jena: Diederichs, 1907) and inspired the German Garden City Movement. 17 Hellerau, begun in 1909 just north of Dresden, was the rst German Garden City and involved notable designers like Heinrich Tessenow, Richard Riemerschmidt and Hermann Muthesius. 18 The title is “Rumpf ohne Kopf.” “Rumpf” translates as either “body” or “torso.” We chose to translate this term in the tradition of Francesco di Giorgio Martini. See Lawrence Lowic, “The Meaning and Signicance of the Human Analogy in Francesco di Giorgio’s Traato,” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 42(4) (1983): 360–370.


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Yet, one idea must be made clear in our minds: organizing – restructuring – organizing – restructuring. This should not be underestimated; yet, is this an idea that one can build? Has this in itself a building force? 19 Where is the graphic image without which there is no art? What image do we have of the new city?20 Healthy dwellings, gardens, parks, nice paths, industry, businesses – everything healthy, well ordered and comfortable for living. A school here, an administration building there, all laid out beautifully in a romantic or classical style. Yet, can all of our life’s needs be fullled by comfort, ease, and pleasantness? The whole can dissolve like snow in the sun. Is there no head? Has this body no head? Is this our image, our spiritual condition? We look at the old cities and must say wearily: we have no rm footing. We have civic buildings: schools, baths, libraries, city administration buildings, etc! And these edices can certainly dominate! Still, for practical reasons, a number of these buildings, including the schools, baths and libraries (with the exception of the main library), lie scaered about our comfortable city to disburse their healing eects. Nevertheless, an administration building located in the urban center can dominate as the City Hall once did! Despite being a pure representation of the government, the City Hall certainly was still subordinate to the cathedral. Our City Halls comprise only oces for civic administration. Citizens arrive, register, pay taxes or nes, and leave. Moreover, it probably contains the city council assembly room, meeting rooms and other spaces, but does this type of structure so fully represent our view of life that it may reign powerfully above the entire city? Justiably, the opulent endowment of modern City Halls with a tower and heavy architecture is rejected for reasons of parsimony, because it contradicts the building’s inner workings.21 Cities today may have their own independent administration, but they are not as self-important and powerful as were those of old free cities. Even then, a city was not built around the city hall. Hence, to grant today’s city administration building equal signicance is foreign to our modern feeling, particularly in regards to the state. The rise of nationalism, emerging from the carnage of World War I, makes the concept of the state suitable as the highest expression of the will to build the new city.22 In antiquity, nationalism combined itself so closely 19

Taut uses the term “bauende Kraft” (building force). In this paragraph, he questions whether the idea of organizing and restructuring cities would alone be forceful enough to inspire architecture. 20 By “image … of the new city,” Taut seems to refer to the graphic representations of cities in woodcuts and models duing the Middle Ages. In these instances, a few identiable structures were all that was necessary for the identication of a city. See, for example, Carol Belanger Grafton, Medieval Woodcut Illustrations: City Views and Decorations from the Nuremberg Chronicle (Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1998). 21 Original footnote and location: Cürlis und Stephany: Irrwege unserer Baukunst (Cürlis and Stephany: Meanders of our Building Arts). 22 Taut uses the word “Nationalgedanke,” which is here translated as “national thought” based on the ethnic and/or cultural awareness of community. The German term is a xed expression with a deeper meaning than that of the

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with religion that the Acropolis or the Forum with its temples were at the same time the seat of the highest law, the Areopags, and the highest authority. However, an imitation of these conditions today would be nothing but a copy, and the life of our people would only be enriched by the further mistake of imitation.23 Even if it were made convincing by virtue of intense nationalism, this building would never develop a sacred glory in itself or the people. Owing to our nation’s good constitution, we can immerse our sentiments of gratitude with devotion to our life’s tasks. The national state is the comprehensive term for all values produced by it and does not exist above or outside us, but in and amongst us. On February 5, 1916, Alexander von Gleichen-Rußwurm said: Recently, the ideal of the German citizen grew ever more accustomed to leing the state think for him, so one should probably not resent the fact that it nally took possession of the thinking mechanism. Then again, shall we be educated only for the state? The entire world considers the thought of rigorous discipline as the German ideal; but it is not the German ideal.24 In our view, the state is not an end in itself, an organized power, but a structure tasked to serve the interests of all citizens. Further, we believe that citizens have the right to guard the fulllment of these tasks and to control the activities of the government body.

In his essay “Schopenhauer as Educator,” Niesche observed: “All those nations, in which people other than the statesmen must deal with politics, are poorly organized and they deserve to collapse.”25 This point of view towards the concept of the state nds its precise expression in the integration of government buildings into the cityscape. In “Städtebau,” Philipp A. Rappaport writes: The position of the state buildings has drastically changed since former times. In antiquity, and still in the Middle Ages, every large city was a city-state. National buildings were city buildings. National welfare was city welfare. The characteristics of public buildings were determined by their local limitations. Since the state now comprises hundreds of cities, national buildings are, to a certain extent, foreign in their individual cities. Additionally, it is no longer as it was in former times, when everything respectfully made space for public

term “nationalism.” It must be viewed in the context of German history. Only after the First World War, during the time of the Weimar Republic, were the dierent German states united through a democratic constitution to form one nation as a parliamentary democracy. He further uses the term “Völkermord,” which today would be translated as “genocide.” However, as this term was not coined until the Second World War, we decided to translate it as “carnage.” 23 Here, Taut is making a sarcastic comment, while he seems to refer to German Classicism such as the works of Karl Friedrich Schinkel in Berlin and Leo von Klenze in Munich. 24 Von Gleichen-Rußwurm refers literally to the “Drill,” an extremely rigorous discipline for which the Prussian army was recognized. 25 Friedrich Niesche, Schopenhauer als Erzieher (1874). Schopenhauer as Educator , J.W. Hillesheim and M.R. Simpson (trans.) (Chicago: Henry Regnery Company/Gateway Editions, 1965).


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buildings and was oriented towards them. They no longer enjoy such special rights. Their correct location in the city is often dicult to resolve; its artistic design no longer arises eortlessly out of closely aligned characteristics of the national territories.26

Rappaport continues to suggest that, if the state does not acquire the land in a timely manner, building codes and development plans remain the right of the city community, which thereafter also has the right to organize of these buildings within the city space. The movement of government buildings into the periphery of the city is comparable to a Landucht (migration of the people from the land). Therefore, it seems here that outer form and inner content are completely in accord; we must search for another head for the body.

RAISE A FLAG

27

S

till today, as it was in the historic townscapes, the highest, crowning ideals must be embodied in a religious building. For all time we have gravitated towards the house of God as the one building that can convey our deepest feelings about mankind and the world. Why has in recent times no great cathedral been constructed or at least been seriously designed somewhere in the world since the owering of Jesuitism? Born from his desire to create something that would unite the longing and hopes of people in a community, Schinkel’s romantic character led him to propose a great cathedral project on the Templower Berg near Berlin.28 Nevertheless, this proposal received no support. The church is missing in the contemporary conception of the city. Although churches are designated in plans, they are distributed in such a way that they do not nd a meaningful position in the city. Furthermore, as with the church, the idea of God is lost in the new city. This is not to claim that religious life has diminished in its intimacy, but rather that it has been reduced to smaller and smaller channels. The common prayer and liturgy have lost their unifying power. It is as if people are ashamed to openly admit to their religious beliefs, 26

Städtebau was a monthly magazine edited by the founders of urban planning theory, Theodor Goecke and Camillo Sie. Philipp A. Rappaport, “Die Stellung der Staatsbauten im Stadtbilder,” in Städtebau (Berlin: Wasmuth, 1913), p. 115. 27 Taut summons his readers with this headline to clarify where they are standing. He uses a very old-fashioned term, “to raise a ag,” referring to a form of signal identication (especially in wartime). At the same time, he uses the term “Fahne” or “ag” as a synonym for an idea, or a theoretical suggestion at the end of the text to describe a position or body of thought that architects will follow in the future. 28 Taut appears to refer to Karl Friedrich Schinkel’s national monument to the dead of the Napoleonic Wars. His original design from 1817 for the Templower Berg (today Berlin-Kreuzberg) resembled a Gothic cathedral.

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as if spirituality has withdrawn to the quiet chamber of the individual. The church follows the same process, becoming decentralized and fragmented with its spiritual shepherding delegated to missionaries. Pious communities with prayer-houses in city quarters, as well as small churches scaered about the city illustrate how the church associates itself with the general appearance of dissolution. Even the clergy of the Catholic Church, so proud of showing itself, gives the appearance of dissipating. The large old cathedrals remain full of life that stems from tradition. However, while the care of souls continues to follow similar customs today, there are no new cathedrals. It would seem that religious conviction no longer has its former strength. No confessors, no ghters argue for it. That which once inspired great movements appears today to have been stripped of its dogma, to have retreated to individual experience and undergoing a process of complete transformation. But faith certainly still exists. It is unthinkable that millions of people have been completely enslaved by materialism and live without knowing why they exist. Some form of purpose must live in every human breast, a feeling that elevates the individual above everyday concerns and permits him to enjoy the fellowship of his contemporaries, his nation, with all people and with the entire world. Where is it? Does a deeper meaning of life also melt away or is there something new owing through all mankind and waiting for its resurrection, for its radiating transguration and crystallization in magnicent buildings? Without religion, there is no true culture, no art. And should we, divided by isolated currents, simply vegetate, without creating for ourselves the true beauty of life? The steps of religion are large, but slow. One step takes thousands of years. Its foot – already raised in the direction of progress – is hovering in the air ready to descend. When will religion set it down? (Gustav Theodor Fechner in “Tagesansicht”)29

There is a word that preoccupies both the rich and poor, which resonates everywhere and promises a new form of Christianity: socialism. 30 It is the urge to somehow enhance the well-being of mankind, to achieve salvation for self and thus for others and to feel as one, solidly united with all mankind. This feeling lives, or at least slumbers, in all mankind. Socialism, in the nonpolitical, supra-political sense, far removed from every form of authority is the simple, ordinary connection between people and it bridges any gap between warring classes and nations to unite humanity – if one philosophy can crown the city of today, it is an expression of these thoughts. 29

Gustav Theodor Fechner, Die Tagesansicht gegenüber der Nachtansicht (Leipzig: Verlag Breitkopf und Härtel, 1879). 30 The original text speaks of “der soziale Gedanke”—literally translated as “the social thought.” The word “socialism” has also been used in the translation of this phrase depending on the meaning of the expression in German.

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If the architect does not want to become irrelevant and if he wants to know his purpose in life, he will have to design the crown of the city. What, after all is the point to make this house or that building prey, if we do not know the great source that feeds all small waters! As explained in the beginning of this essay, the lack of this knowledge is the reason why architecture is so poorly appreciated today. But architects themselves are responsible for this. If they have no ultimate goal, if in hope and longing, they do not imagine their highest aspirations then their existence has no value. Their talent is wasted on economic struggles and is squandered upon minor aesthetic things or on the over-valuation of trivialities. They exhaust themselves by glorifying the past, and by eclectic or conceptual speculations, such as Heimatkunst [vernacular art], function, material, proportion, space, plane, and line amongst others. Ultimately, they are entirely incapable of creating something beautiful, because they have divorced themselves from the last inexhaustible fountain of beauty. The study of old building styles does lile to help the designer, because they remain xated on individual forms and are blind to the light that radiates through all magnicent things. The architect must remind himself of his noble, priestly, magnicent, even divine profession and try to raise the treasure that lies in the depths of the human soul. In complete selfabandonment, he should immerse himself in the soul of the Volk [people] and discover both himself and his noble profession by giving – at least as a goal – a material expression for that which slumbers in all mankind. As it was at one time, a talismanic, built ideal should again arise and make people aware that they are elements of a great architecture. Color can nally ower again and create the colorful architecture that today is desired by only a few. The spectrum of pure and unbroken colors will once again ow over our houses and rescues them from their dead, grey on grey existences. And the love for splendor awakens: the architect no longer shuns the bright and the shiny. From his new position, far removed from old prejudices, he now knows how to endow all things with new eects. If it is really socialism that now yearns for the light but still rests buried under the surface, is it even possible to create something that is latent? The answer is in the cathedrals. Before their physical incarnation, these great temples were conceived in the mind of a single architect. What stands there proudly and self-evidently today was at one time introduced as an idea and planned when the desire for it still lay locked up in an undened and unclear vision within the soul of the people [Volkseele]. Yet one will say that there were humble beginnings and modest aempts, out of which the great cathedral gradually grew as a result of a tradition that created the same thing over and over again, until it boldly arose as the result of long practice. I am convinced that already in the smallest beginnings, this idea or inclination existed since it is a work of man. However, the nal result was beyond comprehension. Even today, the folktales of the Indians ascribe the building of the wondrous temples of to the gods, athough for a very large temple system like Ankor Vat (Figure 23), the name of the architect (Diwakara) has been handed down through the centuries. Have we not also such beginnings? Nothing grows out

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of nothing. And architecture only arises comes into being when it is supported by a story. It is impossible for a simple thought to become architecture without a story. It is for this reason that all modern aempts to create a monument are condemned to fruitlessness, because there is no event or tradition on which to build. The structure is founded upon the supercial imitation of misunderstood old works. The religious ritual in the temple, the sacrice, the mass, and the like were essential to the creation of these great buildings. If the city crown is embedded in the social thought, we must examine the types of actions that manifest this thought today. What do the majority of people want today? What do they do? Are there no events in which the longing of the masses expresses itself in a veiled form? Let us follow the crowd to the places where they spend their leisure away from material wishes. We then come to these places of enjoyment, from cinema to the theater, or to the people and assembly houses to which they are drawn by a political longing or the wish to experience their community. Here, we nd two motivating forces that already have called to life numerous buildings: pleasure and the community. These instincts have been detected by leaders 31 and with some luck have been brought to perfection. The desire for amusement, that moves large numbers of people into theaters (according to news reports, in Brussels the number of theater visitors every day is approximately 20,000 in a city of nearly 600,000 inhabitants), should not be interpreted as a raw drive for amusement. Rather, in it resides the need of the soul for something higher, for the elevation above everyday existence. Performers view German theater visitors as particularly grateful and devotional guests, who aend the theater with Sunday-like reverence. The other motivation that leads people to community events possesses a noble inner character as well. It is their longing to educate themselves through the community, and to feel as one with their contemporaries as a human among humans. Obviously, underlying these activities are the ethics of the people who have created numerous buildings many of which are opulent (the “Volksbühne” in Berlin) and nice (the Diamond Worker Union House in The Hague). 32 Still, one has to unite the dierent forms of architecture so that they do not get lost in the political structure of the city. Obviously, a single great homogeneous movement embodies this tendency and embraces all the public parts in the broadest and strongest way. In this lies the veiled yearning of our time that wants to come to the light and seeks a visible transguration. This is the building desire of our world. 31

Original footnote and location: “Es sei auf den neuerdings begründeten Volkshaus-Bund hingeweisen” (It needs to be referred to the recently founded League of Community Halls). 32 The “Volksbühne” was erected with donations from the workers to allow “the small people” access to the theater or other cultural events. Oskar Kaufmann designed the rst of those theaters in modern style in Berlin, which was completed in 1914. Taut’s second example of the Diamond Worker Union House in The Hague most likely refers to the main building of the “Algemeene Nederlandsche Diamantbewerkersbond” designed by Hendrik Petrus Berlage (1897–1900), which is located in Amsterdam and not in The Hague as he incorrectly notes.

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So we have the idea of a new city, but it is a city without a head. Now, however, we know the form that its head, its crown, must take.

THE CITY CROWN

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he design depicted here is an aempt to show how the crown, the highest ideal, might be striven for in a new city. This proposal may seem audacious and even presumptuous, but at the danger of being chided as for immodest and utopian, it must be made at least once. Quite simply, the design should illustrate in concrete terms the heights to which we aspire. It should not be regarded as an end in itself, but rather as a stimulus for the realization of what we already know, and bring us closer to the fulllment of our future goals.

To begin with, that which is to be crowned must be discussed – the city itself. A diagram is presented here according to which a new city should be laid out in the plains (Figure 46). To recognize the idea and the theory as purely as possible, all special charms that a preferred location would bring are deliberately excluded, such as the sea, a river and mountains. In reality, all these topographical features would produce dierent results for this schema, similar to an old city that always reveals its unique conditions of its development. The entire city encompasses a circle with a diameter of approximately 7 kilometers, at whose center the “city crown” is located. This crown is a rectangular area of 800 x 500 meters that is reached by the main trac arteries, which for circulatory and aesthetic reasons do not run through its middle, but tangential to it and radiate in wide arcs from there. The train line is planned to follow a similar arc on the eastern section of the city so that businesses can develop in between the train station and the city center. For reasons of practicality, the administrative buildings, the city hall, and other similar structures will be located around special squares within this city quarter. Furthermore, factories are placed to the east, stretching along the train line out beyond the periphery of the city, in order to spare the city from their emissions. In the west, from the direction of the prevailing wind, a large sectorshaped park brings good air into the city from the woods and elds. This park connects the heart of the city to the open countryside like a lifeline and should function like a true people’s park with playgrounds, grass play areas, water basins, a botanical garden, ower beds, rose gardens, a vast grove and forest stretching out into the open countryside. Axially to the city center, three main churches and schools are distributed in the living quarters with a classroom center (university) located in the middle of the park. Farther out again are the hospitals. As shortcuts, two main street lines lead diagonally to the train station. In the residential quarters, the streets mainly run from north to south, providing the front of the houses on both east and west sides with sunlight as well as shelter from the wind for streets and gardens. Their design is entirely conceived in the character manner of a garden city, with rows of low, single-

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family houses with deep gardens for every house, such as those of Figures 50 and 51, so that the residential area itself becomes a horticultural zone making remote allotment gardens unnecessary (Figures 50–51). Beyond the periphery of the park belt is the agricultural zone. The total surface area of the city comprises 38.5 square kilometers and the residential zone approximately 20 square kilometers. This garden city type of development allows for 300,000 inhabitants, or 150 souls per acre, with the possibility of expansion up to 500,000 inhabitants. Although green areas, playgrounds and park strips are intermingled in between residential and industrial areas to separate them, no further details are indicated. The distance from the periphery to the city center is not more than 3 kilometers = 1/2 hour walking time. The streets within the residential quarters themselves are kept as narrow as possible (5 to 8 meters) in order to not waste resources unnecessarily. The main roads are designed to accommodate streetcars and heavy car trac. According to the principles of the garden city, the height of the houses in residential quarters should remain as low as possible. The commercial and administration buildings are allowed to exceed the height of houses by a maximum of one oor so that the city crown reigns powerfully and unreachable above the entire city. The center, the city crown itself is a grouping of all those buildings, that meets the social interests of the community and fullls the artistic and entertainment needs for a city of this size (Figures 42–48). Four large buildings forming a cross crown the city. Orientated strictly towards the sun, these structures include the opera house, theater, a large community center and a large and a small meeting hall. Their exits are facing in four dierent directions to permit the quick dispersal of crowds. Open squares are located to each side in the case of an emergency. A courtyard with wings is located in their center for the storage of stage scenery, supplies, janitor rooms, etc. These rooms are connected and surrounded by a colonnade. On the four corners, to the left and right of the community center [Volkshaus], are meeting houses with terrace gardens for smaller, more intimate events (e.g. weddings) and on the other side by an aquarium and a greenhouse. This colonnade enables the most intensive use of the entire complex; one can spend an afternoon in the terrace gardens, an evening at a concert, theater or in a meeting.

Figure 42 City crown, east elevation.


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While the exits from the theater and small community center lead to large outside staircases (special ramps are not drawn; the approach to the loading dock in the middle would take place via a tunnel-like driveway) and treelined squares, to the right and left of these two large buildings is a sequence of courtyards, arcades and buildings, which vary according to position and purpose. The opera house is a companion to the aquarium and green house, providing the quiet beauty of sh, owers, exquisite plants, birds. A covered colonnade with stairs leads across an enclosed and equally arcaded pond to the car parking area as a dignied conclusion or beginning to an evening of art. The museum and central library are aached to the outer courtyard. These are serious buildings with two upper oors that are not too large. For in the new city, the mass storage of anything that’s old and all sorts of questionable new things will not take place, as is unfortunately the excessive manner in today’s museums. The living arts require no stockpiling at all; they should no longer eke out their miserable existences in the museum, but play a vital and integral part of the entire project.33 Two reading houses, connected to the museum and library by colonnades, stand in gardens at cascade ponds. These gardens are connected to those of cafes and restaurants. The outermost corners should contain consumer and department stores, which are operated based on socio-economic criteria. Similar to the restaurants and cafes, they have only one upper oor, so that they lead up to the domestic housing. Each store has special loading docks. The two western corners of the central area are the same, but the forecourts and gardens are dierent from those on the eastern side according to their varying purposes. Directly in front of the large assembly hall or community center is an enclosed arcade of trees, which denes a square for public assemblies. A speaker can conduct open-air meetings from a pulpit in front of an exterior staircase, with a crowd gathered on a large sloping lawn. This lawn continues across the road into the city park, and up to a lake with water fountains. To the right and left of the lawn are a summer theater and a garden restaurant. Beyond this space, graceful amusement devices can be added in the park, something in the style of Tivoli in Copenhagen. The entire city decreases in importance from above to below, similar to the way humans are dierentiated from one another by their inclinations and their dispositions. The architecture becomes the crystalline image of human stratication. The entire city is accessible to everyone; and people go to where they are drawn. There are no conicts, because people with the same opinions always nd each other. 33

The expression Taut uses is “lebendige Kunst,” the “living art,” which refers to products of living artists, but may also include installations, performances and more modern genres. Taut seems to refer to rotating exhibitions where the institutions themselves facilitate the showing of contemporary art, but not necessarily their storage.

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The upper crown is visible by the symbolic expression of a cross, formed by the masses of the four large buildings. The peoples’ aspirations for an authentic community nd their fulllment at the top of the edice. The drama and the play of music provide a unied people their inner momentum, a drive they long for in their everyday lives. Their reunion in community centers enables them to feel what they have to give to one another as humans. This leads the herd instinct, the elementary power of community, to its most rened statement. Because of their position and arrangement, the buildings must become as living organisms on both the inside and outside that only exist in this special life. In theaters, the gap between the stage and seating and between the actors and the audience no longer exists. The dramatic indulgence of the audience is no longer a purchased commodity that remains closed behind an “iron curtain” before the purchase of the ticket. The curtain is no longer separating; it is a meaningful artistic tool, a tight ribbon encircling actor and audience. A festive counter-play in light and color between stage and theater, built and decorated according to the scale of each individual person, creates the framework for dramatic experiences. A bare unstructured wall has no place here. This unique interaction vibrates throughout the building and enlivens all its single members, emanating from the stage above the theater, from the corridors and foyers to the external architecture.

Figure 43 City crown, west elevation.

The community halls [Volkshaüser] similarly express the full harmonic tone of human community. In them spirit and soul shall be elevated and mature, in order to give the entirety its beauty. Large and small halls for reunions, lectures, concerts and parties; the auditorium, library and reading room; entertainment and playroom; corridors and every part of the community center depict the domestic intimate surmounting architectural design, which is based entirely on the large community and unites itself with sculptural and painterly decoration. This design goes beyond the barriers of the everyday, the “natural.” It ows freely and, at the same time, in a tight spiritual bond. The cross conguration that is formed by these four large structures is the upper crowning of the entire building group. However, this building group is itself not yet the crown. It is only the base for an even higher structure, which, entirely void of purpose, reigns above the entirety as pure architecture. It is a crystal house constructed of glass, a building material that due to its


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gleaming, transparent, reective character is more than ordinary maer. A steel and concrete construction lifts it above the volume of the four large buildings and forms its framework. Within it, the entire rich spectrum of glass architecture hangs resplendent in prismatic glass llings, colors and colored glass mosaics. The crystal house contains nothing but a wonderful room, which is reached by stairs and bridges passing to the right and left of a playhouse and small community centers. 34 But how should one describe, even if only allusively, describe what one can only build! All deep and great feelings will be awakened here, when full sunlight showers in a high room and splits into numerous ne reections, or when the evening sun lls the upper vault and its red light deepens the rich chromaticity of the glass images and the sculptural work. Here architecture again renews its beautiful bond with sculpture and painting. It will all be one work, in which the performance of the architect will contribute his conception to the entirety; the painter through glass paintings that are removed but also inspired by the world; the sculptor’s art that is inseparable from the whole. Thus, all art is connected. Everything becomes a part of the great Baukunst [architecture]; the noble desire to create that fullls all artists equally and compels them to the highest achievements.35 Cosmic transcendental thoughts mirror the colors of the painter, “Weltgegenden” [the celestial spheres], and a new sculptural form decorates all architectural elements, seings, connections, supports, brackets and so on. It shows that sculpture can once again be something more than just gures in stone or masonry. Sculpture shall awaken again and expose to all its exquisite, until now step-motherly deprived richness. The entire world of forms is free from the spell of reality. What in waves, clouds, mountains, in all elements and creatures leads the soul of the artist far beyond the constraints of the gurative and naturalistic, will arise again to shine and shimmer in all colors and materials, metals, precious stones and glass in all positions and spaces, wherever the play of light and shadow provoke it. This room is not nished smoothly and enclosed with walls but of a harmony that is rich and perfect in rhythm. Great acoustically undisturbed music is heard from its galleries, a music that only serves the highest [and] is as far from the domestic as the visual arts. Infused by the light of the sun this crystal house reigns above the entire city like a sparkling diamond, a sign of the highest serenity and peace of mind. In its space, a lonely wanderer discovers the pure bliss of architecture. While ascending the stairs to the upper platform, he looks to the city at his feet and beyond to the sun rising and seing, towards which this city and its heart are so strongly directed. 34

Taut’s term for the crown in the German text is actually “das Haus” (the house). 35 Taut speaks here of the “leter Ausdruck” (the last expression), which refers to the dedication and creative power that artists experience when they are absorbed into their work that pushes them beyond all expectations.

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Figure 44 City crown, bird’s eye view looking west.

“Light wants to pass through the universe and is alive in the crystal.” 36 Emanating from the innite, it is captured in the highest point of the city. It scaers and shines on the colored panels, edges, surfaces and concavities of the crystal house. This house becomes the carrier of cosmic feelings, a religiousness that reverently remains silent. It does not stand isolated, but is supported by buildings that serve the noble emotions of the people. These buildings are further separated in the forecourts by a more profane mechanism: realism and vitality surround the crystal, like once annual markets and church fairs in front of the church. The brilliance, the shining of the pure and the transcendental, shimmers above the festivity of the unbroken radiating colors. Like a sea of colors, the municipality spreads itself around the crown, as a sign of the good fortune of new life. The ultimate is always quiet and empty. Meister Eckhart said: “I never want to ask God that he should sacrice himself to me; I want to ask him to make me empty and pure. Because if I was empty and pure then God would have to sacrice himself to me by his own nature and be determined by me.”37 The cathedral was the container of all the souls that prayed in this way; and it always remains empty and pure – it is “dead.” The ultimate task of architecture is to be quite and absolutely turned away from all daily rituals for all times. Here the scale of practical demands becomes silent, similar to the cathedral tower. Similar 36

Original footnote and location: Spruch Scheerbarts am Glashause zu Köln 1914 (An expression of Scheerbart on the Glass House in Cologne, 1914). 37 Gustav Landauer, Meister Eckharts mystische Schriften, in unsere Sprache übertragen (Berlin: K. Schnabel, 1903). Eckhart von Hochheim, also known as “Meister Eckhart,” was a medieval monk, philosopher, and presumed mystic. The publication of some of his writings in contemporary German by Landauer aracted much aention at the time and also inuenced Taut’s thinking.

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to the otherwise “impractical” nave, the tower goes far beyond what this crystal house means compared to the many structures born of a higher purpose. Otherwise, everything else stands on a known and safe ground. When founding the city, the area will remain empty. The necessities of the city are constructed one after another according to a xed plan, until eventually the ultimate will be achieved. Its construction can be passed on from generation to generation. The means to continue are contingent on the scale of progress, and the correlation between speed and demand will determine the harmony of the style. Many architects may build the city, but success can only be achieved if they commit to the greater plan. There is a beauty in collaboration without knowing which blessed Brunelleschi will form the highest crown! The architectonic forms in this design should only be taken in a schematic way. The question of style is not a problem for us architects if we already know our aim. The city crown proposal in itself may be considered problematic. Perhaps with some justication – it may be that the solution to the city crown evolves dierently. Nevertheless, enough will have happened, if the architect has given a modest eort to inspire the search in this direction. At best, this work should be a ag, an idea, or a theoretical suggestion, whose ultimate solution is comprised of many thousands of varied possibilities.

Figure 45 City skyline.

Figure 46 City plan diagram.

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Figure 51 Street views from Falkenberg.


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ECONOMIC COSTS FOR THE CITY CROWN

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he costs for implementing the City Crown result in the following approximate numbers: A. Construction Costs:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Crystal House .......................................................... 15.0 million Marks Opera House .............................................................. 6.0 million Marks Large Community Center ........................................ 4.0 million Marks Theatre ........................................................................ 4.0 million Marks Small Community Center ........................................ 2.0 million Marks Magazines, etc. for 1-5 .............................................. 0.5 million Marks Meeting Houses, 2. 0.1 = .......................................... 0.2 million Marks Aquarium and Greenhouse ..................................... 0.2 million Marks Colonnades, [outside] Staircases in Courtyards and Gardens of I-8 ..................................................... 1.0 million Marks 10. Library ........................................................................ 1.0 million Marks 11. Museum ...................................................................... 1.0 million Marks 12. Reading Houses ......................................................... 0.1 million Marks 13. Summer Theater ........................................................ 0.5 million Marks 14. Summer Restaurant .................................................. 0.3 million Marks 15. Music pavilions, Kiosks ......................................... 0.03 million Marks 16. Restaurants, Cafes, 4. 0.2-f-2. 0.1 = .......................... 1.0 million Marks 17. Consumption etc., 4. 0.2 = ........................................ 0.8 million Marks 18. Contingencies .......................................................... 0.37 million Marks Total 38.0 million Marks B. Excavation, Grading, Sewer, Water Supply and Garden Construction, approximately 20% ........ 7 million Marks Cost of Implementation ....................................................... 45 million Marks in total. The cost of the construction for the Crystal House should not suggest that beauty would be achieved by aunting expensive material. These should only provide a loose scope for an exercise that, regardless of time and money, demands the full dedication of the artists. Essentially, such values cannot be estimated. Who today would calculate a xed amount for the construction of the Strasbourg Cathedral! On the other hand, public utility buildings, such as market halls, railway stations and the like, also oces, baths, schools, city halls, could be built with less eort for architectural eects than happens until now, so that a gradation of the essential is visible and the highest beauty can reveal itself in the supreme.

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The production costs of the entire so-called “City Crown” building group should not fall on the city all at once. The necessary structures will be built in proportion to the growth of the city and according to its resulting needs while the individual phases of construction can always show a well-rounded architectural image. The costs are then divided approximately as follows: Stage 1: With a population of around 30,000 people 16. and 17. Consumer Stores, Restaurants, etc. [1 st] half .... 0.9 million Marks 13. Summer Theater ............................................................... 0.5 million Marks 14. Summer Restaurant ......................................................... 0.3 million Marks General1 25% ........................................................................... 0.4 million Marks Total 2.1 million Marks Stage 2: Around 100,000 inhabitants 16. and 17. Consumer Stores, Restaurants, 2nd half ......... 0.9 million Marks 5. Small Community Center ................................................. 2.0 million Marks 4. Theater ................................................................................ 4.0 million Marks 7 & 8: Aquarium, Greenhouse and Meeting Houses ........ 0.4 million Marks General 25% ........................................................................... 2.0 million Marks Total 9.3 million Marks 9.3 + 2.1 = 11.4 million Marks Stage 3: Around 250,000 inhabitants 10. Library ............................................................................... 10 million Marks 11. Museum ............................................................................ 1.0 million Marks 2. Opera House ...................................................................... 6.0 million Marks 3. Large Hall ........................................................................... 4.0 million Marks 9. Colonnades, etc. ................................................................. 1.0 million Marks 6, 12, 15 and 18. Outbuildings, Warehouses, etc. ............... 1.5 million Marks General 25% ............................................................................ 3.6 million Marks Total 18.1 million Marks 11.4 + 18.1 = 29.5 million Marks Stage 4: At 300,000 and more inhabitants 1. Crystal House ..................................................................... 15 million Marks General ................................................................................... 0.5 million Marks Total 15.5 million Marks 29.5 + 15.5 = 45 million Marks With a size of 500 x 800 m = 400,000 square meters or 40 hectares, the land of the “City Crown” is not included in the calculation. At the founding of the city, according to the principles of the public good, the entire required area, 1

Under “General,” Taut counts all other possible expenses related to the construction of the specic stage.

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as far as the development of the city can be predicted – in this case, 38.5 sq km – would be occupied by the new municipality and released piece by piece from agricultural use for construction. The construction site of the central area would not experience any increase in value except for the interest rate. The causes for the founding of a new city – whether it happens because of a concentration of industrial plants, by a favorable trade location, through special institutes or agricultural sales and trade, or by combining several of these and other factors – cannot be examined here. Rather, the local conditions in conjunction with the main railway lines, ports, rivers, etc. will be decisive elements. At any rate it is certain that the economic disintegration of the contemporary metropolis (due to unplanned development), combined with land speculation and grossly swollen land prices, must lead to the foundation of new large cities on virgin land. And it is equally certain that these cities are not only structurally built according to new insights but, in their communal organization, also need to be based on non-prot charitable principles. These will be the clearest expression of the social commitment [ sozialen Gedankens], and their image, with a crown on top, will be like a pyramid of human stratication, a symbolic and clearly dened ideal for all practical social work. Clearly, in such a city formation, the absolute costs of the central building group are less and easier to bear by the citizens as a whole. This is not only due to the amalgamation of the theaters, community centers, etc. because of the great savings incurred by having these facilities and their maintenance costs in one location than if they are scaered throughout the city – according to the extensive literature on this subject, the non-prot organization of the new city will have the eect of a signicantly lower amount of road construction costs and of all the other expenses, which burden the citizen so that, compared with today’s cities, a surplus is created which goes far beyond the expense of the “City Crown.” Compared to today’s cities one can say that these are nonexistent, and in spite of the “useless” and precious crystal house result in no tax burden for the community.

RECE NT ATTEM PTS AT CROWNING CITIES EPILOGUE

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t is not the meaning and purpose of this project to present something that is clear in all its details. Rather, the aim for this undertaking is to encourage and fruitfully contribute, where we are not dealing with very new cities, to extensions and transformations of existing cities. Even under the pressure of compromise, the desire to give the individual urban quarter texture must for once also take priority. Naturally, the objective is to create a completely new city, and it is perhaps not as far-o as one may believe. Compared to the example of Rüstringen near Wilhelmshaven, the formation of the municipality Rheinfelden is an example of the haphazard mushrooming of cities. Some publicly discussed proposals for the creation of new cities in Germany, whether they be in the industrial area of Rhineland Westphalia or on the Elbe and the like, speak for it.1 Therefore it may be of value to briey characterize the main trends that continue to allude to the construction of a city crown within existing conditions. During the eighteenth century’s heyday of royal absolutism, the sovereignty–founded residences led citizens to sele under a “building grace” and, in high self-condence of their appointment, placed their castle in the center of the new city (Figure 54). Equipped with the same massing and towers, both the church and the city hall in Karlsruhe were counterparts facing one another. It cannot be said that here was a great idea dispensed in terms of old towns: the idea of “Enlightenment.” The rst half of the nineteenth century brought forth the aforementioned aempts from Schinkel’s Romantic School (Figure 52). Gilly’s design for Frederick the Great’s monument on the Leipziger Pla in Berlin (Figure 53) takes a similar direction. Despite the great beauty of the design itself, it already carried in the seeds of the later monument epidemic. Then came chaos and with it the consummate savagery and aimlessness of urban planning. Only once when the doctrine of “city planning” developed in the nineties did the desire for objectivity and for a city crown gradually appear. Here, I contrast the diagram of the city center in Ebenezer Howard’s seminal essay “Garden Cities in Sight” 2 (Figure 56) with that of the Chinese 1

Original footnote: The strong movement originating from Hans Kampmeyer, to establish a “city of peace,” gives hope for a not too distant fulllment of our desires. 2 Taut is referring to the German edition of Howard’s Garden Cities of Tomorrow. The book was translated by Maria Wallroth-Unterilp, and published with contributions by Franz Oppenheimer and Bernhard Kampmeyer by Eugen Diederichs, Jena in 1907, the same publisher as The City Crown.

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City of Qufu (Figure 58) in order to show how one was going about this in purely rational way. The center of the Garden City of Letchworth (Figure 57) demonstrates the connection between church and town hall. The powerful area of the Confucius Temple in Qufu (Figure 55) gives voice to a massive, all passionate idea, which our deliquescent rationalism can only humbly bow towards. But the idea of the Garden City is more than a mere intellectual construction. It was born from a desire for happiness and leads us towards that goal. Even with an informal country house typology, the plan shown for KleinHohenheim near Stugart (Figure 63) may serve as an example how the creation of a city crown with a festival center is possible. Here, strenuous eorts began to put the already formed motionless metropolitan city image into order and at the same time to touch the barren tenement wards with a breath of the human spirit. To give support and intelligence to these eorts, many proposals were submied to the Greater-Berlin competition of 1910, which should have requested that as much as possible of the image of the imperial capital is saved. Most striking was the tendency for pointy formations in the work of Bruno Schmi, whose proposal suered from a self-imposed desire to surpass oneself and an addiction to monumentality. The internal idea was missing, without which such things are only stuck in formalities. How noble the crowning of London by St Paul’s Church touches us. According to the will of the city’s creator it used to tower over the entirety violently (Figure 14), and still has a great eect today: in the crypt, exactly beneath the center of the cupola lies the magnicent, raised sarcophagus of Nelson and above it is the church with its enormous dome that still dominates the city skyline today. A similar impression of hero worship is nely cultivated and maintained by a long tradition in Chinese culture. Although Oo Wagner’s eort to bring order and sound to the city of tenement blocks in Vienna produced a nice work, it suers from the inclusion of certain elements to create an expressive rhythm in the entirety and an impossible adjacency of independent, well-rounded structures with the blocks of tenement buildings (Figure 62). Here there is something akin to the eorts of Americans. In America, one has probably most clearly recognized the need of a city crown. A large movement began, which made its special task the creation of city centers in the skyline. In Chicago, the “City Club” issued a competition for the design of secondary centers in the outskirts of cities. Typical for the perception of Americans towards this problem is Frederic C. Howe’s pronouncement: There were three major periods of time in which urban development inspired the thoughts and dreams of the people: the time of Antonine, in which the Roman people devoted themselves enthusiastically to the beautication of their cities; the medieval cities of Italy, France, Germany and the Netherlands, whose monuments aest the growing love and pride of the recently freed bourgeois, and now in the 20th century in which the German people manifest their pride

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for their fatherland and their sense of power in monuments with the same meaning for permanence and artistic brilliance.

In a literature review for “Urban Development,” Cornelius Gurli characterized the American eort as follows: Above all there are very instructive books whose goal is to prepare a regulated building industry for a city. It is usually their intention to create a Civic Centre, which means to design a great square and road system for the city center, which should employ all artistic media. In this type of art, size is the boom line: streets of 100 meters in width surrounded by twelve-story houses with a huge capitol or municipal building in the middle. Rarely does one nd a clear calculation of the costs for land acquisition, road construction, the construction of public buildings, and even less about how these costs should be distributed on the shoulders of the taxpayers. A sure hope for the power of the future permits the greatest plan to appear the most welcome. To show where they go beyond their American counterparts, town–planning commiees do not avoid comparisons with great European cities. As a report for Rochester claims, its “well-known spirit of enterprise and high-civic pride entitles great hopes for the future of the city.”

How well these eorts are addressed may prove the words of the commiee consultant for the city plan of New York, George B. Ford, who said at the National Assembly for the Creation of Community Centers on April 21, 1916: “It is not enough, to group the dierent buildings and open spaces in a way that they work together. We also need beauty – the beauty of line, form, color, ratio, mass and general composition. The spiritual man yearns for beauty.” And further: Rarely do our local road networks have a terminal spot somewhere. Usually our plans resemble monotonous gridirons without a change or emphasis – – –. If one allows the imagination to play with the possibilities of such a plan, the vision of the urban plan of the future gradually unfolds; a city of many interwoven municipalities, each in itself whole and sucient for the ordinary things of everyday life, but outreaching for the exceptional. Thus, a number of places would unite their high schools, central libraries, theaters and large lecture halls, their concert halls, armories and larger play areas in one group center. Large community groups for the entire city would include universities, art collections, institutions for the sick and needy, and nally, as the peak of the entire city, the cluster for administration, legislation and jurisdiction. – – – In this sense, a center of the municipality would very much contribute to accelerating the growth of sentiment for the common good. As soon as mankind has achieved the sense of community as such, he becomes much beer able to appreciate the true meaning and importance of the various interactions between the neighboring municipalities, and so on until one day, like a vision, the entire great panorama unfolds before him and he senses “The City’ in all its glory and beauty.”

These words are completely in the direction of what we are also searching for. The striking thing is the tendency to embody civic pride that is particularly close to that of an American who is proud of his young powerful ourishing

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state. The new municipal building in New York is an example of the realization of this idea (Figure 60). It strongly stands out from the cityscape in order to assert its position alongside the skyscrapers. But if you look at the cityscape of New York (Figure 61), it is not grander than the magnicent Town Hall of Augsburg (Figure 59), which nally again subordinates itself to the proper City Crown, the Church of St Ulrich (Figure 8). This high appreciation of civic pride in the old cities expressed by Howe above seems to be based on the misjudgment of what can actually crown a city as the highest expression of the highest thought. As the Chicago architect W. Grin’s plan by for the federal capital of Australia illustrates, new American city plans have their capitol, the governmental group as the top of the city (Figure 64). The church, however, plays only a very meager or no role in it. These plans are ultimately products of a bold rationalism, a kind of addiction to seing records such that even beautiful designs are not convincing over time. Even the elegant Capitol in Washington (Figure 68), which embodies the idea of the State as the highest seat of that great country’s government, cannot compare to the sacred marriage of church and state in antiquity. Of course the nationalistic pride of America does not simply merge itself into the organizational and administrative structure; more than in Europe, the state is a symbol of refuge and freedom. But it still does not have a religious signicance at all; and even there, as elsewhere it is a servant of the people, and we do not want to make it the bearer of the last thought, the longing and faith of all people translated into architecture. It is absurd to create a huge structure dominating the city lled with only oce spaces and meeting rooms, even if it may have a very drastic eect on the welfare of the citizens. “To be more than citizens, means to be human” (Robert Saitschick). The state is and remains only the brains of the community. Its heart must lie elsewhere. The same is true of the Palace of Justice in Brussels (Figure 67), which in itself is striking, although even more in the negative sense. On other hand, how ne the simple one-story building of the Foreign Oce in Berlin touches us (Figure 66). This structure represents the most accurate congruence of form and content for such buildings. Nonetheless, the embassy building seems to have been created for the highest degree of representation. First of all, it has lile relationship to the city where it happens to be, and then its nature is surely less that of representation than of hard work, to which the representatives of all classes of people unite for the salvation of the whole. However, the houses built for this purpose mostly show in their architecture a bombastic swirl of phrases, as if the mission of the parliament lies in pompous speeches and is not in good laws, for which, unfortunately, our Reichstag building, despite its historical signicance, is an example. We must recognize it as a quest amongst Americans to feel the impossibility of this rationalism elevated to a sole principle. Originating from two Americans, Anderson and Hébrard, the concept of a World Center,

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a World Capital (Figure 65), has next to buildings that serve education and art, its heart and highest peak, a 320 meter tall “Tower of Progress.” “It is the center of a circular plaza, around which the palaces for scientic congresses are located, all equipped with galleries, libraries, bureaus, cupolas, towers and colonnades. To the right and left, arise buildings for the International Court of Justice and the Temple of Religions. An international bank and an international library complete this building group. Concentrically around this monumental heart of the city lie the boulevards with the living quarters; the outermost ring is a garden area, together with an accompanying waterway.” There exists here a construct of ideas, which in fact appear exaggerated, but which pronounce a departure from the purely intellectual. The plan of a Confederative City on the German-Austrian border points in a similar direction. Its center should correspond to related trends that have emerged in the newspapers. Finally, the design for a public monument from the Dutchman H.P. Berlage should be mentioned as the most striking example of the nobility of humanity (Figure 69). In these words, Berlage explained: I conceived this Pantheon after the war to built on a hill overlooking a plain in the middle of Europe with eight military roads leading to its gates from all directions. These will be located between the towers dedicated to love and courage, enthusiasm and discretion, science and power, freedom and peace. These towers, like guards, which grant admission to the Pantheon, surround the great round hall radiating their light far into the distance at night. The towers are bordered by courts of silent contemplation, surrounded by galleries memorializing those who have fallen for States that have led war. Through the galleries of reconciliation, one proceeds to the great hall. There stands the monument of human unity surrounded by the gallery of memory only illuminated by the zenith of light from the cupola. Farther up lies the galleries of awareness, the elevation of the soul and its all-encompassing comprehension. Then the dome of international community completes the space.

Here is a construct of ideas expressed in an extreme form. They are complex, albeit beautiful in form, yet not unlike the epidemic of constructing monuments that is hopefully already behind us. One cannot simply adorn any building with emblematic designations. By a long philosophical and religious practice, these symbols must rst become commonplace like the Chinese Temple (Gate of Knowledge, of Purication, and the like). Such a connection of ideas to building structures seems foreign to us because we do not know how to take acts that justify their designation. It is, after all probably the same rationalistic soil from which grows these abstract structures. Architecture is an art and should be the highest of all arts. It arises only out of strong emotions and speaks only to emotion. The head can, at best, have a regulating inuence. Architecture’s essence, can only ourish from the heart, and this alone, we must allow to speak.

Figure 52

Design of a votive church by Schinkel.

Figure 53 Design for a monument of Friedrich the Great on the Leipziger Pla in Berlin by Gilly.

Figure 54 Karlsruhe, city plan.

Figure 56 Plan diagram from Howard.

Figure 55 Temple of Confucius

.

Figure 57

City center of Letchworth.

Figure 58

Plan of the city of Qufu.

Figure 59

Augsburg, Elias Hollpla.

Figure 60 Municipal building for New York.

Figure 61 New York, city skyline.

Figure 62

XXII District in Vienna.

Figure 63 Project for Klein-Hoheim.

Figure 64 Plan for an Australian capital city.

Figure 65 Project for an International World Center.

Figure 66 Ministry of Foreign Aairs in Berlin.

Figure 67 Palace of Justice in Brussels.

Figure 68 The Capitol in Washington.

Figure 69 Design of a Monument for the People by Berlage.

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T

he concept of ‘statehood’ is the rigid framework of those tamed by reason for creating, maintaining and strengthening power structures, empires and provinces from the outside. The social thought permeates the national community from inside it.1 Those however who feel like the children of God, do not confess to it in their religious humility, are foreign to the workings of worldly power, piously devoted to the eect of the inner commandments which are alien to artists who by the grace of God can never be and are nowhere at home. All these underprivileged, non-civil-servants help to realize in nonpolitical or over-politicized ways the idea of a higher communal life. As the most distant love encloses true charity within itself, the longing for the stars is the drive and divine inspiration for a more beautiful construction of the world.2 Pilgrimage and destiny, pilgrimage and transguration are the molds within which the transcendentally orientated human sees their life formed. Worldly meaning aspires for struggle and purpose, for confraternity and an increased presence.

Blessed are the meek; for they will possess the earth. Blessed are the peace-loving; for they will be God’s children. Some people believe that social concepts would only be temporary phenomena that are opposed to the enhancement of individuality. If we are longing to be alone, it is often only the secret wish to be in an unclouded alliance with ourselves, or at minimum, to be an individual within a group.3 To connect this private concealed selfness with the public spirit, to promote the “new community of the souls,” to satisfy the longing “to start over once again, somewhere entirely dierent and not to be alone anymore,” has often been tried in times of war by modern liberalism. And these “activists,” the youthfully raging heralds of the “acting spirit,” claim that they are politicians … not “against the state,” but for a dierent one. Every communal life is based upon one social construct whose higher development also yields higher levels of solidarity for the individual as well as the universal. The level of cultural progress cannot be measured by how it climbs into higher classes, but rather by where it begins below. In the eorts to serve the entirety through labor unions and cooperatives, community theaters and community centers, community gardens and public baths, lies at the same time the eort of the individual to help the individual, to promote Baron uses the term der soziale Gedanke , which has been translated as “social concepts.” Literally translated, the term means “social thought” and he refers to a very wide and inclusive range of social ideas and philosophy in a very broad sense. In English, the term appears more appropriate in the plural rather than the singular. 2 The original German text plays here with the word Nächstenliebe (the love for the closest, usually translated with “charity”) and the ctional word Fernstenliebe (the love for the most distant). Unfortunately, these kinds of wordplay cannot be translated closely enough to mirror their double meaning. 3 The term Baron uses here is “anders,” meaning “dierent” or not the same. The contrast Baron wants to make in this paragraph is between individuality and group identity. 1

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him and let him share in a higher rened enjoyment. We do not only want the indispensable young proletarian powers that press up from below, we also know about the intellectual potentials that draw them upwards. These concern the cooperation of the artists with social work. Obsessed with their mission, many of them neither knew nor loved the people and yet were their promoter or leader. Others have turned themselves to the people in glowing enthusiasm and enlightenment. These prophetic heralds, passionate politicians, [and] visionary poets, all transformed the people with their own re and lifted them above themselves. In them was the great mystery, the deep wonderful power of the soul of the people. Whether they are poets or apostles, musicians or painters, sculptors or architects, Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Leo Tolstoy, Walt Whitman, Cervantes and Strindberg, Hamsun and Gerhart Hauptmann are, like all great artists, the true creators of the people, who sanctied the people from within their own souls. What wrests itself from artists, gains a more eective form and living guise for the recipients as well. How closely limited are the internal and low external values of the community centers and community homes today. As a well-known Austrian lyricist from the proletariat explains, this “community home is a concept full of thundering movement, creative power and the peaceful quiet of awareness.”4 With its bright paint, the [community] house itself is to him a white star of stone. It is a house of joy amidst the gray deterioration and misery of its environment. The street, in which the name “community center” shines forth, becomes a holy source of light like “the Mecca of a new religion.”5 In the inauguration of a community center that came about through social democracy, our longing spoke in festive words about a “breath in the light of the spirit,” of “life in emotional exuberance,” and this confession surprised everyone, asking them to not “cling to the boundaries of this building” but to believe in “the future house of stars.” 6 So the work of the present also presses into the vast unknown. Not only houses of knowledge, instruction, and the meager joy of the people—the universities and theaters, all sites of consecration should open themselves, to those who stream towards them in the owing light of divinity. Out of a cathedral we hear high-pitched chimes. From a tower, solemn tones swing around us. The church as architecture and the bell as instrument have disappeared from our senses. Adoration and promise stir our heart.

Of which miracles does the morning earth laugh, As if it was her rst day?

The creation shudders as if in the state of grace. No walker comes along the way, whose head Would not decorate an unknown majesty. 4

Baron appears to be referring to a non-traceable quote by the Austrian poet Alfons Peold (1882–1923). 5 Quotes by Alfons Peold on the Volkshochschule Oakring in Vienna, potentially at the inauguration of the institution in 1905. 6 Ibid.


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A wide light is poured over the country, Salvation to all who go in its rays! 7 Stefan George, who composed these verses in a state of grace, is the most illustrious herald of our longings. No denial but rather the holy enlightenment of life is in him. We are the ones who suer. Murder raged amongst us. The scent of corpses permeates the atmosphere of the world. And the souls lie huddled together on the fallow eld. We carry the suering, but the longing lifts us above it. Petried in horror, torn up by all the terror, we sense death in our hearts. Innocence is poisoned, purity is stained. The rejected and hopeless kneel at the disgraced sanctuaries. We stand up to a new belief. The earth has soaked up the streams of blood. Despicable and precious, full of divine premonition it remains a tomb and cradle for mankind. That humankind could be more human! That we would not continue to maul each other or let the lthy war be followed by a lthy peace! Both would require a purging that boldly overcomes anything previously “self-evident” and does not leave all the rest to the Creator. For our creation, we are at the same time creator and created. It does not bet us to speak of the divine where the limit of our words ends. Paul Scheerbart, who knew “that we all have the desire, to kneel before the grandeur of the world in glowing enthusiasm,” spoke about a religion of great silence.8 He dreamed of an entirely dierent kind of worship than what we know today. His temples should act solely by their sublime architecture and their great silence, only interrupted from time to time by ne orchestral and organ music. Not even singing voices should be heard in these temples. Cosmic paintings and sculptures would be allowed in the temples from time to time, but if the individual and the specic are referenced too often what can be made visible is shown less and less since it cannot be brought into harmony with the overwhelming feelings of terrestrial worship. So spiritual was this poet’s religiosity and love of world. He who lived in glass – and light architecture, in the crown of stars and who named the bales of the war “childlike didactic tools of unintelligent barbarian peoples.” Perhaps he, who died despising the war, thought of the teachings of Lao-Tsu: “The softest thing on earth overcomes the hardest.”9 War was raging. Yet, before one is Austrian, Serbian, Turkish, or Chinese, one is human; a reasoning, loving being, whose only task is to fulll their purpose during the short period that they live in this world. Yet this is entirely clear: love all people. So said Tolstoy, and by this he meant that those who understand the meaning and signicance of life, cannot help but feel his 7

Stefan George: Der Stern des Bundes . Baron seems to be referencing the

collection of poems, published by Georg Bondi, Berlin, 1914. 8 Paul Scheerbart, Münchhausen und Clarissa: Ein Berliner Roman (Berlin: Oesterheld & Co. Verlag, 1906), p. 109. 9 The quote is from Lao-Tzu’s Tao Te Ching , Chapter 43.

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equality and fraternity with all members of not only his, but of all people. With the same priestly-prophetic spirit, Walt Whitman showed to all peoples of the earth the path in his “Drum-Taps”: Be not dishearten”d – Aection shall solve the problems of Freedom now,

Those who love each other shall become invincible, … Were you looking to be held together by lawyers? Or by an agreement on a paper? or by arms?

Nay, nor the world, nor any living thing, will so cohere. 10 Here speaks Whitman, the lover of life, who constructively intervenes in shaping the physical and spiritual formation of the world. The lover of all life has become the conscious creator of social life – he is a socialist. To go from the abundance of the heart to the spiritual interpenetration of all things is the idealistic goal of romantic and visionary socialism without a need to oppose the practical side of socialism.11 It is his predecessor and last inspiration. Whitman energetically testies to the fervent belief in the new man, the new people. “Chaos and the abyss of intimacy, cosmic love and abundance of feeling” is in Walt Whitman; 12 as strong and fruitful as he is rooted in the social activities, the creativity of genius pulls him from the wealth of the earth in to the clear empty sky: … midnight: this is your hour, O Soul, thy free ight into the wordless;

Away from books, away from the arts, after a day is eliminated, after work is eliminated Raising yourself entirely and far away, in silence, wondering, musing about what you loved most: Night, sleep, death and the stars. 13 That is how we want to build our life from the ground up. Loving the ower and worshiping the fruit. Owning the earth and looking into the sky. Shaping the abundance and searching the void. It is no mere architectural dream: the empty glass palace. In its radiance it is the symbol of greatest glory.

10

The poem’s title is actually “The Carnage,” in which the last three stanzas are in parentheses. Baron is quoting here from the Whitman’s collection of poems “Drum Tabs,” rst published in 1865 in New York. Gustav Landauer translated poems by Walt Whitman into German. These were published as Walt Whitman, Gesänge und Inschrifte. Übertragen von Gustav Landauer (Munich: K. Wol Verlag, 1921). It must be assumed that Baron had knowledge of the original version of the poems or had access to Landauer’s translation prior to the ocial publication as he refers to the poem “Trommelschläge” that was included in this publication. Later translations of Whitman’s work that include the same poem originally entitled “Over the Carnage Rose Prophetic a Voice” oer a dierent German translation. 11 Baron uses the term “Alldurchdringung,” which has no equivalent term in English. We translated this as “interpenetration.” 12 Quoted by Gustav Landauer in a 1917 published essay on Walt Whitman. This essay was republished in Gustav Landauer, Werkausgabe , vol. 3 (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1997), p. 80. 13 “A Clear Midnight” by Walt Whitman was rst printed in the seventh edition of Leaves of Grass in 1881.


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World improvement and faith in the future have often been reviled and despised, as if they did not belong in this world or at best as if their confessors join Gregers Werle.14 Yet in all the fervor of denial, Ibsen has given him all his positive love, as indeed even in Hjalmar Ekdal is something of its original re and a icker of Peer Gynt’s soul. We nd in all streets up and down fools in good and evil, deceivers in small and large. Many saw innity even in the tightest of all the gears in the world, the land of the soul in the most distorted form, through Hamsun’s microcosm.15 Without the timidity that today lets socialists insist on often too modest goals, we again want to be called world reformers and believers in the future. In all work that builds upon the existing and the given, we do not continue to weave the old threads indierently but devote ourselves expectantly and exuberantly to the new, the incalculable and absolute. This applies to all areas. Spiritualization is not merely a renement of thinking. Internationalism is not merely an “intergovernmental understanding” to which it seems to have sunk during the war as a goal for peacetime. Freedom is not merely a way to maintain legitimacy. When it comes to ideas, it is about what is on the other side of their denition, what lies beyond their circumscribing and unexplanatory words. We love these ideas because they are the rivers of life, which ow into the eternal. A forward-looking contemplation of existence may be directed transcendentally, exceeding the levels of [spiritual] development, yes it must be [transcendentally oriented] for all those to whom the having is not the sublime. If Horace wants to touch the stars with his forehead, he does not adhere less to the ground than when he sings of wine; but those who divest themselves, who lose themselves completely, who without sense and desire feel released and removed from the everyday and all-binding, will glide into innity. Only with the stars do we win life entirely. As the struggle for sustenance can only be resolved through social culture, we need to get from civilized tastelessness to the cult of art. Gloria mundi et coeli.16

O you moonlit city, O you distance of the world – We build the city and the empire, but the safest and richest in humankind is the kindness with which he helps others and himself. It was this way before, but few could recognize the relationship of their own lives with the universal and great inner happiness. By virtue of our desire and skills we now have erected an external image of this ascent. Not the hut and not the palace, no village or city structure, no mild or harsh sovereign power comprises the nal destination in itself. What pulls people up to happiness, what pushes them down into damnation is the secret with which only sagacious goodness can A character in Ibsen’s play The Wild Duck from 1884. 15 Baron is certainly referring to the Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun’s Segen der Erde or Growth of the Soil in English, a monumental work, which helped him win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. 16 This translates as “The glory of the world and the heavens.” 14

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unlock. Holy and beautiful is everything in the ultimate ground of worldly being, but nevertheless it is at risk of distortion. Nothingness is inviolable.

Bright land, boundlessly open to all currents of the mind, In you we are crowned. Your sun is our unquenchable star. In its conventional role as a bond to traditions, religion was always a valuable resource for the state’s own interests. If it dissipated into higher spheres, the rulers dropped it. As a personied structure of order the state hangs on the outstretched nger of the human-like God. Idolatry and submissiveness are the ever-recurring forms of external piety that does not need to be hypocrisy, and loveless violence that does not need to be either aristocratic or ochlocratic tyranny. Turning away from the low command of egoism, and the surrender of the ego in its devotion to the greater community is the release of age-old political and religious demands from their temporal solidication into their eternal human value. Not a program but a ag should be given; not a dead design, but a living entity that was created by the longing of the heart: Human selement as a spiritual concern. The mind does not need to be silent. It is the sensing separation within the wonderful total absolute, which also reigns unconditionally there, where everything seems relative. People’s rights, people’s will, people’s state – have turned from vigorous tendencies, into empty parliament formulas, newspaper headlines and book titles. People’s art, people’s house, or people’s school17 degrade the people and arts, home and school in the same way. “People” is an active and suering embodiment of the inhabited earth, including emperor, king, gentleman, peasant, burgher, and beggar. To want to be the rst servant of the state sounds democratic; to declare the king’s will as the supreme law sounds autocratic. However, both ignore the people. Governing and being governed is the denition and formula of the rulers and the ruled. More than by votes and by the statements of individuals, the people speak through the totality of their production. And in this way they speak guratively to us, especially also in artistic performance. That is how we gain the right measure. Properly understood, people and art are inseparable and indivisible; only their dierent social positions apply to the state and society, countries and history, crafts and entertainment. Today, bureaucratic and military states are the ordinary forms of coexistence and conict where humanity thrives poorly. Coexistence founded on mutual appreciation is rare and for the most part it has been tested unsuccessfully. Social, cultural and artistic aspirations suered and failed many times from ignoble dependencies and small-minded vanities, where free independence and overly individual absorption in the name of work could have beneted the common goal and the community. The garden city concept has been so badly distorted by land speculation and its associated higher ideal has been 17

Alliteration and the use of the word “Volk” (i.e. people) led us to keep the stylistic element. However, the reader should note that Volkskunst , translated as “people’s art,” is actually “folk art.” Volkshaus as people’s house is a community center, and Volksschule , “the people’s school,” is a primary school.

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so frequently diminished that, even less of the originally planned movement remains with us in Germany than in England, which would be worthwhile to promote. Creative ideas dry up without the power of sentiment, which paves the way for them. If one starts too small, one easily remains stuck in the smallminded. Grand works must be started on a large scale and must be continued indenitely. The lack of condence in the dimension of time is often not only the ospring, but the origin of their internal weakness. By brute force and the lust of power [this weakness] is not contradicted, but conrmed. In the luminosity of the glass, architecture is redeemed from its heaviness. As the gloomy wrinkle creates anger, the clear view creates serenity and harmony. The well-built city allows people to live together nobler and beer. The major landmark in the work brings them closer to the ultimate goal. Art and artists, building and man mutually mold one another and create anew. Because stone has no glassy radiance, the stony building, the stony city does not need to be a torment. Beauty knows no boundaries – truly: one can never love beauty too much. The wreath winds not around an aesthetic principle or an aesthetic form. The gospel of beauty is holy. Plato’s Idea, the cosmic thought, the escape from the world. In the Gothic and the dream are a love of the world and great magic. Just as medieval man proceeds from credo to a higher consciousness, the social sphere swells and rises to the cosmicdivine-artistic space. In the waking dream, in blessed awe we see from afar the land of beauty where people have overcome hatred and pain, where coexistence and opposition to one another transform into cooperation, where envy and greed for possessions have given way to the happiness of the gentle and peaceful. So few know that gentleness does not make one timid and weak, nor does peacefulness make one cowardly and subservient. In the dawn of the victorious sun strides the spiritually rejuvenated man who has overcome the lower spheres for the sake of the higher aspirations. In the light of the coming day, the balements of the eternal city shine for us. To build it, to constructively experience it is the highest pleasure. We are witnessing the disintegration of large, state structures to the cheers of the previously oppressed and betrayed, from those who did not choose the regressive path of pain and anger towards despair, but strode from a new insight towards new action and self-assurance. If we overthrow the decay and bury the dead unstained a new condence beats in their hearts. No life arises without death. The truly brave of our time cannot be talked down or thrown into defeat. Without the cry of triumph, they are the victors of today and tomorrow, who do not know any conquered, but only defectors and vanquished. In recovery alone lies a guarantee when opinions and beliefs change. Our empire begins beyond the war, our power without weapons. Just as our intoxication does not require wine, so does our military power not require the ore, and our victory not the glory of bales. We do not coerce the spirit by the barbaric methods of the horde. Rather it rises from the decay of war, from the skull yard of crime, from the defeat of the armed. Humanity raises its head again. Oppressing hatred is torn apart and over the graveyard of raw violence the bridge to a new happiness for all peoples vaults towards the liberation of the world.

Figure 70 Cathedral in Rouen.


REBIRTH OF ARCHITECTURE BY ADOLF BEHNE

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Ithosewhenforces it ourished for the last time in Europe, and will try to bring to light that, after its lowest point has been suered through, will serve as

would like to show the path by which art has declined since the Gothic,

a prophecy of a new creation. I base my argument on the truth that architecture is the carrier of all the visual arts. If the trunk becomes sick, the leaves cannot grow in health, and if the leaves of the tree die, so must the trunk have suered harm. However, the process by which a sick tree revives to new health can only occur because the disease, which at rst causes progressive paralysis from the trunk, through the branches, twigs, veins, and leaves, nally reaches its last tips; but then, when it comes to recovery, a new life revitalizes the same tree from below through the roots of its trunk. So, there is no gradual development that can be observed on a well-dened scale, which imperceptibly changes its appearance, rather, a new beginning; no naturalness that can be explained physically, rather, a biological phenomenon – a miracle. If I want to illustrate this biological process of decline then I must isolate the most advanced decomposition of the last remaining leaves and show that by pruning them, the forces that advance the new emerge at the base of the trunk. What this means for our task is that I rst speak of all about the dissolution of the image since painting is the most advanced development of the visual arts. And even if one would like to expect that from here I would move progressively in the opposite direction back to the trunk, based upon what was said previously I am entitled, even obliged to return, apparently abruptly, to the root of all art, to architecture itself. Thus, a leap has been made. Nevertheless, I believe I have conclusively shown that this leap is not arbitrary. Rather, it is an objective necessity. Still, one thing will be inferred from the aforementioned: namely, that my argument is not tied to the historical perspective. Wherever I turn my aention away from the decomposition of the leaves and towards the new life in the trunk, I necessarily depart from the sequence of historical events. Time does not create works of art. To bring the contemplation of art into connection with the concept of time is therefore completely arbitrary. However, according to modern Impressionism, India for example, is not a dead past but rightfully our future.

W

e begin our reection in that place painting still stands in fruitful alliance with architecture. The [stained] glass window of a Gothic cathedral may serve as an example. Yet, at this time, nothing concerns the isolation of an art [form], nor about the division of the great will to art 1 into specialized skills. The eye may blissfully rest on this one so rich, so precious window – part of this deepest enjoyment is the awareness that next to this jewel many others

See Aloïs Riegl, Problems of Style: Foundations for a History of Ornament , Evelyn Kain (trans.) (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992); see also Jacqueline E. Jung, translator’s introduction to Aloïs Riegl, Historical Grammar of the Visual Arts (New York: Zone Books, 2004), pp. 13–19. Alois Riegl describes “Kunstwollen” as a specialized term for art’s desire to grow and transform. 1

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shine as beautifully, as inexhaustibly, and these again are all deeply framed by the strong, vigorous and large body of the space; not only the window frames with their kneading proles and tracery swinging beautifully in the miracle of glass, but also the chords and caps, the statues on the column bundles, and the keystones high up. No, beyond the sphere of the visible we feel the unity of these delicate and strong, intimate and glowing, giant glass panels with gables and pinnacles, the roses and bulbs of the portals and facades, we feel the unity [all the way] up to the freely dissolved peaks of the tower. Indeed, if the formwork rising in the air through the ringing of bells transforms architecture into music, then the unity created by the luminous glass images in the windows that together with the fragrance of incense builds a pure, rened space is alive in us all the way up to the purifying tones high above. Much remains to be said in order to describe the richness of Gothic [stained] glass painting. But only here, at the beginning of the sequence, shall it appear unied with the building as the origin of beauty. If I describe in the following examples the areas of art’s gradual decline, the Gothic stained glass window emerges on its own behind them where its abundance only shines more. It seems important to me only to refer specically to one example of art’s decline, namely that of the Gothic era. Aside from the blaze of the giant windows that consumed all earthly things in their crystal purity of colorful glass, the Gothic knew the quiet, serene, humane narrations in the drawings and brush paintings of books. But the owering of the Gothic did not know the mixing of the monumental with the intimate, the saint with the human, and the cosmic with the anecdotal. Only when we take both aspects into our consciousness do we feel the full richness of this period rising above all theories and slogans. [The Gothic] is as realistic as it is unrealistic, and its secret is that everything is in its own time and place. No one would desire that a single detail of the miniatures of the Wenzel Bible, the calendar pictures of the “Tres riches heures” or the Brevarium Grimani would be any dierent from how they are now with their innitely aectionate illustrations of ne shrubs above which swallows y, the bluish bull horns, sharp-pointed stone edges and light, thin fences, the many individual gures in their manifold activities, proximity and brighter distances, with houses and towers, castles and peaks. These pages are untouchable for their artistic purity. And only when we take them into consideration do we completely understand and appreciate the spirit that created the large [and] foreign forms of the cathedral windows anew, almost without knowing the representations in books – the book covers hide them. These miniatures are charming, like a last, soft breath released by gentle hands from the layers of physicality. And one could say the same about some of the most beautiful works of art from this time. But for the great work, all maer is thrown into the hoest furnace until a new unearthly mass of glass has formed – out of whose disembodied pure color, the new is generated.

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A rst step towards the mixing of artistic poles can be found in the multipartite Gothic altarpiece. Since it is here that painting separates itself for the rst time from the unity of the arts. What treasures these works are, whose resplendent assembly in the Academy of Siena presents to the eye a golden feast that sirs up the soul. They already have more reality, maer and substance than the glass panels that received the beauty of their eects from the outside, from light, from heaven, in which the work of stone, like a humble and timid sacrice, was married with light, its sunbeams. When the clear ether deeply and strongly penetrated the glass panes, the power of color was released from them like sounds from an organ and spread a colorful reverberation over walls and oors, the assurance was given that this human work has come to share in grace. The altar panels no longer have such a mystical character. They are already dogma. They already have a frame around themselves. Without it they cannot stand. And the innite light has transformed to become a golden substance in them. But their beauty is so full of grace and sweetness that it seems like a dream in one’s memory. Nevertheless, even while they are no longer mythical, they still reject human scale. They are less cosmic than the glass windows, but are still remarkable. They have a frame around themselves, but this frame is still perceived as formwork. It is architecture on a small scale, with its twisted slender columns, separating the individual saints but not isolating them; with the pointed arch, often lled with tracery, in whose oscillations the haloes accommodate themselves; with the panels of the tympanum resting on the frame, which is aligned in a burgeoning lance-like work of golden pinnacles, with the narrower images in the side panels – not forgeing the foundation-like Predella. These beautiful images are in themselves a unity of representation and framework, both born at the same time, where the removal of saints or pious scenes from the whole is impossible. The gures stand on a golden background, and the frame is gold; and as this golden frame is decorated lovingly and inexhaustibly by the proles of the columns from the base to the delicate capital, by the crockets of the ornamental gables, by the delicate relief in the spandrels, the gold base of the panels takes the play of ornamentation on its ne-pecked, softly shimmering decorations that play like a delicate tissue woven from solar laments. Although such work already emerged from its direct alliance with art, it is still living in its unity with architecture. Nevertheless, only in the space of the church does it show its full meaning, only there, where its pointed arches and pillars, and all the other related disciplines of architecture, have their support in the built forms of the same kind. It is by no means obvious that these panels nish o their individual representations in ogival arches. Precisely this sentimental adherence to a curved prole shows us that a cosmic perception underlying all true art is here not yet completely broken. Certainly, the completion of the representations in an ogival arch was initially the acquisition of familiar and ubiquitously practiced forms. But, why this deep love for oscillation, for bending in and out, for crossing everywhere? – The pointed arch brings a piece of heaven to art, and this


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interpretation is not arbitrary and “wiy.” When, as on Sano di Pietro’s beautiful Ancona in Siena, the pointed arch still rises high and light above the Madonna, when tracery playfully borders the curves which do not stop suddenly, satised at the apex, but instead point to the innite, and from their open oscillations the irradiant heads of angels rejoice from far above – in these I have found the proof. Here painting still has a feeling for it, that the stars and not mankind are the complete measure of art. The stars, however, swing, cross and encounter each other in wide spreading curves, coming from innity and going to innity. Everything that is cosmic is spiral, curvaceous, and circular. In the cosmic there is no straight, shortest route and no planar surface. And we say that architecture, which has most preserved the cosmic character of all human activities, again comes closest to the act of creation where it bends by separating itself the most freely from the vertical and the horizontal and from the plane. In turn, the painter nuzzles-up with gratitude into the shells, the Caloes, and the wedges of the vaults – small patches of sky that architecture created for him. It is not right to always regret the way the Gothic left so lile space for mural painting that it had to retreat into the humble narrow wedges of the cross vault. No, here as well the Gothic period came closest to the ideal, by giving this delicate and dicult role to painting in its buildings. How safe were the picturesque gures in their oscillating niches or nests from which they looked down like constellations! If we turn the eye away from them – from the angels for example, which decorate the ceiling in the chapel of Jacques Coeur’s house in Bourges, back to Sano di Pietro, we probably feel the rigid-smooth two-dimensionality as a rather dubious improvement. In the colored glass windows woven by light, the concept of two-dimensionality completely ceased to exist. But here, in the altarpiece, a fatal step has been taken towards the rational. Now it will no longer be possible to prevent in perpetuity that all sorts of human demands seize the gures. In their world of curves where the arched cap covers them like a knight’s shield, are they removed from such a meddlesome assault. The architecture of grandeur kept all questioners away from them. But now, they can easily be seized defenselessly. A at panel of wood at ground level oers no resistance. Only the beautiful heavens formed by ogival arches and the unity of gold in background, gure and frame protect them for a while. As soon as viewer and saint face each other closely as equals, the unity loosens up quickly, one that all later artists will have to search for arduously. Here, with Sano di Pietro, with the magnicent artist Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, and Stephan Lochner, all wealth emerges from the unity that stands behind and above their creator. Its sound is gold. Yet, as soon as the rst hole is cut into the gold background, as soon as the blue sky enforces its clear trueness, the lost natural unity must be sought articially from a new basis. Until then, the closing latch of the unity was outside of it. Of what signicance it is, that this unity must be found within the picture itself, will occupy us at a later point. Here, however, Piero della Francesca is mentioned, with whom, for a short while, all the individual parts are still embedded in a tender transcendental


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unity. Its sound is silver. Its deep intimate bondage can even impart upon a portrait – of Baista Sforza – or in the colorful works of his contemporaries, something supernatural, deeply universal. Incidentally, here we now arrive at decisions from which the question of the Gesamtkunstwerk [total work of art] would have to be judged anew. Despite all misunderstandings, the Gesamtkunstwerk is the goal – certainly not consisting of assembled parts that never rise above the sum of its parts, but a [total work of art] that, no maer which or how many means it uses, still causes all the strings to vibrate, because it is on a high level, where everything is still a concentrated unity. That means Weber’s “Oberon” comes from unity, while Richard Wagner’s work strives for unity. With Rogier van der Weyden painting became entirely detached from architecture. I mention this name because his triptych “Saint Luke Painting the Virgin” shows particularly clearly the consequences of this separation. Rogier is inconceivable without the work of the Brothers van Eyck, of whom art history rightfully teaches had been continuing the tradition of the small and precise, detailed and colorful depictions of the life of the book illuminators whose delicate illustrations they enlarged to glossy oil paintings. But if art history ascribes credit to them for this – “why should they not take the good where they found it” – in consequence of our earlier discussions, we see with it a crucial step towards depth. Only now does the modern concept of “picture” 2 originate as a painted, free, mobile, framed panel. And we emphasize that it was books, picture books, where painting had to obtain inspiration at the moment when it nally separated itself from architecture. – “Picture” is not our initial conception of it still today the illustrated page of a book? Are not book and picture still associated concepts in our minds? How weak, how meaningless must painting have become when it descended from the vaults, and now standing at a loss, found no other way to continue than through the enlargement of book pages! Art history completely glosses over this critical period of time. It also sees here only the normative logical progress. But we believe that the fate of modern painting had been sealed at this time and in what follows we want to draw aention to some of the consequences. Hereafter painting sees itself forced to be gegenständlich (concrete, objective). Das Gegenständliche is now the standard of painting and becomes the new ground that supports it. Good painting was not necessarily nongurative, but it certainly remained free from Gegenständlichen; it made use of the object. The object never aected its style, yet at this point one can almost speak of a “Style of the Gegenständlichen.” Until then, painting did not have to justify itself. It only needed to create beauty and wealth and to be. Something else relieved it from justication. The vast, wide-spanning, all-encompassing work gave it its justication. Through this, it had its own meaning. Yet this meaning was not in architectural form, not in sculpture 2

Easel painting.


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and not in painting, but dened by their commonality. If painting now completely separated itself from architecture, it had to search for a new meaning, a new justication. And quite naturally this justication could no longer be part of a larger unity separate from painting itself, but the new justication fell as a burden on its previously untroubled shoulders. Only within itself could painting be justied, and it could not be anything other than the subject, upon which it could erect itself through the clarity and general recognition of the object. At one time it was part of the cosmic feeling. Then it spread itself ornamentally into the wings of architecture. It was borne aloft, high and entirely free where it could form itself, as the true words of Meister Eckhart suggest: “The more imprisoned, the freer.” But now, with the Eyks, painting has become profane. It has self-consciousness, and because painting has made the reassuring observation that no punitive deus ex machina pulls it back, if it enlarges the exquisitely delicate pages of the miniatures to “paintings,” for only now it believes that its separation, although it is the degeneration of the sense for the context, is the true freedom. But perhaps it does not realize yet that it just went into slavery, into the hard constraint of Gegenständlichen. What its colors were like in the strong and broad protection of architecture[!] What their existence could have aected there[!] The more the colors devoted their force, and poured out their strength, the more the whole gained. Did not the architect himself have to wish the greatest freedom for them? Is that not called true freedom? Consequently one has discovered that one can actually use the colors themselves for something, and because the painter can now choose from all profane things that he wants to portray, he believes painting to be freed. However, in doing this, the painter confuses his own freedom, whose benets are of no interest to anyone, with the freedom of painting. This does not exist anymore. Painting has become a means for the purpose of reproducing objects and is therefore not free. At one time the colors had reality, now they signify realities. Now the frame as we know it today appears: four xed straight lines, four right angles. The curve and the pointed arch now no longer make sense. After all, nothing connects these panels with the world of the stars anymore, or even with the oscillating vaults of architecture. The “picture” is an enlarged book page that unconditionally adopts its frame from there as well. As a white margin regularly frames the illustration on all four sides in a book, so do the black, golden, smooth or proled moldings frame the new picture, which in the course of generations becomes stronger and more robust. Enlarged to the size of a painting, the page of a book clearly requires a solid barrier, which is supposed to negate the thought of turning the page. Now we have completed the toneless, neutral, conceptual, non-existent border of the image, which belongs to representational content, like its shadow. – Geometry instead of music. The triptych from Rogier van der Weyden is in this regard also surprisingly communicative. The painter felt that this new simple and quick creation of an

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image was such a magnicent triumph, that he repeated the feat again in the center of the picture. He opens a wall behind the gures in the center, and by seing two columns in the opening he establishes the framing lines of a new smaller triptych. Into it he paints a landscape that one could with no eort remove from the whole. – But let us also look into the side chamber behind the back of St Luke. There a book lies on the lectern. Are not its columns of writing, just as they become visible with their white-framed borders, once again a type of triptych with three rectangular elds? And even further, the psychological relationships could be pursued without any forced eort. Above the lectern, a tall, narrow glass pane is open in the window. We look through the painted window frame onto the painted landscape, and the format of the book layout is repeated in the same way. Therefore, in the lile window frame a small part of nature appears again, apparently conceived by the painter with pleasure as a new image in the picture, a detail. Outside of the merely painted, this detail could in reality almost be enough for the painter as a subject to paint. Here at the very beginning of the naturalistic development, we see random window or door openings emerge unconsciously for the painter as a result of the search for image-creating elements. The preceding analysis should have already given the reader the idea that in Rogier’s painting a remarkable spliing of consciousness must be present. Certainly this is the case. Only in the use of the triptych form, in its ability to extend beyond the individual picture plane, does it still refer to the former richness. There in the cloak of the Virgin drawing a oating arch on the oor is a last memory of archways pouring out into the high spandrel of the Divine, which seem to have a continuing eect. But otherwise, the picture is like a detailed program of the new age. By no means do I forget the fate of architecture, if I may now elaborate on this. In reality, it is the decline of architecture, which we follow here. All the weakening that the picture continually suers is only possible because the trunk continues to loose more and more sap. Instead of an ideal surface, there is now a fore- and background. Rogier paints the holy scene in the foreground. One still feels, I repeat, in the gure of Mary from the corner of her cloak up to the inclined head, a hint of the nuzzling in the spandrels of an arch. Here she is still hovering a lile – enough for us to enjoy this Madonna. But already the robe of St. Luke is uncertain. The folds of his red cloak falter. They do not want to swing freely and widely anymore, but the aempt to construct them objectively, to enliven them, will not succeed either. The painter feels uncomfortable here in the front. And with a sigh of relief, he escapes the closeness as soon as he can, to spread his art of painting beyond the second frame, just into the triple window of the middle ground. And this escape into the distant, remote view now becomes commonplace. The smaller and the more middle-class or homely the paintings become, the more they let the extravagant view wander into


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the distance.3 “Foreshortening” serves them as a means – “foreshortening” becomes their mantra. Compared to the framing arch, the new convenient “natural” square frame is already “foreshortened.” Rogier’s view, his image within the image, is really a model meant to produce as much as possible in the shortest and fastest way. There is no relation to the theme of St Luke in the richness of the background. As if to demonstrate their pleasure with this picturesque accomplishment, these people who contemplate the wide view onto the landscape, condently turn their backs on the saintly activity. – A new framework, a new picture, and a new audience: the division of consciousness. Yet it is worthwhile to point out that the tendency to escape into the remote eld of view, in turn, must strengthen the inclination towards objectivity. Only for the viewer who steps back from the painting, do the drifting wonders of the eye become objective concepts. So the secular spirit moves into painting at the same pace by which painting emancipates itself from the walls of the house of God and moves into the homes of the middle-class. It begins the new achievement of “art in life,” continuing up to an “art in commerce and industry.” The cathedrals become increasingly indierent, the living spaces become increasingly articial – although not richly decorated in the true sense, since even the appreciation of all ornament decreases quickly. The blue sky of the panels extinguishes the bright, punched nimbuses, stars, crosses, rosees and crystals, all the subtle, graceful, delicate paerns of the background. Already Rogier omits any halo, even a quiet thin circle of gold. Who knows whether or not those gures on the bridge that enjoy the beautiful view out of the picture or perhaps into the picture are not Mary and Luke going for a walk after the painting session. In the future, the only place on a picture where gold is still permied is outside of the picture, on the frame. Therefore, the ight of the gold from the center to the border is a tendency that is constantly growing. Not even in the fabric of the canopy does Rogier depict the gold as gold. And it is the same thing, whether by his clever foreshortening he reduces the stunningly colorful brocades of their beautiful unfolding or if instead of pure gold he depicts in yellow and gray the semblance of badly lit, faded gold. Now we are just a few steps from the end. With Rogier the holy scene has still remained a close-up, behind it a remote view. In Hugo van der Goes’ “Birth”4 at the Berlin Museum, the biblical scene is transferred to the remote 3

While Behne uses the German word “bürgerlich,” the literal translation “bourgeoisie” does not quite mirror the specic meaning in this context, where it describes a middle-class quality of life. This appears more similar to the meaning of “homely” than that of “bourgeois,” which has a more sociological or political connotation based on the French origin of the word, bourgeoisie. 4 The painting by Hugo van der Goes that Behne is referring to has the German title “Die Geburt Christi” (“The Birth of Christ”). It was purchased in 1903 by the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum in Berlin, Germany. The painting is now in

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view, and the close-up is reduced to two male characters who pull apart a curtain on the left and right. Certainly this painting of van der Goes has considerably more artistic power than that of Rogier. The strong solid heads of these two men are wonderful, as is the devoted foreboding tenderness of Mary, the restrained loveliness of the ne angels. The hidden melancholy of this painting, visible in the almost glassy golden brown angel with golden wings, is singled out from its much more profane surroundings. Here we have an example that the career of a true artist, who is forced to swim against the current of tradition, will henceforth end tragically. Considering all that, it cannot be overlooked that van der Goes’ “Birth,” in the continuation of the remote view as an actual picture form, again signies an important phase of art Soon thereafter, the gures denoting the close-up in the foreground are omied. The image exists only in the exclusive form of the remote view, which for both the academic Hildebrand as well as the Impressionist Weisbach stabilize for modern art. While the painting of van der Goes was a striking enhancement of the time’s trends in a particular direction, as well as a poignant nal reference to a prior blossoming, Vermeer from Delft with his painting of a party in Braunschweig, introduces the full, deep, irresistible current of the general norm. 5 Despite all the adversities of perception at the time, where van der Weyden began the separation of foreground and background, van der Goes almost succeeded in neutralizing the concept of the background once again. (The terms “remote view” and “background” are not to be confused.) With Vermeer, the picture falls apart, sharp as a knife into scene and background. This background is a single-color lm, not developed simultaneously with the gures or out of a single movement with them, but as a consequential lling-in of the coloristic gap. With Vermeer, one always emphatically admires his ne taste, and no one will deny that he has it. But this emphasis on taste already includes the verdict that with Vermeer, the art of color, to speak only of this, is no longer a totality, but has already frozen into proportionality. His surprising achievements of taste are no longer unities in the higher sense. They do not result from necessity, nor are they completed by a higher, covertly operating unity, as we have still found in Piero della Francesca. Rather, they are simply evidence of the already announced quest for unity within the image. Arithmetically, one part results from the other. The sum is always the same in pictures of this kind; but it is continually subdivided dierently. No step can be taken here beyond the natural human experience into the unexplored, the new. The picture becomes an arithmetical example. For this the possession of the Gemäldegalerie SMPK in Berlin. In German and in English, the painting is beer known under the title “Die Anbetung der Hirten” (“The Adoration of the Shepherds”). 5 Behne seems to refer here to the painting “Girl with a Wineglass” painted by Jan Vemeer in 1659–60 that is part of the collection Herzog-Anton-Ulrich Museum in the German city of Braunschweig.


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reason, the images appear so empty over time. Who would not notice that the Kantian concept of the analytical judgment and the synthetic judgment have a priori their purest and clearest Anologon6 in the contrast between old and new visual art? In the pictures of the old transcendental unity, there were no pronounced contrasts. Now the contrast becomes a primary means of preparing an eect; for example, in the picture discussed, the contrast of the rich, bright salmonred dress in front of the dull complementary wall. The same repeats itself in a smaller way in the stained glass window with its coat of arms. From the deep richness of the stained-glass church windows nothing remains but a cheap eect. Now the painter is looking for dierent means by which to conceal the fateful emptiness of his pictures. He loves to introduce anecdotalpsychological moments. And with them, his representations again approach a domain to which they already aspire: stage-likeness. Here, to single out a detail, the direction of the girl’s aention clearly implies a relationship with the audience in front of the stage. The educated man of today is not moving at all in his “eect world,” in which I am using the expression of Jacob von Üxküll,7 but within the stage set of a theater and according to the directions of an artist who knows how to consistently dispel all the essentials from everything. With that unwavering logic which operates in all artistic work, there appears in the background of our picture a painting with its painted frame. We could not wish for a beer element by which to identify the conception, which this time period has of a picture. A painting, a picture is a painted and framed surface of wood or cloth, which should be similar to an object of domesticity as well as tasteful. One hangs such works of art in the parlor where they have become a kind of furniture. Now, if a painter paints a bourgeois parlor, which is as worthy a subject for art as anything else, why should he then not also paint a smaller scale parlor on the wall, which, like the honest painting of a colleague, could hang in that same parlor as a framed picture on the wall? Consequently, in one picture innitely many parlors could theoretically be possible one inside the other. No one resents this. Why should they? But that no one cares is proof the sensitivity is lost that every work of art is an exploration of the meaning of the world and therefore something honestly exclusive. Every work of an artist that is perceived as true steps into the world condently. In this way the true artist could only feel it a dissolution of his entire being if he was expected to allude within his creation to the fact that such things were everywhere by the dozen. Here, profanity almost becomes frivolous. 6

Behne uses this spelling and seems to be referencing Kant’s Critique of Judgment. 7 Jacob von Üxküll’s “Wirkungswelt” or “Wirkwelt” is an expression in semiotics in the eld of biology. We found references in English to Üxküll’s work where the translated term “eect world” was applied.


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Now we have the continuation of Rogier van der Weyden who indeed already painted a picture in a picture, but did not justify it as an isolated, framed achievement of someone else. Even the most boring frame of a painted, very indierent picture has become a sucient object for the art of painting. At the same time we recognize why it was inevitable that the banal square frame would aain such immense importance. We have already heard from where this frame came from, yet as a parlor painting, as a piece of the furniture, the picture understandably had to adapt to its new environment of chairs, windows, tables, cabinets and chests. However, these are all square for practical purposes. So, what else was there for the painting to do than to also t into four right angles? With that, its separation from the architectonic, its deviation from the cosmological, was completed. Forced to the Gegenständlichen , the picture in the parlor or lounge leads a profane existence. It integrates itself amongst the drapes, curtains and knick-knacks. The halos and ornaments of the former fore- and background were melted into the thick, heavy gold of the sculpturally carved frame proving that it has a certain elevated appearance amongst the commodities of bourgeois existence. With its sculptural potency, the frame becomes necessary as a way to avoid confusion between the objects in the picture and the objects on the table. Although art serves the daily life of the bourgeois, it is being isolated within the domestic culture by glamour, so much so that the frames become always heavier and wider. Through the emphasis on the frame – one should not think that these explanations are a play with analogies! – The clear tendency of a time is expressed, in which all things, all questions and tasks are accustomed to escape from the center to the periphery, so one could safely speak of a culture of the frame. Classic examples are in the philosophy of David Hume, in the biology of Charles Darwin, in the art of Claude Monet and in the art theory of Hippolyte Taine. From the edge of experience no path leads to the center of knowledge, from evolution no stairs to the organic, from observation no eort to design and from the milieu no hairspliing to art. A painting from Ludwig von Hofmann entitled Picture with Frame emerges as a nal culmination of the imaginary tendencies. 8 Despite its naming, it is a frame with no picture. It consists of a line in the upper half marking the horizon. Above is a uniform surface, below an almost completely uniform surface: sky and sea, seen entirely from afar, entirely as an idea. The cover page of a book is more interesting and richer in content. Around the void is a rich, lively frame, which shows to the right and left of a Beethoven-like winged head, a male and a female gure below which are many strongly articulated, unremarkable eorts at ornamentation. That is how we have come to the end. The path led us from the picture without a frame to the frame without a picture. The painting Behne seems to refer is “Sunset over the Sea,” now located at the Schloss and Museum Belvedere in Vienna, Austria. 8


W

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hat we have traced is the decline not only of painting, but also of all art since the owering of the Gothic. The historical appraisal of the great achievements of individuals, these mostly tragic creative forces of the dierent time periods – Raphael, Grünewald, Breughel, Daumier, van Gogh – does not change its devolution. Despite their accomplishments painting’s decline cannot be changed. And it is so complete, so all-dissolving, that the question of a new beginning barely ventures forth from this absolute destruction. And yet, a new magnet is already upon us that exerts its powerful mysterious araction. Where to? To a great new creative architecture. Certainly, things remain here in the sphere of the foreboding, and as accurately as we were able to follow the trajectory of painting down to zero, as dreamlike as it may be, there remains the proud, alluring, lustrous path upward. It is impossible to prepare the way to plausibility step by step. That would be like jumping towards a distant mountain and always falling back exhausted. But we have the promise of Paul Scheerbart’s poetry, and in it we have the certainty of a distant homeland. In Scheerbart’s poetry are temples in the sunlight whose absolute being take our breath away. There are no structures on earth, and that is not saying too much, whose distance from us would be as equally gigantic as the mysterious distance of Indian temples. Their image appears demonical; unseling our conscience from the moment we have seen it. Beauty is erected in front of us and makes its ideal demand upon us in holy serenity, though it does so relentlessly. Only a few hear it; but those who have been moved by it, have no other choice. As a model, beauty requires enormous amounts of surrender, overcoming, purity and simplicity. It demands a pristine, elemental-crystalline humanity; a humanity that yields to no terms, that endures no convention, permits no restriction from the outside, only because it is based on power; a humanity, which revealingly shines through all derivations and refractions of our culture, moved by the burning drive for nakedness. This ideal requires a separation from the Europe of our time that, as a consequence, the surroundings can call only ridiculous and extravagant; this ideal requires such a simple and yet so serious reevaluation of all values that the contemporary can only call it foolish, illogical and unhistorical. But as perfect as this spiritual renewal is for transforming almost every aspect into its opposite, and as many complicated and useful achievements of European civilization, culture and development it gives away for what seems ridiculously lile, the aected will not withdrawal from any demand for it. Full of gratitude, his eye is focused on the beauty of the Indian temples, and he knows that this supreme beauty of the earth is a compass that cannot lead one astray. For by necessity, the highest meaning manifests itself in the highest beauty. But for that individual who is absorbed by the sight of an Indian temple – even if he relies on an imperfect picture of the distant wonders – where does the period of European painting remain that we have


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taken so seriously just for the sake of illustration? Where does it remain? It seems to us almost laughable now. Does the proud Europe concern itself with such works? With the smile of a young girl towards the audience because a covetous gentleman forces a glass of wine upon her? With a frame without a picture? We need to rise to Sano di Pietro, to the cathedral window, to arrive at things that can even be named in the same breath as the sight of Indian architecture. But we have seen how logical, how consistent, how strongly preoccupied with its own achievements, Europe came to be what it is today. Europe is simply a Europe that paints. But it also houses architects in it. The fact that they give themselves the same name as the former creators of wonderful works should certainly not lead us to accept them as artists. Europe is a Europe that paints. The majority of today’s most recognized “architects” began as painters. As they were not even talented enough to paint, it suced for modern architecture. One can gather from this how beautiful it must be. There is only one ne art: building. 9 Painting and chiseling belong to it. Neither as slaves, nor as servants. Rather, the unfolding art of building carries painting and chiseling. It is entirely unnecessary to establish a theory about the position of the visual arts amongst each other. There is only one ne art: building. Apart from building, painting and sculpture only exist in a depraved form. Only during the Gothic period, had Europe a visual art for the last time. But is India not even more than the Gothic? At no time has Europe come so close to the Orient as during the Gothic. It is also true: in one respect, the Gothic is supremely beautiful – the sweet owing intimacy of glass windows belongs to it alone. We certainly do not want to do without them. But as a whole, India towers high above all others as the purest culture of the Orient. Even China fades next to India – the nest, most spiritual realism next to pure transcendence. And our Gothic is again nothing but a beautiful dream of the Orient, which the Crusaders dreamt about after their return home. The Gothic, as with all our most beautiful things, like Venice, is only one tenth European – and therefore so beautiful. The light always comes from the East. But Europe was capable of the Gothic – and should therefore no longer be satised with less than its beauty. Europe should again truly create – that is: build. The rebirth of architecture – it began with the period in which the distant model began to exert its magnetic power. It cannot be made psychologically plausible, as lile as any birth. It is a miracle, as good as any birth. It began by feeding the trunk new sap, by renewing the roots, although the leaves may at rst continue to wilt and fall. None of us will live to see the ultimate birth, the complete regeneration.

9

“Building” as an act not as a completed edice.

Figure 71 Palitana, the Great Temple Chamukte.


THE DEAD PALACE AN ARCHITECT’S DREAM BY PAUL SCHEERBART

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I

knew where I wanted to go Therefore I assiduously climbed higher up the poorly carved rock stairs – and was soon there. And I stood before the striking palace, that I have wanted all my life. But I have never seen it as clearly as at that time. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––

The palace sits on the mountaintop like a jagged spiked helmet. I am very astonished. But – it is so quiet. I have never felt such dreadful solitude. And ruby columns pierce my eye – and the vast halls of the blazing sun burn so strong. So this is the striking palace I have wanted all my life! Everything is so dead! And a voice speaks to me: “The art that you dreamed up is always dead. The palaces have no life. Trees live – animals live – but palaces do not live.” “Therefore,” I respond, “I want the dead!” “Yes!” I hear it call – but I do not know who says that. “I wanted the silence – the peace!” I cry wildly, in grim disgust. “The silence,” I hear now, “you will certainly fnd it – don’t be so greedy after all!” –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––

And I knew what I wanted – I wanted the silence – without pleasure – the departure into infnity! The dead palace trembled – trembled!

Figure 72

The Great Pagoda of Udaipur.

SOURCES

T

he Poems “The New Life” and “The Dead Palace” are taken from Paul Scheerbart’s fantastic hippopotamus-novel Always Courageous! (Minden: Verlag J.C.C. Bruns, 1902), with the permission from the publisher and Scheerbart’s widow. The remaining contributions appear for the rst time in print. Figures 1, 13 and 70 are from Gonse, L’art gothique , Figures 3, 28 and 29 are from C. Brossard, Geographie pioresque et monumentale de la France; Figures 4, 21 and 33 are from Braun and Hogenberg, Urbes , c. 1700; Figure 9 is from C. H. Peters, De nederlandsche Stedenbouw , Figures 10 and 12 are from Perrot and Chipiez, L’art antique , Figure 7 is from Handbuch der Kunstwissenschaft, Lief . Figure 14 is from Prospects of all the cathedrals etc. of England and Wales , Figures 15 and 57 are from Unwin, Grundlagen des Städtebaues , Figures 20 and 38 are from Daniel Meißner, Politica-Politica , 1700, Figure 22 is from Pinder, Deutsche Dome im Mielalter , Figure 23 is from Fergusson, History of Indian Architecture , Figures 24 and 25 are from David Roberts, Egypte and Nubia and Holy Land , Figure 26 is from Grabar, Russische Architektur , Figure 27 is from an old aquacolor print, Figure 30 is from Dahlberg, Suecia , Figure 32 is from Die schöne deutsche Stadt , Figures 35, 55 and 58 are from Börschmann, Baukunst der Chinesen , Figures 36 and 37 are from Zeiler-Merian, Topographia , Figure 52 is from Schinkel, Kriegsdenkmäler , Figure 53 is from Möller van den Bruck, Der preußische Stil , Figure 66 is from Mebes, um 1800, and Figures 6, 11, 16, 17, 18, 19, 31, 34, 40, 41, 67, 68, 71 and 72 are from the portfolio of works for single sheets in the Kunstgewerbemuseums zu Berlin. From the same source as from the Lipperheide Kostümbibliothek are the previously mentioned gures by kind permission and support of library management. Figure 2 is a reprint from Kunstwart , Figures 5, 8, 54, 59, 60 and 64 are from Städtebau , Figures 61, 65 and 59 are from Deutsche Bauzeitung with the permission of the editors, Figure 62 is from Oo Wagner, Die Großstadt , Figures 50 and 51 are with the approval of the construction department of the Deutschen Gartenstadt-Gesellschaft. The other gures are taken from originals.


LIST OF FIGURES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39.

Page St Barbara by Jan van Eyck ...................................................................... Charles Coet, City Image ....................................................................... Mont-Saint-Michel ..................................................................................... Strasbourg by Braun and Hogenberg, Urbes ........................................ Monte Compatri near Rome .................................................................... Durham ....................................................................................................... Adrianople, Selim Mosque ...................................................................... Augsburg, St Ulrich Church ..................................................................... Utrecht by J.V. Vianen, 1598 ..................................................................... Assyrian temple, reconstruction by Perot and Chipiez ....................... Madurai, Great Gopura ............................................................................ Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem, reconstruction by Perrot and Chipiez ................................................................................................ Cologne ....................................................................................................... London ........................................................................................................ Selinunt, reconstruction by M. Hulot ..................................................... Athens .......................................................................................................... Yangon, Shewdagon Pagoda ................................................................... Salamanca ................................................................................................... Yangon ................................................................ ........................................ Buarcos after Daniel Meißner, Politica-Politica 1700 ........................... Tzan after Brau, Urbes, c. 1700 ............................................................. Prenzlau ...................................................................................................... Angkor Wat, elevation after Fergusson .................................................. Cairo after David Robert, Egypte and Nubia ........................................ Hebron in Palestine, after David Roberts, Holy-Land ......................... Great Cathedral in the Kremlin of Moscow .......................................... “Vue du Kreml de Moscou prise du pne de pierre”—Aquatint sheet La Chaise-Dieu ........................................................................................... Béziers ......................................................................................................... Strängnäs after Dahlberg, Suecia ............................................................ Pisa, Piazza del Duomo ............................................................................ Danzig, St Mary’s Church ........................................................................ Aden after Braun, Urbes c. 1700 .............................................................. Srivillipuur ............................................................................................... Miao tai e, Memorial Temple for Chancellor Chang-Liang ............. Paris after Merian ...................................................................................... Speyer after Merian ................................................................................... Mainz after Meißner ................................................................................. Toledo .........................................................................................................

33 43 44 45 46 46 47 47 48 48 49 50 51 51 52 52 53 54 55 56 56 57 58 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 64 65 65 66 67 68 68 69 69

146

40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72.


Bangkok–Siam, the great Wat Chaeng Pagoda ..................................... 70 Chidambaram, Shiva-Pond ...................................................................... 71 City crown, east elevation ........................................................................ 87 City crown, west elevation ....................................................................... 89 City crown, bird’s eye view looking west .............................................. 91 City silhouee with City Crown .............................................................. 92 Diagram of the new city ............................................................................ 92 City crown, image ..................................................................................... 93 City crown, plan and silhouee .............................................................. 94 City crown, perspectival view ................................................................. 95 Garden City Estate Falkenberg near Berlin ........................................... 96 Street views from Falkenberg .................................................................. 97 (Figures 42–51 after drawings by the author) Design for a cathedral on the Templower Mountain near Berlin in Remembrance of the Liberation War by Schinkel .......................... 106 Design for a memorial of Friedrich the Great on the Leipziger Pla in Berlin by Gilly ............................................................................ 106 Karlsruhe, city plan ................................................................................... 107 Temple of Confucius in Qufu after Börschmann, Baukunst der Chinesen ..................................................................................................... 107 Plan scheme after Ebenezer Howard, “Gartenstädte in Sicht” ......... 107 Central complex for Letchworth Garden City after Unwin, Grund-lagen des Städtebaus ...................................................................... 107 Plan sketch of the Qufu City after Börschmann .................................. 108 Elias-Hollpla with City Hall and Perlach-Tower in Augsburg after drawings by Dr. Former ................................................................ 109 The new Municipal Building in New York .......................................... 110 New York City skyline ............................................................................ 110 Air Center of the future XXII. Community District of Vienna by Oo Wagner ........................................................................................ 111 Klein-Hoheim development near Stugart, project by Jacobus Görtel ......................................................................................................... 111 First prize in the competition for a master plan for the Australian Capital by W. Grin-Chicago ............................................................... 112 International World Center, Project by H.C. Anderson and M.E. Hébrard ..................................................................................................... 112 Ministry of Foreign Aairs in Berlin .................................................... 113 Palace of Justice in Brussels ................................................................... 113 The Capitol in Washington .................................................................... 114 Design of a Monument for the People, Pantheon of Humanity by H.P. Berlage ........................................................................................ 114 Cathedral in Rouen ................................................................................. 123 Palitana, the Great Temple Chamukte ................................................. 139 The Great Pagoda of Udaipur ............................................................... 142

CONTENTS Page

The new life: An architectonic apocalypse by Paul Scheerbart ..................

35

40 examples: Historic city crowns .................................................................... 41 The city crown Architecture ................................................................................................... The old city .................................................................................................... The chaos ........................................................................................................ The new city ................................................................................................... A body without a head ................................................................................ Raise a ag ..................................................................................................... The city crown ............................................................................................... Economic costs for the city crown ..............................................................

74 76 77 78 79 82 86 98

Epilogue: Recent aempts at crowing cities ................................................. 101 AUFBAU by Erich Baron ................................................................................. 115

Rebirth of architecture by Adolf Behne ......................................................... 125 The dead palace: An architect’s dream by Paul Scheerbart ........................ 141 Sources ................................................................................................................ 143 List of gures ..................................................................................................... 145


Afterword: The City Crown in the Context of Bruno Taut’s Oeuvre

Ulrike Altenmüller-Lewis and Mark L. Brack

In Taut’s writings, manifest and visions we find the arc of suspense between reality and utopia, between real existence and idealistic motivation. Helga Schmidt-Thomsen

Bruno Taut’s work appears in virtually every comprehensive survey of modern architecture and he continues to be widely recognized for his significant contributions to European avant-garde architecture in the years surrounding the First World War. Nevertheless, what is generally presented about his life and career is very limited. A handful of Taut’s built projects and few selected writings on architectural theory are referenced again and again without acknowledging his larger, remarkably productive and diverse career. By the time he died at the age of 58, Taut had designed close to 200 projects in Germany, Russia, Japan and Turkey. These included: prize-winning competition entries, built and unrealized projects ranging from furniture designs and interiors to exhibition pavilions, a wide variety of public and commercial buildings as well as houses and housing estates and large urban development projects. Taut’s written work was perhaps even more prodigious and comprises at least 21 major publications or books and approximately 300 essays and manuscripts. 1 Although Die Stadtkrone has long been recognized as a significant contribution to architectural theory, its difficult German text was never translated into English before and one suspects that its continuing renown might be more attributable to its reputation rather than first-hand experience with the book. Die Stadtkrone can be seen as a turning point where Taut’s social and spiritual agendas became equal to the pragmatic and aesthetic impulses found in his work. As the last few decades have permitted better access to original documents concerning Taut’s life, a clearer picture of his accomplishments has emerged. This essay will summarize his life and career and will also introduce the reader to more recent (and largely German) research on him that provides crucial insights into his theoretical work and personal development after his emigration from Germany. These new materials also permit a fuller understanding of Die Stadtkrone’s influence

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on his own work and place the text more inclusively within the cultural landscape of its time.

FORMATIVE YEARS AND EARLY PROFESSIONAL LIF E

Bruno Taut was born on May 4, 1880 in Königsberg, Prussia (today Kaliningrad in Russia) as the second son of merchant Julius Taut. Taut’s brother Max was four years younger and he also became a well-known architect. After Grammar School, Bruno Taut continued his education for three semesters at the Königsberg School for Construction Trades, which was only half the time of the usual training period and undoubtedly reflects his precocious talent. 2 In 1902 he began working for several architects in Hamburg and Wiesbaden. In 1903 he seized the opportunity to work with Bruno Möhring, one of the most recognized Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) architects in Berlin, who introduced Taut to innovative construction methods with steel and stone. The following year, Taut moved to Stuttgart where he was employed at the firm of Theodor Fischer from 1904 to 1908. Under Fischer, he expanded his knowledge of urban design and planning. At the same time he busily worked on architectural design competitions, sometimes together with his brother Max. With Fischer’s help, Taut won his first own commission in 1905: the renovation of the village church of Unterriexingen, for which he collaborated with the painter Franz Mutzenbecher. Together they created an innovative and colorful interior, strongly influenced by Taut’s own painting studies, that reflected his interest in using color as a medium to create spatial effects. Taut returned to Berlin in 1908 to practice with Heinz Lassen and to begin studies in art history and, under Theodor Goecke (a friend of Camillo Sitte), urban planning. The following year, Taut and Franz Hoffmann started their professional association in 1909. 3 Three years later, Max Taut joined them; however, he worked rather independently. 4 While in some earlier publications Hoffmann has been dismissed as Taut’s draftsman, it is now apparent that Hoffmann was actually an equal partner and life-long friend with whom Bruno Taut fully collaborated. 5 During their first years, Taut & Hoffmann had predominantly received commissions for apartment buildings in Berlin. Their major breakthroughs came with the exhibition pavilions “Monument of Iron” (Leipzig, 1913) and the “Glasshouse” (Cologne, 1914). Both were striking and original in form and material, and they brought the firm (or more specifically Taut himself) international recognition. At the same time, the low-income garden city estates “Am Falkenberg” in Berlin and “Reform” in Magdeburg were built and widely recognized for their innovation and quality. 6 With the outbreak of the First World War, Taut’s early architectural practice ended. Although Taut and Hoffmann worked on a number of residential planning projects and Bruno Taut also entered architectural design competitions, only a few buildings were realized during this time. During the war, Taut focused primarily on his theoretical work and writing. 7 One of the publications he prepared during the war was Die Stadtkrone, which was soon followed by Alpine Architektur . Matthew

AFTERWORD: THE CITY CROWN IN THE CONTEXT OF BRUNO TAUT’S OEUVRE

151

Mindrup discusses this period extensively in his preface to the translation of the anthology at hand. 8

GROSSSIEDLUNGEN � LARGE RESIDENTIAL HOUS ING ESTATES

Taut’s most productive period as designer began after the First World War and lasted from 1924 until his emigration in 1932. This was the time when he established himself as one of Germany’s pre-eminent architects for Siedlungen (residential housing estates). The initial inspiration for Taut’s large housing estates was primarily derived from older models: the garden city movement and company-sponsored housing for workers. Early in his career, Taut became highly interested in both. Inspired by reform movements and fueled by the socially focused development and planning policies that emerged during the early years of the Weimar Republic, similar affordable housing projects sprouted up throughout Germany. 9 Due to the growing impact of industrialization on society and accelerating migration into cities, housing was critically needed, especially after the end of the First World War. To accommodate the rapidly rising demand for living quarters for the working class, massive new housing estates were created, often in the more rural outer districts of urban centers. Here property prices were reasonable and expanding, tightly knit transportation systems allowed for easy commutes to other parts of the city. Philanthropic organizations and cooperatives also played crucial roles advocating for the demolition of the older, overcrowded nineteenth-century tenements and their replacement with more spacious and hygienic quarters. These developments were inspired by the British garden city movement and many new housing estates were planned as green and spacious towns not unlike what Taut described in The City Crown. When Taut later designed housing estates, however, he had to abandon the ideal of the completely self-contained community. Yet, Speidel maintains that Taut still adhered to the “core model of creating a more humane world, in which modest every-day dwellings are supplemented not only by worthy community buildings, but that, to reinforce their meaning, a purely artistic space should be incorporated, that has spiritual purpose only.”10 First, as Stadtbaurat (city architect) in Magdeburg from 1921 to 1924 and from 1924 with his many projects for GEHAG in Berlin, Taut became one of the leading German figures developing housing estates at the city periphery. 11 Thanks to his successful project for the Gartenstadt Reform (garden city “Reform”), the social-democratic Mayor of Magdeburg Hermann Beims invited Taut to join his staff as city architect and to oversee the development of a masterplan for housing. Taut hired Johannes Göderitz and Carl Krayl, two young and like-minded architects, to help create and implement the masterplan, including the detailed architectural color schemes. In order to win the support of the population for his plans for a far-reaching transformation of their city, Taut launched a newspaper campaign entitled “Aufruf zum farbigen Bauen” (appeal for colorful building).12 By 1922, 80 facades of existing buildings had been repainted with brilliant colors and radical abstract designs. While criticized by some locals and critics, the “colorful Magdeburg” promotion by

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the tourism industry through distinct postcards featuring its colorful streets and buildings proved successful.13 Throughout Taut’s oeuvre, we find brightly colored streets, buildings and details. Winfried Brenne and Helge Pitz have thoroughly researched color in Taut’s work. Brenne maintains that the architect used color to accentuate spaces, to create unity or contrast. Most importantly, Taut used color as he “attempted to free the plane from its two-dimensionality, so that the space can be experienced in a new way and to connect the landscape and the exterior space with the colored space”14 (see Plates 3, 4, 10 and 13). His conceptual ideas did not stop at the façade from an aesthetic perspective, as Brenne observes. Taut also considers energetic effects. While facades facing west and receiving afternoon or evening sun were often painted bright white or in light colors to balance their heat gain, facades facing east consider the “cool morning sun” with dark colors that collected and retained the warmth of the sun. While in his early housing project Taut remained monochromatic with details like windows and doors, he later introduced a wide spectrum of color and even used multiple colors for sashes of the same window or door (Plates 7, 8, 12 and 13 are good illustrations for these colored sashes). While one would assume that the effect might be discordant, in fact the colors enlived and humanized the buildings in a manner that is not apparent in black and white photographs.

DIE FETTEN JAHRE � THE FAT YEARS

In 1924 Taut returned to Berlin, where he worked closely with Martin Wagner and even partnered with him on a few projects, Taut’s large-scale housing developments in Berlin are now considered milestones in the history of urban design and public housing. Several housing estates by Taut – Gartenstadt Falkenberg (1913–16), Siedlung Schillerpark (1924–26), Hufeisensiedlung Berlin-Britz (1925–33) and Wohnstadt Carl Legien (1928–30) – were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2008 as the “Berlin Modernism Housing Estates.” The recommendation for the addition of these housing estates prepared by the World Heritage Committee stated: The housing estates reflect, with the highest degree of quality, the combination of urbanism, architecture, garden design and aesthetic research typical of early 20th century modernism, as well as the application of new hygienic and social standards. Some of the most prominent leading architects of German modernism were involved in the design and construction of the properties; they developed innovative urban, building and flat typologies, technical solutions and aesthetic achievements. … The six Berlin housing estates provide an outstanding expression of a broad housing reform movement that made a decisive contribution to improving housing and living conditions in Berlin. Their quality of urban, architectural and garden design, as well as the housing standards developed during the period, served as guidelines for social housing constructed since then, both in and outside Germany … The six Berlin housing estates are exceptional examples of new urban and architectural typologies, designed in the search


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for improved social living conditions. Fresh design solutions and technical and aesthetic innovations were incorporated by the leading modern architects who participated in their design and construction.15

When studying the plans of Taut’s housing estates, we quickly observe certain communalities: the buildings are usually not laid out in straight, symmetrical lines, but seem to dance in asymmetrical rows and ensembles, and d eep balconies enlivened the facades by creating interesting patterns of light and shadow (Plate 6). Both Speidel and Nerdinger trace this playfulness back to Theodor Fischer.16 To keep cost at a minimum, Taut embraced the opportunity of standardizing type modules and using state-of-the-art construction technology. Without creating monotony, he maximized results with very limited type differences. He created variety by mirroring, introducing slight shifts and setbacks, and varying the shapes of roof. He added character to houses and streets through color variations and thus managed to tie individual houses together into a unified ensemble (Plates 10 and 15). In the Hufeisensiedlung but also in Wohnstadt Carl Legien (Plates 1–5) and Waldsiedlung Onkel Toms Hütte (Plates 6–14), he managed to achieve smaller and larger differences, while his application of color at once unified the entire ensemble while distinguishing individual streets of houses. At times, he even chose a different species of tree for every street. The end result remains an inviting and sheltering but at the same time stimulating development that is far from the monotony of other housing estates and much of what would follow after the Second World War.17 In addition, the interiors of Taut’s housing units and apartments were very modern for the time. While small (a small apartment had just 48 m 2 and row homes 128 m2), each unit was equipped with a bathroom and kitchen and has either access to a garden or a balcony to connect to the green outdoors – a luxury practically unknown for the proletariat. An avid painter throughout his life, Taut aspired to capture the spatial qualities and tonal relationships found in nature with watercolors and pastels. 18 He was a most careful observer and later applied what he learned to his architectural designs. Speidel notes that there are obvious similarities between some of Taut’s early artwork, which he created in the Chorin area, where he enjoyed spending his weekends since 1903, and photos taken of the exterior spaces of the housing estates Onkel-Toms-Hütte19 (Plate 9). Taut enthusiastically embraced the opportunity to combine his passions for color, space and architecture when he received the commission for the renovation of the village church in Unterriexingen in 1906, while working in the Stuttgart office of Theodor Fischer. In his diary he noted: I am still obsessed with the thought that I have been carrying within me for the last two years: The unification of my talents in regards to color with my architectural skills. Colorful spatial compositions, colored architecture – these are areas, in which I may say something personal. I do not have to worry about fragmentation because painting will always bring me back together with architecture and vice-versa.20

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In his housing projects, Taut introduces color as a low-cost means to enliven the urban space. In his essay “Die Kunst der Siedlung” (“The Art of the Housing Estate”), he writes about the joy of living and the human instinct for play: “We must accept color as absolutely emanicipated/equitable besides form … Do not disrespect this gift of God, the pure unfractured color!”21 In 1930 Taut was appointed an honorary professor for Siedlungs- und Wohnungswesen (settlement and housing design) by the Technische Hochschule (technical university) in Berlin, a decision that was harshly criticized by the strengthening conservative powers. A self-confessed pacifist and “leftist,” he was not viewed as a “real academic” and this was considered a provocation to the traditional university system. 22 He taught seminars for residential design and introduced his students to group work where they collaboratively worked on designs. At the time, this was a rather innovative pedagogically. He also became a member of the Preußische Akademie der Künste (Prussian Academy of the Arts). Further evidence of his growing international reputation came with the Japanese International Association of Architects’ invitation to him to join as an honorary member and in 1931 he was elected an honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

DEPARTURE FROM BERLIN

In the fall of 1931, the world economic crisis took another turn for the worse. The already high rates of unemployment skyrocketed, global commerce came to a halt and the international financial world was at a near-total state of collapse. This also had devastating effects on the German economy and its political climate. In Berlin the situation was as bad as elsewhere and the architectural firm of Taut & Hoffmann virtually found itself without work.23 Consequently, Taut’s most productive and successful period as architect came to an end. 24 Though Taut did receive a small income from his teaching assignments at the Technische Hochschule of Berlin, the financial situation deteriorated quickly and, with the rising influence of National Socialism, it was for Taut to consider alternatives. 25 Still fascinated by revolutionary ideas, Taut became increasingly interested in the Soviet Union. Junghanns attributes several reasons for Taut’s interest in the rise of Soviet socialism.26 The development of urban design and planning following the abolition of private landownership presented unprecedented opportunities and problems. Naturally, the attempt to grant complete equality to women would likely have a major impact on family life and structure, housing and urban planning. Gigantic living communes like Moisei Ginsburg’s architecture for communal living were already on the drafting boards. 27 Taut hoped since the early 1920s that here he would find the beginning of a new society. He was intrigued and excited by the atmosphere and the potential opportunities to fulfill his ideas of a “socialism, in the non-political, supra-political sense.”28 Since 1926 Taut travelled to Moscow and was asked to give advice for housing projects. In the fall of 1931, he visited Moscow upon invitation by the Moscow Soviet (council) to help with the redesign of the capital city. With


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prospective involvement in numerous projects and the assignment to build up the city’s department for new construction, Taut’s decision to move was made. 29 In March 1932 Taut arrived in Moscow. 30 Erica Wittich, joined him later. He poured his energy and creativity into countless design competitions and design proposals as one might expect in an era of such extreme experimentation in new typologies and aesthetics.31 However, Taut’s dreams did not materialize and he soon became “irritated and frustrated,” which was amplified by feelings of disconnection and missing the support of his Berlin office.32 Barbara Kreis summarizes his stay in Moscow aptly: His stay was on one hand affected by his quest for understanding and reconnaissance, on the other hand by the existential wish to contribute a marker of the new architecture through his built work. This would be denied. It only played a subordinate role for Taut that – directly and indirectly – he had major influence on the re-organization of the building industry and on urban design and planning decisions. Called a “hopeless romantic,” 33 Taut appeared in Moscow as uncomfortable critic and maladjusted, lone warrior. The fact that he knew the country better than most of his colleagues did not prevent his failure, but it amplified his dissappointment.34

After less than a year in the Soviet Union, the Tauts returned to Berlin in February 1933. However, back at home the political situation had worsened. Since the Machtergreifung (seizure of power) by the German National Socialist Party in January, it was apparent that there was no stopping the reactionary forces. Stigmatized as a Kulturbolschewik (cultural Bolshevist), Taut’s name was blacklisted and he escaped from Berlin to avoid oppression and prosecution by the Nazi authorities. He lost his appointment at the Technische Hochschule and was dismissed as a member of the Academy of the Arts. Warned of his impending arrest through General Esquord von Hammerstein, the father of Taut’s daughter Elisabeth’s former classmate, Taut fled and left Germany for good on March 1, 1933.35 It was the same day that the Notverordnung zum Schutz von Volk und Staat (Presidential Decree for the Protection of People and State) became active and triggered a wave of arrests of so-called Staatsfeinde (enemies of the state).36

JAPAN

Early in his life, Taut had developed an intense fascination with the Near and the Far Orient, especially in India. Initially influenced by the work of the poet (and Stadtkrone collaborator) Paul Scheerbart, he saw in the Orient a philosophy of life that contrasted and sometimes surpassed European civilization. Speidel forges the term “a personal Orient,” a diffuse, eclectic image that emerges through Taut’s literature, photos and images and brief visits to rather random locations in the East. 37 Taut and Erica Wittich first fled to Zurich, Switzerland, where they stayed only briefly. What was planned originally as a leisurely educational trip to marvel at the cherry blossoms now turned into a rushed flight into exile in Japan. With the help of Isaburo Ueno, architect and Director of the Japanese International Association of Architects, the Tauts arranged what was planned as a three-month-long tour with

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lectures and conversations with Japanese colleagues to bridge the time until the projects in Moscow would materialize or he could proceed to the United States. They stayed for three and a half years. Taut was viewed as an important ally by the young founders of the Japanese International Association of Architects. Begun in 1927, the Association welcomed him with great respect and garnered attention for him from the press. Isaburo Ueno introduced him to key figures in Japanese modern architecture and took him to experience the treasures of Japanese culture, including the villa and gardens of Katsura in Kyoto, which made a profound impression on him. 38 Shortly after his arrival, Taut was commissioned to document his reactions to Japanese culture in a book he titled: NIPPON, Japan Seen with European Eyes. Here he provided a critical though admiring account of Japan’s recent cultural development. 39 This book was followed swiftly by NIPPON, Japanese Art Seen with European Eyes.40 Taut admired the beauty, simplicity and aesthetic of Japanese arts, which he appreciated first and foremost for their refinement of the most essential elements. With the exception of two small projects, Taut was unable to build while in Japan. However, he studied Japanese culture and architecture intensely. 41 He designed more than 300 objects of everyday use, taking advantage of the excellent craftsmanship of Japanese wood and bamboo workers and lacquer artists. 42 These designs, along with his work as consultant and the proceeds from his writings, were his main source of income at the time. In his books and articles, he examined Japanese culture, arts and architecture from a contemporary view while considering the past.43 His writings received wide recognition in his host country and showed many Japanese readers a way to find a synthesis of their own historical culture – that had been honored and preserved for centuries due to the country’s isolation from the world – with the new foreign influences that had flooded into Japan since the late nineteenth century. Taut documented and savoured many beautiful moments and deeply formative experiences he experienced abroad. Ultimately, however, living in exile was a difficult for him, professionally and personally. Although his publications on Japanese art, culture and architecture are still acknowledged as essential early studies of Japanese modernism, his inability to find architectural commissions left him deeply disappointed. His hopes to find more favorable conditions in which to contribute to the “neues Bauen” were thwarted and he felt more and more isolated.44 Taut’s early image of the Orient was originally influenced by the work of the poet Paul Scheerbart but his enthusiasm for anything “oriental” deepened in 1916 with his first visit to Istanbul. Later this fascination developed into a “catalyst … for Taut’s concept of the ‘ideal building,’ that unites all arts.”45 Speidel states that the “Orient” served for him as the origin of a Weltanschauung (world view) that would stay with him throughout his life. However, Akcan clarifies that Taut’s “melancholy for the east” was deeply reflective and that the more familiar he became with the cultures and traditions he encountered while in exile, the more he criticized superficial Western perceptions that were often based on stereotypes.46 Instead, he “intuitively realized some of the basic problems that non-European countries undergo in westernization.”47


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After finishing his book Das Japanische Haus und sein Leben (The Houses and People of Japan), Taut began drafting his “Architekturüberlegungen” (thoughts on architecture) in December 1935.48 He added another essay titled “Wie kann eine gute Architektur entstehen?” (“How Can a Good Architecture Occur?”). This was his first systematic attempt at putting his thoughts on the fundamental questions of architecture on paper. Its 170 pages in seven chapters constituted a self-critical reflection and were not intended for a general audience. 49 The third, more elaborate version, entitled “Architekturlehre” (“Lectures on Architecture”), would later serve as basis for his lectures and textbook on architecture when he assumed his new positions in Turkey.

TURKEY

In October 1936, Taut left Japan and traveled overland via Manchukuo and Bejing to Turkey, where he assumed office as Director/Dean of the School of Architecture at the Academy of Art in Istanbul. He would also serve as Director of the Architecture Department of the Turkish Ministry of Education. His friend and colleague Martin Wagner, who had also emigrated to Turkey, brokered this arrangement.50 Besides teaching, Taut was at last able to build again and for a brief time his commissions equaled those of his best years in Germany. Due to his dual appointment and the fervor with which he embraced his architectural commissions, one can easily imagine the pressures he was under. As a member of a large community of German emigrants who fled their home country to escape the Nazi regime, Taut participated in the renewal and modernization of Turkey under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s leadership that marked a radical break from Ottoman traditions.51 Within just two years, Taut designed 15 buildings and two decorative arrangements.52 Among them were several schools and large university buildings in Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir and Trabzon, and even a house for himself in Istanbul that was dramatically perched with a view of the Bosporus. These projects also allowed him to work again with several of his trusted former assistants from Berlin and Franz Hillinger became his right-hand man, overseeing the commissions. Taut’s final book was entitled Mimari Bigisi (Lectures on Architecture).53 The publication was intended not only as a textbook for students, but also as a manual for his colleagues at the Academy of Fine Arts in Istanbul, who had many reservations about his approach and intention to reform the School of Architecture and its curriculum. 54 Published first in Turkish, it was released the week after his death and only in 1977 in German with the title Architekturlehre, the text summarized the great themes that Taut explored during his career. It was enriched by his experiences abroad and considered the problematic transition from traditional to modern societies. 55 Taut’s very last commission was the design of the catafalque for the deceased and revered founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who had passed away on November 10, 1938. Originally commissioned to Martin Elsaesser, who had failed to produce a design agreeable to Parliament, Taut developed his proposal for the monument in the course of only one night, while severely ill with

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asthma, influenza and high fever. He did not accept the honorarium for this project, although he would have needed the money to finance the construction of his own house.56 That he was trusted with a commission of such political importance attested to the fact that he had become an architectural authority within his adopted country.57 Within a month of this last commission (which, like his other projects in Turkey, he never saw finished) Taut died on Christmas Eve in 1938 at the age of 58 from heart failure during a severe asthma attack. His selfless work on the catafalque was discussed in the Turkish press and connected his name with the memory of the Turkish national hero. 58 To this day, Bruno Taut remains the only foreigner and non-Muslim who was put to rest at the Edirnekapi Martyr’s Cemetery, the Cemetery of Honor of the Turkish State in Istanbul.59

DIE STADTKRONE IN THE CONTEXT OF TAUT’S LATER CAREER

Taut’s activities as an architect were frequently complemented by his journal articles.60 These communicate the conceptual ideas that stood at the core of both his personal work and what the firm Taut & Hoffmann stood for. Others were compiled into books or served the purpose of promoting the firm. 61 Speidel further notes that a number of texts can serve as cornerstones for a comprehensive body of architectural theory. Die Stadtkrone was central to Taut’s development as a designer and a theorist, connecting his views on expressionism, artistic buildings without a purpose (the exhibition pavilions) and the city crown proper with “die Wohnung” (the apartment) and new typologies. Taut’s own article “Die Stadtkrone” allowed him to discuss in theory what he had begun to build with his first housing estates “Am Falkenberg” and “Reform.” Taut belongs to a group of reformers after the First World War who made significant and lasting contributions to the field of urban design and social reform housing. In his article “Die Stadtkrone,”Taut explained how his ideal city should look. He began describing the overall size and layout of the city and its administrative and communal functions. While this ideal city is significantly larger than any of the housing estates or neighborhoods Taut designed in his own practice, they still addressed the need for functional circulation and infrastructure as well as a certain density to support the latter while setting limits to the expanse in order to maintain walkability. Next Taut focused on large parks and green spaces that allowed for the throughflow of air and better air quality. These green zones provided relief and relaxation for the entire community. Well aware of their restorative effect, they were meant to counterbalance urban life and establish a connection to the countryside and nature: In the west, from the direction of the prevailing wind, a large sector-shaped park brings good air into the city from the woods and fields. This park connects the heart of the city to the open countryside like a major arter y and should function like a true people’s park with playgrounds, grass play areas, water basins, a botanical garden, flower beds, rose gardens, a vast grove and forest stretching out into the open countryside. Axially to the city center, three main churches and schools are distributed in the living quarters with a classroom center (university)


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located in the middle of the park. Farther out again are the hospitals. As shortcuts, two main street lines lead diagonally to the train station.62

In his description of the residential quarters, Taut explained some of the guiding principles he had applied in his previous designs for housing estates, specifically for the housing estate “Am Falkenberg,” which the architecture firm Taut & Hoffmann realized in two stages between 1913 and 1915 and was introduced in Die Stadtkrone as an example. He applied similar design parameters but with added refinements to his later large-scale housing and urban design projects: In the residential quarters, the streets mainly run from nor th to south, providing the front of the houses on both east and west sides with sunlight as well as shelter from the wind for streets and gardens. Their design is entirely conceived in the character manner of a garden city, with rows of low, single-family houses with deep gardens for every house … so that the residential area itself becomes a horticultural zone making remote allotment gardens unnecessary. … According to the principles of the garden city, the height of the houses in residential quarters remains as low as possible. The commercial and administration buildings are allowed to exceed the height of houses by a maximum of one floor so that the city crown reigns powerfully and unreachable above the entire city.63

Taut never had the opportunity to build an actual “city crown,” a monument void of any purpose except for the sake of aggrandizing and centering the city and providing it with the ultimate transcendental space. Other planning aspects of the larger “Stadtkrone” however were influential: the abundance of green space and the return to garden city ideals, his emphasis on ample public space, and the successful creation of authentic communities that went beyond the mere provision of mass accommodation. 64 Through a few important basic design decisions, Taut created livable and inviting urban spaces by choosing appropriate proportions of streets in relation to the height and use of the buildings that surround them, by considering the orientation towards the sun when laying out of streets or designing floor plans, by creating variety through simple means like mirroring, offsetting or rhythmically repeating modules, and lastly by choosing different color schemes to give each street a sense of identity while fitting it into an overall neighborhood ensemble. Shortly after its publication in 1919, Die Stadtkrone received some recognition within the German architectural community. While some reviews in the press welcomed the anthology and praised the various ideas of its authors, others responded with rather harsh criticism. 65 A number of reviews limited themselves to a summary of the book with brief commentaries. However, the review by the architectural theorist Emil Fader were particularly harsh. His article in the Deutsche Bauzeitung criticized Taut’s “wordy gush of phrases” and dismissed the very essence of his vision: Not with external means can the internal rebirth of man be experienced, only the abstract idea of ethical and religious nature has renewing power and it alone ultimately sparks the common desire to build outstanding architecture – not the preconceived ideas of architects and the building ideas he constructs. 66

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With exquisite condescension, Fader concluded that “one could abandon this book to its fate, without even arguing against it; a thought that is not fit to live is quickly abandoned and soon fades into oblivion.” 67 Yet Faber’s prediction was not fulfilled. Die Stadtkrone ultimately inspired generations of architects. From today’s perspective, one can only be surprised how far-reaching the reputation of the anthology is despite its lack of accessibility to non-German-speaking audiences. To underline the wider influence of the book, Junghanns points out that the term “Stadtkrone” was later actually applied to planned city centers like those of the English garden cities or the American City Beautiful civic centers.68 However, Taut strongly objected to such attempts at associating new civic centers with his much loftier goals for the city crown. In his afterword to Die Stadtkrone, he admitted that political and administrative buildings such as the United States Capitol and the Palace of Justice in Brussels might be aesthetically appealing, but were devoid of “spirituality” and he charged that “it is absurd to create a huge structure dominating the city filled with only office spaces and meeting rooms.”69 He never wanted his model of spiritual and communal harmony to be confused with monuments that embodied base political power. Taut, Gropius, Hans Scharoun and a number of other architects and artists were closely connected through the Gläserne Kette (the “Crystal Chain” correspondence), the Werkbund and a number of other organizations. 70 Therefore, it is not surprising that these creative individuals influenced each other in the post-war period. Historian Manfred Speidel noted the profound influence Die Stadtkrone – and Taut in general – had upon the early works of Hans Scharoun.71 Scharoun realized the housing project “Bunte Reihe” (colorful row) from 1921 to 1924 during his time as city architect of Insterburg, East Prussia (now Tschernjachowsk in Russia). This development showed clear similarities with the Falkenberg Estate in his organization of spaces, the style and proportion of the architecture, and the use of color. Although never built, Hans Scharoun’s competition entry for the town center of the new city of Gelsenkirchen from 1919 also relied heavily on Taut’s book. The scheme was a medley of baroque urban patterns and gothic forms with intensely colorful drawings of a fantastic building that clearly took inspiration from Taut’s vision for a city crown. Establishing the potential influence of Taut’s city crown building on later “capitol” buildings is daunting to say the least. The “purposelessness” of Taut’s city crown obviously limited its applicability in the world that rarely grants such architectural opportunities. In his text, Taut identified contemporary, monumental civic centers that might have laid claim to such a title due to their size and position within the city, but he dismissed them as representations of state political ambitions and as lacking the deeper spiritual values he claimed for the city crown. The unprecedented catastrophe of the First World War led him to powerfully reassert the need for transcendent communal spaces, but stripped of all traditional religious associations. Rudolf Steiner’s Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland near Basel comes closest to Taut’s ideals (Plate 15). Built in poured concrete from 1925 to 1928, it crowns a hill with a dramatic, expressionist form that informed early visitors that this was no ordinary temple. 72 Emerging from his earlier involvement with the mystical and


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esoteric principals of Theosophy, Steiner founded Anthroposophy, which claimed to reconcile spiritual values with scientific rationalism. The Goetheanum was the centerpiece of utopian spiritualist colony populated by Steiner’s followers. Services (or more accurately performances) in the building involved music, harmonic color effects created with light and paint, narrative enactments and eurythmic dance. However, the Goetheanum lacked the city crown’s essential urban setting and strictly non-denominational associations. But like Taut, Steiner believed architecture capable of moral uplift and believed that the harmony of forms and color would contribute to greater social harmony.73 While followers of Anthroposophy in Germany would soon be suppressed by its fascist government, a project mandated by Adolf Hitler provides a second (and most unlikely) city crown. From 1937 to 1940, Hitler collaborated with architect Albert Speer to create a massive redevelopment scheme for Berlin. They reconceived the city along neo-baroque lines with enormous boulevards and grandiose neoclassical governmental buildings befitting what was intended to be the new world capital. Although it’s known that Speer was familiar with Taut’s work, no evidence records his opinion of Die Stadtkrone.74 The most imposing of the new Berlin buildings would have been the great hall, sometimes identified as the “Volkshalle” (people’s hall), a gargantuan masonry domed assembly room. If built, its cupola would have reached nearly 1,000 feet tall and the hall itself would have had an interior span of 825 feet. The interior of the dome drew its inspiration from the ancient Pantheon in Rome with its rows of coffers drawing the eye upward. Unlike Taut’s vision, the Volkshalle is not a “crystal hall” characterized by abstract forms and numinous displays of light; rather, stripped neoclassical details provide a somber setting that was meant to convey a sense of timelessness. Projected to accommodate approximately 150,000, its essential purpose was to exalt the German race and celebrate its identification with the political principles that would lead them to dominate the world. More than just a setting for huge rallies, the building would also ennoble and elevate the average German with a sense of the quasi-spiritual aspects of the Aryan people heralded by Nazi propaganda. A true “monsterbau” in all senses of the word, the collective spirit particular to the Berlin Volkshalle would have completely perverted Taut’s socialist and pacifist ideals for the city crown. The martial and racist ideals underlying the Berlin Volkshalle were aimed at creating an entirely different type of modern citizen within its hallowed walls. 75 Finally, another distant and unlikely descendant of the city crown is worth mentioning: the modern American artist James Turrell is world-renowned for his structures and installations that use light and color to focus the viewers’ attention and promote self-reflection (Plate 16). In many of his pieces, one’s gaze is turned upward literally and figuratively where color and tone subtlety change and seem to take on a deeper meaning. In some, the changing sky forms the actual ceiling of the space. Opened in 2012, Turrell’s “Twilight Epiphany Skyspace” at Rice University in Houston, Texas shelters visitors within a berm structure that is topped with a thin, flat metal canopy with a great square cut out of the center. Supported by delicate metal poles, in certain light the canopy appears to hover above the berm structure below. At dawn and dusk, light is projected onto the underside of the canopy. This

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colored light enframes and complements the square of open sky revealed by the cut in the middle of the canopy. The colors of both the projected light and the sky change over time, creating abstract compositions that project a sense of tranquility but also reinforce the idea that light is capable of evoking both and inner and outer illuminations. Taut’s obsessions with light and color are clearly paralleled in Turrell’s work and although “Twilight Epiphany Skyspace” lacks the monumental qualities of Taut’s city crown, it encourages people to experience a kind of spiritual awareness in a public setting that is certainly akin to Taut’s ambitions for his city crown building.

RE�E VALUATING TAUT’S LEGACY

The German architecture historian Winfried Nerdinger observed that, while many of Taut’s architectural achievements were groundbreaking, he remained the least recognized of the German modernist architects from the first decades of the twentieth century.76 This may come as a surprise given his frequent inclusion in surveys of modern architectural history, and he is often referenced alongside architects born in the same decade who achieved international renown: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius and Erich Mendelson. Certain projects such as Taut’s Glashaus in Cologne (1914) and the Hufeisensiedlung in Berlin-Britz (1925– 31) are well known in architectural circles, and even Taut’s esoteric and utopic writings like Die Stadtkrone (1919) or Alpine Architektur (1919/1920) and the Crystal Chain Letters have achieved wide notoriety.77 Considered together, these accomplishments suggest the breadth of his interests, but scarcely communicate the complexity and versatility of an oeuvre that has only fairly recently received the comprehensive analysis worthy of an architect of his genius. Even before his sensational success with the Glashaus, the pavilion representing the glass industry at the 1914 Kölner Werkbund-Ausstellung (1914 Cologne Werkbund Exhibition), Taut was recognized – along with Gropius – as one of the most influential young men of the German Werkbund. 78 Here he had met some of the leading architects, artists and writers of his time. In his search to find his own position in society, he became intimately involved with the critical dialogues surrounding architecture and society during this period. 79 He began publishing countless articles in Der Sturm and other magazines, and thus contributed to the avant-garde movements of the pre-war years. Taut’s high ethical standards prompted him to develop a pronounced social agenda in his own architectural practice. In 1913, he became the advising architect of the Deutsche Gartenstadtgesellschaft (German Garden City Society) and, through this connection, earned his first commissions to design larger housing estates in Magdeburg and Berlin. He made the conscious decision to design housing for the working class, despite the fact that little money was to be earned with such commissions. Over his career, he built approximately 10,000 apartments, most of them as cooperative developments for workers. These projects – many of them still occupied and admired today – were informed by his ongoing theoretical explorations and writings as well as by his deep interest in progressive societal forces.


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His most recognized housing developments were created in Berlin during the Weimar Republic era. These projects were not entirely dissimilar to other Siedlungen created by Gropius, Ernst May and others, and this probably aided their acceptance into the canon of modernism established by critics and historians. Like the works of Peter Behrens, Hermann Muthesius or Fritz Schumacher, Taut’s buildings were good examples of the first generation of a new kind. These designs distanced themselves from “the new Biedermeier” traditionalists, rejected conventions and pioneered innovative artistic expressions. However, Taut never lapsed into repetition or betrayed a desire to develop a particular personal style. On the occasion of his first retrospective, held in Istanbul in June 1938, Taut summarized his career as a life-long search to connect the rational aspects of technology, construction and function, a search for “the truth,” with the desire to never let “the senses” starve.80 During the 1920s, Taut was one of the most productive German architects and both his built and written works were widely admired. Nerdinger notes: 81 Adolf Behne, 82 distinguished architectural critic during the Weimar Republic, wrote about nobody else as often and enthusiastically as about Bruno Taut. Also the wise and critical observer of modernism from the USA, Lewis Mumford, refers only to Taut and Mendelsohn as those architects, who did not only change architecture in the course of general industrialisation and mechanization, but created something for the “inner needs of human society.83

However, following Taut’s emigration departure from Germany and his early death in 1938, appreciation of his work declined. Nerdinger lamented: While Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe or Konrad Wachsman rose to become models in the Federal Republic [of Germany] via their new home USA, of all things the work of the most significant German designer of housing in the 20th Century remains unconsidered in the rebuilding [after the Second World War].84

Taut’s biographer Kurt Junghanns concurs and made quite similar observations. He recalls the beginning of his research efforts on Taut: When my Taut monograph was released in 1970, the signs of the times were not necessarily favorable. Everyone looked towards the great men of modern architecture, towards Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier or Frank Lloyd Wright, but not towards Bruno Taut, whose great achievements were in the field of urban development. He was considered someone who made compromises and had become stale. Leonardo Benevolo refers in his History of Modern Architecture only to Taut’s high social engagement. Nikolaus Pevsner calls Bruno Taut in his Dictionary of Architecture from 1971 only the creator of the Glashaus and the Stadtkrone.85 The Revolution of Architecture by Reyner Banham, 86 published in Germany in 1964, mentions Taut in different contexts, but as most important urban designer only Ernst May is mentioned. 87

Nerdinger adds to this list: Further, the history of Neues Bauen was rewritten from an Anglo-Saxon viewpoint in the 1950s and 1960s. 88 In the infuential publications by Siegfried Giedion, Nikolaus Pevsner, Henry Russel-Hitchcock, Jürgen Joedicke or Dennis Sharp, Bruno Taut is mentioned only as a marginal figure, if at all. 89

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Nerdinger, however, also notes that a renewed interest in Taut’s life and work was sparked in the 1960s. When Ulrich Conrads and Hans G. Sperlich published Phantastische Architektur , they very selectively chose to include texts that supported their goal to “correct” and contrast the functionalism of Modernism with an architecture of fantasy that emphasized visionary, idealistic and utopic ideas. 90 Taut was assigned a central role in the volume, which led to a widespread recognition of Taut as an expressionist and visionary. Nerdinger concluded that as a result, “a small portion in Taut’s oeuvre gained unproportional importance, and this reinterpretation was fueled subsequently by a series of publications and exhibitions on the Gläserne Kette or Architecture as Expressionism as well as by reprints and translations of those visionary texts. It was unavoidable that now the entire body of work would be viewed as allegedly visionary.”91

RECENT RES EARCH ON TAUT

Over the past two or three decades, interest in Bruno Taut and his oeuvre has increased, specially among German scholars. In 2008, Taut’s biographer Kurt Junghanns acknowledged: Taut built ten thousand apartments in Berlin, but his work was considered “home-made stuff” among German experts; the Berlin press mocked him as an architect of “little people happiness.” Fascist Germany finally drove him into emigration as a “red.” Taut never saw his greatest work again. Meanwhile, through their research, a small band of “ Tautians” gather together the important components to form an overall representation of Taut’s work. 92

Several exhibitions and publications introduced lesser-known projects and allowed a wider audience to become familiar with the breadth and depth of his work. Researchers and architectural historians like Winfried Brenne, Kristiana Hartmann, Kurt Junghanns, Winfried Nerdinger, Matthias Schirren, Manfred Speidel and others have made tremendous contributions to a broader understanding of Taut’s achievements. The series of German reprints of Taut’s books with thoughtful commentary by Manfred Speidel allows German speakers easy access to the original texts and enables a better understanding of Taut’s theoretical views. 93 As mentioned previously, however, recent reassessments of Taut’s career in English are very rare. The notable exceptions here is the works of Iain Boyd Whyte and Rosemarie H. Bletter. In her 1973 dissertation “Bruno Taut and Paul Scheerbart’s Vision: Utopian Aspects of German Expressionist Architecture,” Bletter systematically investigates the relationship between the architect and the poet, who had a profound influence on his work. With the publication of Bruno Taut and the Architecture of Activism in 1982, Whyte convincingly argued for the profound influence of authors like Friedrich Nietzsche, Gustav Landauer, Kurt Hillers and Paul Scheerbarts on the development of Taut’s social conscience.94 In 2004, Matthias Schirren provided an invaluable annotated English translation of Taut’s Alpine Architektur . Most recently, Esra Akcan closely examined Taut’s final years, which he spent in exile in Japan and Turkey. In Architecture in Translation: Germany, Turkey, and


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the Modern House and “Towards a Cosmopolitan Ethics in Architecture: Bruno Taut’s Translations out of Germany.” Arkan intelligently discusses the interconnections between the varied experiences of his lifetime and how these influenced and sharpened his views on architecture.95

CONCLUSION

Several explanations can be offered on Taut’s eventual exclusion from the highest ranks of modernism’s pantheon. His relatively early death in Turkey certainly robbed him of the opportunity to build more as well as to promote his legacy in his later years. His final immigrations, to the Soviet Union, Japan and Turkey, also placed him far from the centers of architectural debate (and publishing) in Western Europe and the US, where most of the later scholarship on modernism was centered. Designers like Hannes Meyer made similar relocations and his legacy has likewise suffered from critical neglect. Perhaps the most important factor contributing to the general lack of appreciation of Taut’s total oeuvre was his refusal to adhere to the emerging design templates that came to define modernist architecture. His work betrayed the influences of Jugendstil , National Romanticism, Art Deco, vernacular domestic forms and folk art long after contemporaries like Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Gropius created their own signature styles in the 1920s and 1930s. Some of Taut’s Siedlungen such as the Streusiedlung Mahlsdorf in Berlin (1924–31) even featured small, detached cottages with gabled roofs that closely resemble what the Nazis later commissioned following their vicious propaganda campaigns against modernist housing estates such as Taut’s own Hufeisensiedlung (1925–30). The complexity and variety of Taut’s buildings and writings throughout his career defied the overly simplistic and teleologically driven accounts of modern architecture by Nicolas Pevsner and other early historians of the movement. A man who rhapsodized about the Jain temples at Mount Palitana or Istanbul’s Ottoman skyline could never be pigeon-holed as a rationalist – much less one who steadfastly refused to abandon the spiritual values of architecture. Taut’s oeuvre is so admirable precisely because he was engaged in so many diverse architectural expressions that nevertheless remained focused on the improvement of human life. He had the rare ability to channel the visionary and artistic side of his oeuvre into social and functional architecture; however, he never surrendered his vision of the architect as artist or “Weltbaumeister.” As the richness and complexity of twentieth-century architecture becomes much better recognized, the “triumph” of modernism as embodied by certain “heroic” careers is revealed as a misreading of history that inhibits a more accurate understanding of the many currents that determined the courses of architecture in that remarkable century.

NOTES

1

Junghanns’ biography of Taut includes a listing of Bruno Taut’s built and literary work: Kurt Junghanns, Bruno Taut, 1880–1938: Architektur und sozialer Gedanke (Leipzig:

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Seemann, 1998), p. 273. Ute Maasberg and Regina Prinz provide a very detail ed compilation of Taut’s projects (pp. 310–95) and Manfred Speidel has contributed a comprehensive commentary and list of publications (pp. 396–433) in Winifried Nerdinger et al., Bruno Taut. Architekt zwischen Tradition und Avantgarde (Stuttgart: DVA, 2002). The loss of the archive of works by the Taut & Hoffmann architectural practice in the Second World War probably contributed to the fact that Taut’s written oeuvre eventually received more recognition than his built work. 2

Kurt Junghanns, Bruno Taut , p. 7.

3

Ibid., p. 8.

4

See also Sylvia Claus, “Architektur ist die Kunst, gut zu bauen. Bruno Taut und sein(e) Partner.” In Nerdinger et al., Bruno Taut , p. 41. Research has shown that while both Taut brothers did business under the same name, they worked separately in their pract ices, had separate staff and each had their own distinct commissions. Max Taut has a more distant working relationship with the other two. Due to the loss of records during the Second World War, the working relationship between the Taut brothers and Hoffmann partially had to be reconstructed from the estate of Max Taut. This probably led to the initial underestimation of Hoffmann’s role. It must also be noted that Bruno Taut collaborated with other architects like Hans and Wassili Luckhardt and Martin Wagner on a number of notable projects.

5

Hoffmann continued the office partnership with Max Taut even after Bruno’s emigration; however, during the Nazi regime, their building activity suffered drastically. Intermittently closed, the Taut & Hoffmann office reopened in 1945 and existed until Hoffmann’s death in 1951. However, to his business partner’s great dissapointment, Max Taut also opened a second office under his own name. Ibid., pp. 51–2.

6

The garden city estate “Am Falkenberg” in Berlin was designed in 1913 and built from 1913 to 1915. The garden city estate “Reform” in Magdeburg was initially designed in 1911 and the first phase was realized from 1913 to 1915. Three further expansions took place in 1919–24, 1923–8 and 1929–33.

7

See also Ute Maasberg and Regina Prinz, “Verzeichnis der Werke.” In Nerdinger et al., Bruno Taut , pp. 310–95 and Manfred Speidel, “Bruno Taut. Schriften und Manuskripte.” In Nerdinger et al., Bruno Taut , pp. 396–433

8

Matthew Mindrup, “Advancing the Reverie of Utopia.” In Matthew Mindrup and Ulrike Altenmüller-Lewis (eds), The City Crown by Bruno Taut (Farnham: Ashgate, 2015), pp. 1–22.

9

The UNESCO World Heritage website describes these new policies in detail: “The reform building regulation, which became effective in 1925, provided the basis for new social housing. It aimed to reduce the density of buildings in residential estates and to separate the functions of individual zones. It divided the entire area of the city into different development zones – starting in the city centre where buildings were allowed 5 storeys in density, it decreased towards the outskirts where larger housing estates were built. Here buildings were allowed to reach a maximum of two to three storeys. The density of buildings was much reduced in these areas, where cross buildings and wings were prohibited. Berlin now had the opportunity to implement housing development in accordance with the models of neues Bauen. Within only seven years (1924–1931) more than 146,000 flats were built. Such volume of construction was never again reached, not even during the post-war period of the 1950s.” See http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1239.


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10

See also Manfred Speidel, “Zu Bruno Tauts theoretischem Werk.” In Nerdinger et al., Bruno Taut , pp. 398–9.

11

GEHAG was founded in April 1924 as “Gemeinnützige Heimstätten-, Spar- und BauAktiengesellschaft” (non-profit organization for housing, savings and building stocks). Its social and political goal was to improve the quality of housing for workers and their families through the creation of affordable housing that addressed modern living ideas of the 1920s. Taut’s designs for GEHAG included Hufeisensiedlung (1925–33), Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf (1926), Onkel Toms Hütte (1926–32) and Wohnstadt Carl Legien (1928–30).

12

In 1919 Taut published an article in the architecture magazine Bauwelt with the same title. There he condemned the ubiquitous dirty-gray houses and advocated for the use of strong colors. He points out that color is an affordable way to add life to our environment and refers to nature as one example.

13

Winfried Brenne, “Wohngebäude von Bruno Taut. Erhaltung und Wiederherstellung farbiger Architektur.” In Nerdinger et al., Bruno Taut , pp. 275–89. See also Wolfgang Pehnt, Expressionist Architecture (New York: Thames & Hudson, 1979), pp. 87–8.

14

Ibid., p. 279.

15

UNESCO World Heritage, “Berlin Modernism Housing Estates.” See http://whc.unesco. org/en/list/1239

16

In Nerdinger et al., Bruno Taut .

17

Harald Willenbrook, “Tautes Heim.” In brand eins, “Schwerpunk: Das gute Leben” , Ausgabe 12/2992 (2012).

18

As a young man, he wrote to his four years younger brother Max: “By the way, I feel more and more like a painter.” Diary entry dated March 17, 1905, after Manfred Speidel, “Malerische Studien 1903–08.” In Bruno Taut; Natur und Fantasie. 1880–1938 (Berlin: Ernst & Sohn, 1995), p. 41.

19

Ibid,. pp. 49–50.

20

Ibid., p. 50. “Immer noch beschäftigt mich der Gedanke, den ich nun schon seit zwei Jahren mit mir herumtrage: Die Vereinigung meiner Begabung hinsichtlich der Farbe mit meinem architektonischen Können. Farbige Raumkomposition, farbige Architektur – das sind Gebiete, in denen ich vielleicht einiges Persönliches sagen werde. Eben darum, weil mich die Malerei immer wieder mit der Architektur und diese umgekehrt mit jener zusammenbringt, darum brauche ich mich wohl nicht vor der Zersplitterung zu fürchten.”

21

Bruno Taut, “Architektonisches zum Siedlungswerk,” Der Siedler , 1 (1918/1919), H. 6, pp. 248–57, at p. 255. Quoted after Kristiana Hartmann, “Bruno Taut, der Architekt und Planer von Gartenstädten und Siedlungen.” In Nerdinger et al., Bruno Taut , p. 144.

22

Undra Hörner, Die Architekten Bruno und Max Taut. Zwei Brüder–Zwei Lebenswege (Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 2012), p. 108.

23

Ulrike Eichhorn, Taut & Hoffmann in Berlin. Ein Architektentrio der Moderne . 1880–1967 (Berlin: Edition Eichhorn, 2014), p. 17

24

The period 1924–31 has also been referred to by Hörner as die fetten Jahre (the fat years), a colloquial German expression for economically strong years. Accompanied by architectural and financial success, Taut was at the height of his career. By this time, the architecture firm Taut & Hoffmann had grown to 37 employees. With the onset of the

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recession, lay-offs were necessary. Ultimately the firm gave up its premises and moved into a smaller space at Bayreuther Straße 27/28. See also Hörner, Die Architekten Bruno und Max Taut . 25

Taut’s inability to obtain commissions was paralleled by a sharp decline in publications on his work. Throughout the 1920s, he was the subject of numerous art icles every year, but beginning in 1932, very few reviews were published in Germany or abroad. This neglect only changed decades later with the rediscovery of his work. See also Ute Maasberg and Regina Prinz, “Schriften über Bruno Taut.” In Nerdinger et al., Bruno Taut , pp. 416–33.

26


27

The Narkomfin Building on Novinsky Boulevard in Moscow, designed by Moisei Ginsburg and completed in 1932, is an example. It influenced Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation in Marseille, which is based on similar architectural principles. Ginsberg’s 54 apartment units made facilities like laundry, daycare and kitchens communal rather than private. This design decision fundamentally reconsidered the requirements of the individual family dwelling and forced tenants to adapt a more socialist lifestyle. Normal family living with traditional gender roles was often impossible and private living spaces were kept to a minimum, encouraging the participation of residents in communal activities.

28

Mindrup and Altenmüller-Lewis (eds), The City Crown by Bruno Taut (Frarnham: Ashgate, 2015), pp. 82–6.

29

Kurt Junghanns, Bruno Taut , pp. 94–8.

30

It should be noted that Bruno Taut married Hedwig Wollgast (1879–1968), the daughter of a smith and innkeeper in Chorin. They had two children: Heinrich and Elisabeth. While Taut was living in Bergisch-Gladbach during the First World War, working at the Stella Works, he met Erica Wittich (1893–1975). As of 1917, the two were a couple and lived in an extra-marital relationship. Their daughter Clarissa Wittich was born in 1918. Although Taut never divorced Hedwig, Erica is often referred to as his second wife.

31

Junghanns, Bruno Taut , p. 94.

32

Ibid., p. 97.

33

Original footnote by Kreis: Hannes Meyer, Letter to N. Kolli, July 29, 1937. In BauhausArchiv Berlin (ed.), Hannes Meyer 1889 bis 1954, Exhibition catalogue (Berlin: BauhausArchiv, 1989), pp. 290–292.

34

Barbara Kreis, “‘Geschmacksfragen sind soziale Fragen’ Vom Sozialismus des Künstlers zur sozialistischen Realität.” In Nerdinger et al., Bruno Taut , pp. 156–7. “Sein Aufenthalt war einerseits geprägt vom Ringen um Verständnis und Aufklärung, andererseits von einem existentiellen Wunsch, durch seine gebaute Architektur Wegweiser der neuen Baukunst zu setzen. Dies wurde ihm versagt. Dass er direkt und indirekt dennoch großen Einfluß auf die Neuorganisation des Bauwesens und aud städtebauliche Entscheidungen hatte, schien für ihn untergeordnet. Von anderen als ‘hoffnungsloser Romantiker’ bezeichnet, trat er in Moskau eher als unbquemer Kritiker und unangepaßter Einzelkämpfer auf. Dass er das Land besser als d ie meisten seiner Kollegen kannte, verhinderte nicht sein Scheitern, vergrößerte aber um so mehr seine Enttäuschung.”

35

Unda Hörner, Die Architekten Bruno und Max Taut , p. 119.

36

On February 28, 1933, President Paul von Hindenburg signed the Notverordnungen zum Schutz von Volk und Staat, also nicknamed Reichtagsbrandverordnung (Reichstag


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Fire Decree). It effectively annulled the civic rights of the population. The government, now firmly in Nazi hands, was given the authority to curtail constitutional rights including habeas corpus, free expression of opinion, freedom of the press, rights of assembly, and the privacy of post and telecommunications. Constitutional restrictions on searches and confiscation of property were likewise suspended. Among those dissidents arrested in the first wave was Taut’s friend Erich Baron, who contributed a chapter to Die Stadtkrone. He died in prison shortly after his arrest. 37

Manfred Speidel, “Das architektonische Kunstwerk und der Osten” (Preface to an assembly of Bruno Taut’s essays on the Orient). In Speidel, Manfred (ed.), Bruno Taut. Ex Oriente Lux. Die Wirklichkeit einer Idee (Berlin: Gebr. Mann, 2007), pp. 7–45. Taut visited Constantinople as one of 11 hand-selected architects of the Deutscher Werkbund in August 1916 in order to prepare for his design for the House of Friendship competition.

38

Speidel mentioned that Taut made multiple visits to the imperial villa of Katsura, which at the time was largely unknown internationally. The first visit took place within days of arriving in Japan through special arrangements made by Isaburo Ueno and his host Shotaro Shimomura, the owner of the Daimaru department stores. After his second visit the following year, Taut drew from memory his passage through the park and the villa. Taut entitles this diary entry “Thoughts after a visit to Katsura.” Alpine Architecture is one of Taut’s utopian books, which he wrote shortly after Die Stadtkrone. Here he discovered the highest expression of the art of architecture, where context, spirit, form, material and purpose were exquisitely integrated; a fulfillment of the ideals he had promoted in his writings. See Manfred Speidel, “Bruno Taut in Japan.” In Nerdinger et al., Bruno Taut , pp. 177–91. See also Manfred Speidel, “Bruno Taut and the Katsura Villa” and Bruno Taut, “From Japanese Diary 1933.” In Virginia Ponciroli (ed.), Katsura: Imperial Villa (London: Phaidon, 2013), pp. 318–47.

39

Bruno Taut, NIPPON mit europäischen Augen gesehen (Tokyo: Meiji Shobo, 1934; German reprint: Berlin: Gebrüder Mann, 2009); Speidel, Manfred (ed.), “Bruno Taut in Japan,” p. 177.

40

Bruno Taut, Japans Kunst mit europäischen Augen gesehen (Tokyo: Meiji Shobo, 1936; German reprint: Berlin: Gebrüder Mann, 2011). Speidel mentions in the af terword to the German reprint that there was some disagreement about the title of the book. Taut’s original title, Japans Kunst mit Europäischen Augen gesehen ( Japanese Art Seen with European Eyes), was replaced by the publisher with nihon bunka shikan or Japanese Culture as Personal View .

41

Manfred Speidel, “Was ist Architektur? Bruno Tauts ‘Architekturlehre.’” In ARCH + Zeitschrift für Architektur und Städtebau, Issue 194 (Aachen: ARCH + Verlag, 2009), p. 161.

42

Manfred Speidel, “Bruno Taut in Japan.” In Nerdinger et al., Bruno Taut , pp. 173–91.

43

His book Houses and People of Japan, though Written as a Chronicle of Taut’s First Year in Japan is a thorough ethnographic study of Japanese architecture and its influences and challenges for modern architecture. To this day, it is understood as one of the benchmark publications on Japanese architectural history. Bruno Taut, Houses and People of Japan (Tokyo: Sanseido, 1937)

44


45

Manfred Speidel (ed.), Bruno Taut. Ex Oriente Lux – Die Wirklichkeit einer Idee (Berlin: Gebrüder Mann, 2007), p. 7.

46

Esra Akcan, Architecture in Translation. Germany, Turkey and the Modern House (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2012), p. 252.

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47

Ibid., p. 254.

48

Ibid. Akcan attests here that the observations made in Japan triggered a deeper thinking about the cosmopolitan (vs. international ) and thus universal values of architecture that became the basis of his Architekturüberlegungen and the more refined version of the Architekturlehre.

49

Manfred Speidel, “Was ist Architektur?” In ARCH + 194 (Aachen: ARCH+ Verlag, October 2009), p. 161.

50

Hans Poelzig was originally selected for these positions, but his sudden death allowed Taut’s appointment instead.

51

See also Bernd Nicolai, “Bauen im Exil. Bruno Tauts Architektur und die kemalistische Türkei 1936 bis 1938.” In Nerdinger et al., Bruno Taut , p. 192. Nicolai points out that one focus of the reforms intended to lead the country into modernity was to develop an educational system with universities and schools that were modeled on Western principles.

52

Ute Maasberg, and Regina Prinz, “Verzeichnis der Werke,” pp. 389–95.

53

Bruno Taut, Mimari Bilgisi , Adnan Kolatan (trans.) (Istanbul: Günzel Sanatlar Akademisi, 1938).

54

Manfred Speidel, “Nachwort: Was ist Architektur? Bruno Tauts ‘Architekturlehre.’” In Arch+ 194, Zeitschrift für Architektur und Städtebau, October 2009 (Achen: Arch+ Verlag, 2009), p. 161.

55

Ibid., p. 162.

56


57

Maasberg and Prinz, “Verzeichnis der Werke,” p. 395.

58

Kurt Junghanns noted in his biography of Taut that the architect had earned within the very brief period of time he spent in Turkey great respect as a person and an artist. Junghanns, Bruno Taut , p. 112.

59

Hans-Peter Laqueur, Osmanische Friedhöfe und Grabsteine in Istanbul (Tübingen: Ernst Wasmuth Verlag, 1993), pp. 19–25.

60

Manfred Speidel, “Bruno Taut. Schriften und Manuskripte.” In Nerdinger et al., Bruno Taut , p. 396. See also: Maasberg and Prinz, “Schriften über Bruno Taut,” pp. 416–33.

61

Taut carefully chose the publication media to target and address the appropriate audiences. As late as 1923, he began writing for general architecture magazines like Bauwelt or Baugilde. Though Taut was an active member of the Werkbund, it should be noted that he contributed sparsely to its magazine Die Form.

62

Matthew Mindrup and Ulrike Altenmüller-Lewis (eds), The City Crown by Bruno Taut , (Farnham: Ashgate, 2015), p. 86.

63

Ibid., pp. 86–7.

64

Taut’s submission for the competition of the new Turkish Parliament building from 1937 revisited the partially utopic and socialist goals of the Stadtkrone one last time. For this proposal, he suggested a pinnacle towering over the city of Ankara as the representative center of the Turkish Republic that would parallel the citadel of old Ankara. See also Bernd Nicolai, “Bauen im Exil. Bruno Tauts Architektur und die kemalistische Türkei 1936 bis 1938.” In Nerdinger et al., Bruno Taut , p. 204; and Maasberg and Prinz, “Verzeichnis der Werke,” p. 391.


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65

See Speidel’s “Nachwort” (Afterword) in Bruno Taut, Die Stadtkrone (Berlin: Gebr. Mann, 2002), pp. 40–42 for excerpts of reviews. In addition, Matthew Mindrup discusses the reception of Die Stadtkrone in the press in his introduction, “Advancing the Reverie of Utopia.” In Mindrup and Altenmüller-Lewis (eds), The City Crown by Bruno Taut (Frarnham: Ashgate, 2015), pp. 21–2.

66

Emil Fader, “Gedanken zu Bruno Taut: Die Stadtkrone.” In Deutsche Bauzeitung, 54. Jahrgang, No. 33 (1920), pp. 197–200. “Nicht mit äußerlichen Mittlen is die innere Wiedergeburt des Menschen zu erleben, lediglich die abstrakte Idee ethischer oder religiöser Natur hat erneuernde Kraft und nur diese entzündet letzten Endes den allgemeinen Bauwillen zur Errichtung hochragender Architekturen, nicht aber ein von Architekten vorgefaßter und von ihm aufgestellter Baugedanke … Man könnte das Buch seinem Schicksal überlassen ohne dagegen zu sprechen; denn ein Gedanken, der nicht lebensfähig ist, erledigt sich von selbst und versinkt bald in Vergessenheit.”

67

Ibid., p. 200.

68


69

Bruno Taut, “Recent Attempts at Crowning Cities. Afterword.” In Mindrup and Altenmüller-Lewis (eds), The City Crown by Bruno Taut (Frarnham: Ashgate, 2015), pp. 101–5.

70

The Gläserne Kette (Crystal Chain) was a community of mostly architects and artists founded by Taut who corresponded with one another by shared letters between November 1919 and December 1920. Many members of the Gläserne Kette were also part of the Novembergruppe (November Group), the Arbeitsrat für Kunst (Working Council for the Arts) and Der Ring. See also Iain Boyd Whyte and Ramona Schneider (eds), Die gläserne Kette (Berlin; Ernst & Sohn, 1986).

71

Manfred Speidel, “Afterword.” In Taut, Die Stadtkrone, pp. 37–40.

72

The complex in Dornach actually had two versions of the Goetheanum. The first, erected from 1913 to 1920 of concrete and wood, burned down in 1922 and differed substantially from the second version. Steiner was responsible for the overall conception of each building, but professional designers were charged with their execution, especially in the latter case, which was largely built after Steiner ’s death.

73

Wolfgang Pehnt, Expressionist Architecture (New York: Thames & Hudson, 1979), p. 137.

74

Wolfgang Pehnt wrote: “The term Stadtkrone was taken over by National Socialism’s architectural publicists and complemented by the term Landskrone, referring to the NSDAP political training schools which were built in the country.” See ibid., p. 207.

75

Albert Speer’s own account of the project can be found in his Inside the Third Reich: Memoirs (New York: Macmillan, 1970), pp. 152–8. It should also be noted that Taut’s “unmistakable Messianic streak” was also apparent within Nazism. See Pehnt, Expressionist Architecture, p. 73.

76

Winfried Nerdinger, “‘Ein großer Baum muß tiefe Wurzeln haben’ – Tradition und Moderne bei Bruno Taut. ” In: Nerdinger et al., Bruno Taut , p. 8.

77

Die Stadtkrone can be viewed as basis for the Architekturprogramm that Bruno Taut drafted in 1918 when he founded the “Arbeitsrat für Kunst” with Adolf Behne, Walter Gropius and César Klein. It also served a guideline for Gropius’ “Bauhaus-Manifest,” in which he proclaimed that the primary goal of the school was to return to the roots of architecture, sculpture and painting through a thorough grounding in materials and craft. Even the name “Bauhaus” is a reference to the “Bauhütte” or building site workshop found at medieval cathedrals, where craftsmen and artists worked collaboratively under the guidance of the master builder to complete the great work.

172


78

The Deutscher Werkbund (German Association of Craftsmen) was founded in 1907 in Munich upon the suggestion of Hermann Muthesius, Friedrich Naumann and Walter Gropius as an association of artists, architects, designers and industrialists. Among its founding members were Joseph Maria Olbrich, Peter Behrens and Richard Riemerschmid, The goal of the Werkbund was to improve the competitiveness of German products through a partnership between art, industry and craftsmanship via education, propaganda and dissemination of manifestos on the topic of relevant questions. The Werkbund is widely recognized as a catalyst for the development of modernism, especially in Germany. Taut designed several pavilions for exhibitions sponsored by the Werkbund , including the The Glashaus, the famous Pavilion for the German Glass Industry at the 1914 Kölner Werkbund-Ausstellung (1914 Cologne Werkbund Exhibition) that brought him international recognition.

79


80

Manfred Speidel, “Das Frühwerk.” In Nerdinger et al., Bruno Taut , p. 25.

81

Winfried Nerdinger, “‘Ein großer Baum muß tiefe Wurzeln haben’,” p. 8. “Adolf Behne, herausragender Architekturkritiker der Weimarer Republik, schrieb über niemanden so häufig und enthusiastisch wie Bruno Taut, und der ebenso kluge wie kritische Beobachter der Moderne aus den USA, Lewis Mumford, verwies nur auf Taut und Mendelsohn als diejenigen Architekten, die im Zuge allgemeiner Industrialisierung und Technisierung nicht nur die Architektur verändert, sondern auch etwas für die “inneren Bedürfnisse der menschlichen Gesellschaft” geschaffen hat.”

82

Original footnote from Nerdinger’s text. Some of Behne’s texts on Taut have been reprinted: Adolf Behne–Architekturkritik in der Zeit und über die Zeit hinaus. Texte 1913–1946 (Basel: Haila Ochs, 1994).

83

Original footnote by Nerdinger: Lewis Mumford, Vom Blockhaus zum Wolkenkratzer (Berlin: Bruno Cassirer, 1926).

84

Ibid.: “Während Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe oder Konrad Wachsmann über ihre neue Heimat USA zu Leitbildern in der Bundesrepublik aufstiegen, blieb ausgerechnet das Werk des bedeutendsten deutschen Wohnungsbauers im 20. Jahrhundert im Wiederaufbau nahezu unberücksichtigt.”

85

Kurt Junghanns refers here to the German translation of The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1966).

86

Kurt Junghanns refers here to the German edition of Reyner Banham’s Theory and Design in the First Machine Age (New York: Praeger, 1960). The full title in German is Die

Revolution der Architektur. Theorie und Gestaltung im Ersten Maschinenzeitalter. 87

Kurt Junghanns, “Erinnerungen an den Anfang.” In Nerdinger et al., Bruno Taut , p. 299: “Als 1970 meine Taut-Monographie erschien, standen die Zeichen der Zeit nicht gerade günstig. Alle Welt blickte auf die Großen der modernen Architektur, auf Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier oder Frank Lloyd Wright, aber nicht auf Bruno Taut, dessen große Leistungen auf dem Gebiet des Städtebaus lagen. Er galt as Kompromißler und war damit untinteressant geworden. Leonardo Benevolo verweist in seiner Geschichte der Modernen Architektur nur auf Tauts hohes soziales Engagement. Nikolaus Pevsner nennt Bruno Taut in seinem Lexikon der Weltarchitektur von 1971 nur als Schöpfer des Glashauses und der Stadtk rone. Die Revolution der Architektur von Reyner Banham, 1964 in Deutschland erschienen, spricht von Taut in verschiednesten Zusammenhängen, aber als bedeutendster Siedlungs- und Städtebauer wird nur Ernst May genannt.”

88

The Neues Bauen (New Building) is part of the New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit) architectural movement that emerged in Germany and other European countries in


173

the 1920s and 1930s. This movement strongly influenced urban development and design. 89

Winfried Nerdinger, “‘Ein großer Baum muß tiefe Wurzeln haben’,”, p. 8: “Auch die Geschichte des Neuen Bauens wurde in den fünfziger und sechziger Jahren aus angelsächsischem Blickwinkel umgeschrieben und in den einflußreichen Publikationen von Siegfried Giedion, Nikolaus Pevsner, Henry Russel-Hitchcock, Jürgen Joedicke oder Dennis Sharp wird Bruno Taut, wenn überhaupt, nur als marginale Figur genannt.”

90

Ulrich Conrads and Hans G. Sperlich, Phantastische Architektur (Stuttgart: Hatje, 1960).

91

Winfried Nerdinger, “‘Ein großer Baum muß tiefe Wurzeln haben’,” pp. 9–10.

92

Kurt Junghanns, “Preface.” In Winfried Brenne, Bruno Taut: Master of Colorful Architecture in Berlin (Berlin: Braun, 2008), p. 7.

93

Since the copyright of the original Taut publications has elapsed, Gebrüder Mann Verlag in Berlin has published several of his books as reprints, his letters from Mosk au (edited by Barbara Kreis) as well as a selection of texts like Frühlicht, Ex Oriente Lux and two volumes of the Japan-diaries (all edited by Manfred Speidel).

94

Iain Boyd Whyte, Bruno Taut and the Architecture of Activism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1982).

95

Esra Akcan, “Towards a Cosmopolitan Ethics in Architecture: Bruno Taut’s Translations out of Germany,” New German Critique, No. 99, Modernism after Postmodernity (Fall 2006): pp. 7–39.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Posener, Julius, “Vorlesungen zur Geschichte der Neuen Architektur,” in Wolfgang Schaeche (ed.), Neuausgabe in 2 Bänden (Aachen: Arch+ Verlag, 2013). Scheerbart, Paul, “Glass Architecture.” In Paul Scheerbart and Bruno Taut, Glass Architecture and Alpine Architecture, Dennis Sharp (eds), James Palmes and Shirley Palmer (trans.) (New York: Praeger, 1972), pp. 31–74. Schirren, Matthias, Bruno Taut – Alpine Architektur : Eine Utopia – A Utopia (Munich: Prestel, 2004). Schulte Birgit (ed.), Auf dem Weg zu einer handgreiflichen Utopie (Hagen: Neuer Folkwang Verlag, 1994). Speer, Albert, Inside the Third Reich: Memoirs (New York: Macmillan, 1970). Speidel, Manfred, Bruno Taut. Natur und Fantasie 1880–1938 (Berlin: Ernst & Sohn, 1995). ——. (ed.), Bruno Taut. Ich liebe die japanische Kultur. Kleine Schriften über Japan (Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 2004). ——. (ed.), Bruno Taut. Ex Oriente Lux. Die Wirklichkeit einer Idee. Gesammelte Schriften (Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 2007). ——.(ed.), “Bruno Taut: Architekturlehre;”“Bruno Taut: Architekturüberlegungen” & “Wie kann eine gute Architektur entstehen?” in: ARCH + 194, Zeitschrift für Architektur und Städtebau. With photographs by Laura J. Padgett. (Aachen: ARCH+ Verlag, October 2009): pp. 30–165 and insert pp. 1–36. ——. “Bruno Taut and the Katsura Villa.” In Ponciroli, Virginia (ed.), Katsura imperial villa. (London: Phaidon, 2013) pp. 318–347. Speidel, Manfred, Kegler, Karl and Ritterbach, Peter (eds). “Wege zu einer neuen Baukunst.”

Bruno Taut, FRÜHLICHT, Konzeptkritik Heft 1 – 4, 1921–22, und Rekonstruktion Heft 5, 1922 (Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 2000). Stuart, John A., The Gray Cloth. Paul Scheerbart’s Novel on Glass Architecture ( Cambridge, Massachussetts: MIT Press, 2001). Taut, Bruno, “Ein Architektur-Programm,” 1st edn, December 1918; 2nd edn Berlin: Arbeitsrat für Kunst, 1919. This English translation from Ulrich Conrads (ed. and trans.), Programs and Manifestoes on 20th Century Architecture (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1975), p. 41. ——. “Eine Notwendigkeit,” Der Sturm 4 (196–7) (February 1914): 174–5. ——. Die Stadtkrone: Mit Beiträgen von Paul Scheerbart, Erich Baron, Adolf Behne (Jena: Eugen Diederichs, 1919; reprint: edited by and with an after word by Manfred Speidel. Berlin: Gebrüder Mann Verlag, 2002). ——. Die Neue Wohnung. Die Frau als Schöpferin (Leipzig: Klinkhardt & Biermann 1924; reprint: edited by and with an afterword by Manfred Speidel. Berlin: Gebrüder Mann Verlag, 2001). ——. Die neue Baukunst in Europa und Amerika (Stuttgart: Hoffmann, 1929). ——. Nippon mit europäischen Augen gesehen (original Japanese title: NIPPON . Tokyo, Meiji Shobo, 1933; first German edition Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 2009). ——. Frühlicht 1920–1922. Eine Folge für die Verwirklichung des neuen Baugedankens. Edited and with a foreword by Ulrich Conrads, Bauwelt Fundamente Nr.8 (Frankfurt: Uhlstein Verlag, 1965). ——. Frühlicht 1920–1922. Herausgegeben von Bruno Taut . Reprint der Magdeburger Frühlichthefte (Berlin: Gebrüder Mann Verlag, 2000).

176


——. Japans Kunst mit europäischen Augen gesehen (Original Japanese title Nihon bunka shikan. Tokyo, Meiji Shobo, 1936; first German edition. Edited by and with an afterword by Manfred Speidel. Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 2011). ——. Das japanische Haus und sein Leben (Tokyo, Sanseido, 1937; first German edition. Edited by and with an afterword by Manfred Speidel. Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 2010). ——. Mimari Bilgisi , Adnan Kolatan (trans.) (Istanbul: Günzel Sanatlar Akademisi, 1938). ——. Architekturlehre. Edited by Timann Heinisch and Goerd Peschken (without figures) (VSA Hamburg/Westberlin, 1977). ——. “Architekturlehre.” In ARCH + 194, Zeitschrift für Architektur und Städtebau. Edited by and with an afterword by Manfred Speidel. With photographs by Laura J. Padgett. (Aachen: ARCH+ Verlag, October 2009). ——. “Architekturüberlegungen” and “Wie kann gute Architektur entstehen?” In ARCH + 194, Zeitschrift für Architektur und Städtebau. Edited by and with an introduction by Manfred Speidel. With photographs by Laura J. Padgett (Aachen: ARCH+ Verlag, October 2009). ——. “From the Japanese Diary 1933.” In Ponciroli, Virginia (ed.), Katsura imperial villa. (London: Phaidon, 2011), pp. 318–47. Thiekötter, A. (ed.), Kristallisationen, Splitterungen. Bruno Tauts Glashaus Köln 1914 (Basel: Birkhäuser, 1993). Willenbrook, Harald, “Tautes Heim,” in Brand eins 12/2012 Schwerpunkt Das gute Leben (Hamburg: brand eins Verlag, 2012), pp. 78–88. Whyte, Iain Boyd, Bruno Taut and the Architecture of Activism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1982). ——. (ed. and trans.), The Crystal Chain Letters: Architectural Fantasies by Bruno Taut and His Circle (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1985). ——. (ed.), Modernism and the Spirit of the City (New York: Routledge, 2003). Whyte, Iain Boyd and Frisby, David, Metropolis Berlin 1880–1940 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012). Zöller-Stock, Bettina, Bruno Taut. Die Innenraumentwürfe des Berliner Architekten (Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1993).

Index

Academy of Fine Art, Istanbul 22, 157 Aden viii, 65, 145 administrative buildings 78, 86, 160 Adrianople vii, 47, 145; see also Selim Mosque

agriculture 2–3, 16, 79 air quality 158 Akcan, Esra 156 (n.46), 157 (n.48), 164, 169–70, 173 Alpine Architektur [ Alpine Architecture] (Bruno Taut) vii, 15, 19, 25 (n.53), 26 (n.73), 29, 150, 162, 164, 169 (n.169), 175; see also Bruno Taut, Matthias Schirren altarpiece 128–9 American Institute of Architects 154 Amsterdam (Netherlands) 85 (n.32) Anderson, Hendirk Christian 104, 112, 146 Angkor Wat (Cambodia) viii, 127, 135; see also Diwakara Ankara, Turkey 22, 157, 159 (n.64), 170 anologon 135 anthroposophy 161 antiquity 77, 80–81, 104 apocalypse v, 35–6, 147 aquarium 4, 87–8, 98–9 Arbeitsrat für Kunst [Working Council for Art] xi, 20 (n.104), 27, 29, 160 (n.70), 161 (n.77), 171, 175 archangels 36, 40 Architekturlehre [Lectures on Architecture] (Bruno Taut) 156 (n.41), 157 (n.48, n. 54), 169–70, 175–6 Architekturprogramm [Architecture Program] (Bruno Taut) 162 (n.77), 171, 173 Architekturüberlegungen [Reflections on architecture] (Bruno Taut) 157 (n.48), 170, 175–6

Architekturwekstatt Helge Pitz–Winfred Brenne ix, Plate 6, Plate 7, Plate 8; see also Wint´fried Brenne, Helge Pitz areopags 81 Aristotle 79 Art Deco 165 art of color 134 aspirations 17, 75, 84, 89, 121–2 Assyrian Temple vii, 48, 145 Atatürk, Mustafa Kemal 157 Athens (Greece)) vii, 52, 145, 161 Acropolis 17, 52, 76, 81 Aufruf zum farbigen Bauen [call for colorful buildings] 151; see also bunte Reihe, colorful Magdeburg Augeas, King of Elis and Augean stable 77 (n.10) Australian capital city viii, 104, 112, 146 Austria, Austrian 7, 105, 117 (n.4), 118, 136 (n.8) avant-garde/avant-garde 149 (n.1), 162, 166, 174 Bangkok, Siam 6, 70 The Great Wat Chaeng Pagoda viii, 70, 146 Banham, Reyner 163, 172 Baron, Erich v, xi, xii, 3, 5–6, 14, 29, 31, 115–22, 116 (n.1, n.3), 117 (n.4), 118 (n.7), 119 (n.10, n.11), 120 (n.15), 147, 155 (n.36), 168, 175 Basel (Switzerland) 160 baths 80, 98, 116 bauende Kraft [constructive forces] 80 (n.19) Baugilde (magazine) 158 (n.61), 170 Bauhaus xi, 8 (n.43), 9 (n.44), 20–21 (n.107), 24, 27–9, 162 (n.77), 168, 171, 174

178 THE CITY CROWN BY BRU NO TAUT

Bauhaus–Manifest [Bauhaus Manifesto] 162 (n.77), 171, 173 Bauhütte [guild of stone masons] 162 (n.77), 177 (n.77) Baukunst [art of building] xii, 6, 19 (n.100, 111), 21, 27–8, 75 (n.5), 80 (n.21), 90, 143, 146, 168 (n.34), 175 Baumeister [master builder] 77 (n.9), 165 Bauwelt (magazine) 158 (n.61), 167 (n.12), 170, 175 beauty xi, 3, 17, 26, 76–8, 83–4, 88–9, 92, 98, 101, 103, 122, 127–8, 130, 137–8, 156 Behne, Adolf vi, xi, xii, 3, 5, 6, 20, 29, 31, 125–38, 133 (n.3, n.4), 134 (n.5), 135 (n.6), 136 (n.8), 147, 162 (n.77), 163 (n.81 and 82), 171–3, 175 Behrens, Peter 162 (n.78), 163, 172 Beims, Hermann 151 Bejing (China) 157 Benevolo, Leonard 163 (n.87), 172 Bergisch-Gladbach (Germany) 12, 14, 85, 168 (n.30) Berlage, Hendrik Petrus viii, 85 (n.32), 105, 114, 146; see also Pantheon for Humanity

Berlin (Germany) viii, ix, 1, 5, 7–11, 19, 22–3, 26–9, 30, 78 (n.14), 81 (n.23), 82, 85 (n.32), 91, 96, 101–2, 104, 106, 113, 118 (n.8), 133–4 (n.4), 143, 146, 150–52, 154–7, 161–2, 164–9, 171–6, Plates 1–14

Berlin-Britz 152, 162 Berlin-Kreuzberg 82 (n.82) Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg ix, Plates 1–5 Berlin-Zehlendorf ix, Plates 8–14 Berlin Modernism Housing Estates 152–3 (n.15), 167 Berlin Museum 133–4 (n.4); see also KaiserFriedrich-Museum, Gemäldegalerie SMPK Berliner Verkaufskontor für Stahlträger [Berlin Sales Office for Steel Girders] 9, 10 Béziers (France) viii, 63, 145 Biedermeier 163 biological phenomenon 126 biological process 126 Bletter, Rosemarie H. xiii, 10 (n.48), 18 (n.96), 25–6, 28, 164, 173 Bondi, Georg 118 (n.7) Bosporus 157

bourgeoisie, bourgeois 102, 133 (n.3), 135, 136 Bourges (France) 129 Braunschweig (Germany) 134 Brenne, Winfred ix, 152, 164, 167, 173, 174, Plate 6, Plate 7; see also Architektur Werkstatt Helge Pitz – Winfried Brenne Breughel, Pieter 137 Brevarium Grimani 127 British garden city movement 151 Brothers van Eyck 130; see also Jan van Eyck Brunelleschi, Filippo 92 Buarcos (Portugal) vii, 56, 146 building art 21, 75 (n.5), 76, 80 (n.21) building codes 82 bunte Reihe [colorful row] (Magdeburg) 160 business 16–17, 78, 80, 86, 166 (n.4, n.5) business quarters 78 cafes 4, 88, 98 Cairo, Egypt viii, 58, 145 canopy 133, 161–2 carnage 80–81, 119 (n.10) The Carnage (Walt Whitman) 80, 81 (n.22), 119 (n.20); see also Drum Tabs, Walt Whitman castles 37, 39–40, 77, 101, 127 cathedral viii, 3, 6, 11, 17, 36–8, 40, 60, 67, 77, 80, 82–4, 91, 98, 117, 123, 126–7, 133, 138, 143, 145–6, 171 (n.77) Cathedral in Rouen (France) viii, 123, 146 central library 88 Cervantes, Miguel de 117 Chancellor Chang-Liang viii, 67, 145; see also Miao tai tze, Memorial Temple Chicago (Illinois, United States of America) 81, 102, 104, 112, 146 Chorin (Germany) 153, 168 (n.30) Christianity 5, 16, 18, 83 church viii, 4, 5, 47, 77, 82–3, 86, 91, 101, 102, 104, 106, 117, 128, 135, 145, 150, 153, 158 circulation 158 city i, iii, v, vi, viii, xi, xii, xiii, 1, 2 (Illustration 1.1), 3, 4, 5–22, 23 (n.2), 24, 25 (n.68), 26 (n.84, n.89), 31, 41, 43, 73, 75 (n.5), 78 (n.13), 80–87, 88, 89, 91, 92–6, 98–104, 107 (Figures 54 and 57), 108, 110, 112, 120–22, 134 (n.5), 145–6, 147, 149, 151,154, 158–62, 166 (n.6, n.9), 168, 170 (n.64)

INDEX

city administration buildings 4, 80 City Beautiful civic centers 160 city center viii, 3–5, 86–7, 101–3, 107, 158, 160 City Club 102 City Crown i, iii, v, vi, viii, xi, xii, xiii, 1, 3, 5–8, 10–12, 15, 17–18, 21–2, 23 (n.2), 31, 41, 73, 85–7, 87, 89, 91, 92–5, 98–104, 101 (n.2), 147, 149, 151, 158–62; see also Stadtkrone city hall 77, 80, 86, 98, 101, 146 city of peace 101 City plan diagram viii, 92; see also Stadtkrone

city planning 7–8, 16, 77–8, 101 City Skyline viii, 3, 92, 101, 110, 146; see also Stadtkrone, New York civic 1, 4–5, 8, 14, 20, 77, 80, 103–4, 101, 155 (n.36), 160, 168 civic administration 80 civic buildings 77, 80 civic centers 160 Claus, Sylvia 166 Coeur, Jacques 129 coexistence 121–2 Collins, George Roseborough 78 Cologne (Germany) vii, 9, 10, 11 (n.54), 12, 14, 25, 51 (Figure 13), 91 (n.36), 145, 150, 162, 172 (n.78); see also Glashaus, Werkbund-Ausstellung colonnade 4, 87–8, 98, 99, 105 color ix, 5, 8, 10–12, 24, 36–8, 40, 77, 84, 89–91, 103, 127–31, 133–4, 143, 150–54, 159, 160–62, 167, 173 colorful Magdeburg 151; see also Magdeburg, Stadtbaurat comfortable 39, 80 community center 15–16, 87–90, 99, 100, 103, 116, 117, 121 community hall 17 (n.92), 26, 85 (n.31), 89 complexity 162, 165 Confederative City 105 Confucius Temple (Qufu) viii, 102, 107, 146; see also Qufu Conrads, Ulrich 174, 175 contemporary art 88 content and form 78 cooperatives 116, 151 Copenhagen (Denmark) 88; see also Tivoli Cottet, Charles vii, 43, 145 courtyard ix, 2, 4, 87, 88, 98, Plate 3, Plate 4

Crasmann Collins, Christiane 78

179

Creator 18, 75, 102, 117, 118, 119, 129, 138, 163 cross 4, 14, 87, 89, 129, 133, 166 crown i, iii, v–viii, xi–xiii, 1, 3–8, 10–26, 31, 41, 73, 77, 80–87, 87 (Figure 42), 89 (Figure 43), 90–95, 91, 93–95, 98, 99–102, 104, 118, 121, 146–7, 149, 151, 166, 168, 170 crown of the city 84 crusaders 138 Crystal Chain Letters 21, 22 (n.105, n.106, n.119), 27–8, 30, 162, 171 (n.70), 176 crystal house 5, 14, 21, 89–92, 98, 100 culture, cultural xi–xii, 4–5, 17, 20, 22, 75–6, 80 (n.22), 85 (n.32), 116, 121, 150, 155–6 cultural progress 116 cupola 10, 12, 37, 38, 102, 105, 161 Cürlis, Hans 80 Danzig (East Prussia) viii, 65, 145 Darwin, Charles 136 Daumier, Honoré 137 Design of a Monument for the People viii, 114, 146; see also H.P. Berlage Deutsche Bauzeitung [journal] 22, 28, 143, 159, 171 Deutsche Gartenstadtgesellschaft [German Garden City Society] 8, 11, 19, 162; see also Gartenstadt Gesellschaft Deutscher Werkbund [German Association

of Craftsmen] 7, 9, 12, 162 (n.78), 169, 172 development plans 82 Diamond Worker Union House (the Hague) 85 Die Stadtkrone [The City Crown] vii, xi–xiii, 1, 3–6, 4, 9–23, 26, 27–9, 149–50, 155 (n.36), 156 (n.38), 158–9 (n.64, n.65, n.66), 160, 161 (n.74), 162 (n.77), 163 (n.87), 169–72, 175 Diederichs, Eugen 75, 79, 101, 175 Die Kunst der Siedlung [The art of the housing estate] (Bruno Taut) 154 divine 18, 39, 84, 116, 118, 122, 132 Diwakara 84 dogma 83, 128 Dornach (Switzerland) ix, 160, 171 Plate 15

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor 117 Dresden (Germany) 70 (n.17)


Durham vii, 6, 46, 145 dwelling 39, 76–7, 80, 151, 154 (n.27), 168

functional art 74 functional forms 74

Edirnekapi Martyr’s Cemetery (Istanbul) 158

gabled houses 77 garden ix, 1, 5, 7, 86–8, 98, 105, 116, 152–3, 156, 158–9 Garden City vii–xii, 2 (Illustration 1.1), 3, 5, 7, 10, 11, 13–16, 22, 23 (n.7), 26–7 (n.89), 28, 75 (n.5), 79 (n.15), 80, 86–87, 96, 101, 102, 107, 121, 146, 150, 159, 160, 160, 166 (n.6); see also garden city estate garden city estate viii, 96, 146, 150 (n.6), 166 Garden City Letchworth 102, 107, 146 Garden Cities of Tomorrow (Ebenezer Howard) 2 (n.7), 23, 79 (n.15), 101 (n.2); see also Ebenezer Howard, garden city movement, Gartenstadt garden city movement xi, 8, 16, 75 (n.5), 79, 151 garden design 152 Gartenstadt [garden city] 8, 11, 19, 23–4, 28, 79 (n.16), 151–2, 162, 167, 174 Gartenstadtgesellschaft [Garden City Society] 8, 11, 19, 107, 143, 146, 162; see also Deutsche

Eichhorn, Ulrike 167, 174 Elias-Hollplatz, Augsburg (Germany) viii, 109, 146 Elsaesser, Martin 157 enlightenment 101, 117–18 entertainment 4–5, 87, 89, 121 L’Esprit Nouveau 75 (n.6); see also Le Corbusier and Ozenfant exile 155–6, 164 expressionism 11, 27 (n.96), 30, 158, 164, 174 expressionist architecture 10 (n.48), 25, 28, 151–2 (n.13), 161 (n.73, n.75), 164, 167, 171, 173 van Eyck, Jan vii, 6–7, 33, 145; see also Brothers van Eyck façade ix, 8, 11, 127, 151–3, Plate 7, Plate 13

factories 2, 77, 86 Fader, Emil 22 (n.115), 28, 159 (n.66), 160, 171 Fahne 82 (n.27) faith 5, 16, 20, 76, 83, 104, 120 Am Falkenberg [Falkenberg estate] viii, 3, 8–9, 15, 17, 26 (n.89), 96, 97 (Figures 50 and 51), 146, 150 (n.6), 152, 158–60, 166; see also Gartenstadt Falkenberg, Tuschkasten Siedlung fascist Germany 164; see also Nazi Germany Fechner, Gustav Theodor 17–19, 26 (n.26), 28, 83 (n.29) Federal Republic of Germany 163 Fernstenliebe [love of the most distant] 116 (n.2) First World War xi–xii, 1, 3, 6, 11, 20–22, 80, 81 (n.22), 149–51, 158, 160 Fischer, Theodor 12, 18–19, 25, 27–8, 150, 152 flag v, 82 (n.27), 92, 121, 157 Ford, George B. 103 Foreign Office in Berlin 104 forum 81 France 21 (n.107), 27–8, 102, 143 della Francesca, Piero 129, 134 Frühlicht [early light] (Bruno Taut) 173 (n.93), 175

Gartenstadtgesellschaft gegenständlich [concrete, objective]

130–31, 136 das Gegenstandliche [Objectivity] 130–31,

136 GEHAG 151, 167 (n.11) Geist [spirit] 16–18, 26 (n.84 and 92) Gelsenkirchen (Germany) 160 Gemäldegalerie SMPK (Berlin) 134; see also Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum (Berlin) Genocide 81 (n.22) George, Stefan 118 (n.7) Der Stern des Bundes (Stephan George) 118 German xii–xiii, 1–3, 7–9, 11, 13, 16, 18 (n.96), 20, 26, 30, 74–5, 79 (n.16 and 17), 80–81 (n.22, n.23), 83 (n.30), 85, 90 (n.34), 91 (n.37), 101 (n.2), 102, 105, 116 (n.2), 119 (n.10), 133 (n.3, n.4), 134 (n.5), 149, 151, 152, 154–5, 157, 159–165, 167 (n.24), 169, 172 (n.78, n.85, n.86), 173 (n.95), 174–6 German Classicism 81; see also Leo von Klenze and Karl Friedrich Schinkel German Garden City Movement 79 (n.16, n.17)

INDEX

German Garden City Society 8, 143, 162 German ideal 81 German modernism 152 German National Socialist Party 155 Germany 1, 3, 8–9, 11, 20, 22, 79, 101–2, 122, 133, 149, 151–2, 154 (n.25), 156 (n.46), 157, 161, 162 (n.78), 163 (n.88) 164, 165 (n.95), 168, 169, 172, 173, 174 Gesamtkunstwerk [total work of art] 130 Giedion, Siegfried 163 (n.89), 173 Gilly, Friedrich 101 Monument of Friedrich the Great on the Leipziger Platz (Berlin) viii, 101, 106, 146 Ginsburg, Moisei 154 (n.27), 168 Narkomfin Building (Moscow) 154 (n.27), 168 di Giorgio Martini, Francesco 79 Glasarchitektur [Glass Architecture] 10 Gläserne Kette [Crystal Chain] 20, 21 (n.105, n.106), 22 (n.119), 27–8, 30, 160, 164, 171 (n.70), 176 Glashaus [Glasshouse] vii, 9, 10 (n.47, 48), 11 (n.54), 24, 25, 29, 91 (n.36), 162–3, 172 (n.87), 150, 176 glass ix, xi–xii, 3–6, 9–12, 14, 25 (n.53), 28–9, 36–9, 40, 89–91, 118–19, 122, 126–9, 132, 134–5, 138, 150, 162, 172 (n.78), 173, 175, Plate 7 glass industry 10, 162 (n.78), 172 Gleichen-Rußwurm, Alexander von 16, 81 (n.24) Globe 36–7, 40 Gloria mundi et coeli 120 God 17, 19, 76, 78, 82, 84, 91, 116, 121, 133, 154 Göderitz, Johannes 151, 174 Goecke, Theodor 7 (n.32), 17 (n.88), 19, 24, 26, 28, 78 (n.14), 82 (n.26), 150 van der Goes, Hugo 133 (n.4), 134; see also Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum (Berlin) and Gemäldegalerie SMPK (Berlin) Die Anbetung der Hirten [The Adoration of the Shepherds] 134 (n.4) Die Geburt Christi [The Birth of Christ 133 (n.4) Goetheanum (Rudolf Steiner) ix, 160–61, 171 (n.72), Plate 15; see also Dornach van Gogh, Vincent 137 gothic xii, 6, 11, 17, 76, 82 (n.28), 122, 126–9, 137–8, 160 government buildings 81–2

181

The Great Pagoda of Udaipur ix, 142, 146 The Great Temple Chamukte ix, 6, 139, 146; see also Palitana green areas 87 green spaces 158 green zones 158 Gropius, Walter xi, 8, 12, 20, 160, 162 (n.77, n.78), 163 (n.84, n.88), 165, 171, 172 Großsiedlungen [large housing developments] 174 Gründerzeit [founding time] 1 Grünewald, Matthias 137 guild houses 77 Gurlitt, Cornelius 103 halo 36, 40, 128, 133, 136 The Hague (Netherlands) 85 (n.32) Hamburg (Germany) 150 Hammerstein, Elisabeth von 155 Hammerstein, Kurt Esquord von (General) 155 Hamsun, Knut 117, 120 (n.15) Hartmann, Kristiana 1–2 (n.5), 6 (n.28), 7 (n.33, 34), 8 (n.35, 40), 10 (n.46, 47), 23, 24, 28, 154 (n.21), 164, 167, 174 Hauptmann, Gerhard 117 Haus der Freundschaft [House of Friendship], vii, 12, 13, 16, 25 (n.69), 28, 155 (n.37), 169 (Constantinople); see also Istanbul, Turkey Hébrard, Ernest M. 112 104, 146 Hebron, Palestine viii, 59, 145 Heimatkunst [vernacular art} 84, 165 Hellerau , Gartenstadt Hellerau (Germany) 79 (n.17); see also Gartenstadt Hercules 77, 78 (n.10) Herzog-Anton-Ulrich-Museum (Braunschweig) 134 (n.5); see also Girl with a Wineglass , Jan Vemeer Hildebrand, Adolf von 134 Hillers, Kurt 164 Hillesheim, James W. 81 (n.25) Hillinger, Franz 157 Hindenburg, President Paul von 155 (n.36) Hitchcock, Henry–Russel 163, 173 (n.89) Hitler, Adolf 161 Hochheim, Eckhard von 91 (n.37); see also Meister Eckhart and Gustav Landauer Hoffmann, Franz 7, 150, 154, 158–9, 166 (n.1, n.4, n.5), 167 (n.23), 174 Hofmann, Ludwig von 136 (n.8)


Picture with Frame 136 (n.8)

Hohenheim (Germany) 102 Horace 120 Hörner, Undra 167 (n.22 and 24), 168 (n.35), 174 horticulture 3, 16, 79, 87, 159 hospital 4, 16, 86, 159 house of God 76, 82, 133 Houston (Texas) ix, 161, Plate 16; see also Twilight Epiphany Skyspace (James Turrell) Howard, Ebenezer vii, 1–4, 2, 2 (n.7, n.8), 3 (n.11), 7, 8 (n.38), 15–16, 23–4, 28, 79 (n.16), 101 (n.2), 107, 146; see also Garden City Howe, Frederic C. 102, 104 Hufeisensiedlung Berlin-Britz 152–3, 162, 165, 167 (n.11); see also Siedlungen and Berlin-Britz humanity 16, 18, 38, 74, 76, 83, 105, 114, 121–2, 137, 146 Hume, David 136 hygienic and social standards 152 Ibsen, Henrik 120 (n.14) Peer Gynt 120 (n.15) The Wild Duck 120 (n.14) — Gregers Werle 120 (n.14) — Hjalmar Ekdal 120 ideal city 4, 19, 158 idealistic goal 119 imagination 18, 74 (n.3), 75, 103 impressionism 126 impressionist 134 India 3, 6, 15, 17, 76, 84, 126, 137–9, 143, 155 Indian architecture 138, 143 Indian temples 6, 15, 137 Industrialization 7–8, 151, 163 industry 1–2, 3 (n.11), 4, 8–10, 14, 16–17, 23, 78–80, 87, 100–101, 103, 133, 151–2, 155, 162 (n.78), 172 Insterburg (East Prussia) 160 International Court of Justice 105 International World Center viii, 112, 146 internationalism 6, 120 Istanbul (Turkey) 7, 22, 156–8, 158 (n.59), 163, 165, 170 Italy 102 Izmir (Turkey) 157 Japan 22, 149, 154–5, 156 (n.38, n.39, n.40, n.42, n.43), 157 (n.48), 164 (n.93) 165, 169–70, 173, 175–6

Japanese International Association of Architects 154–6 Japanese modernism 156 Jerusalem vii, 50, 145 Joedicke, Jürgen 163, 173 (n.89) Jugendstil [Art Nouveau] 150, 165 Jung, Jacqueline E. 126 (n.1) Junghanns, Kurt 8 (n.42), 24, 29, 149 (n.1, n.2), 154 (n.26, n.29), 155 (n.31), 156 (n.44) 158 (n.56, n.58), 160 (n.68), 162 (n.79), 163 (n.85, n.86, n.87), 164 (n.92), 165, 168–74 Kain, Evelyn 126 (n.1) Kaiser Wilhelm II xi, 20 Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum 133 (n.4); see also Hugo van der Goes and Gemäldegalerie SMPK Kaiser, Hans 6, 21 Kaliningrad, Russia 150 Kampffmeyer, Bernhard 8 (n.36), 14, 24, 101 (n.2) Kampffmeyer, Hans 14, 101 (n.1) Kampffmeyer, Paul 8, 14 Kant, Immanuel 135 (n.6) Critque of Judgement 135 (n.6) Kantian concept 135 Karlsruhe (Germany) viii, 101, 107, 146 Katsura, Villa and Gardens (Kyoto) 156, 169 (n.38), 174–6 Kaufmann, Oskar 85 (n.32) Klein–Hoheim viii, 102, 111, 146 Klein, Cesar 171 (n.77 Klenze, Leo von 81 (n.23) Kölner Werkbund–Ausstellung [Cologne Werkbund Exhibition] vii, 9 (Illustration 1.3), 10, 162 (n.78), 172 Konigsberg School for Construction Trades 150 Königsberg, Prussia 150 Krayl, Carl 151 Kreis, Barbara 155 (n.33, 34), 164 (n.93), 168, 173–4 Kremlin, Moscow, Russia viii, 60, 61, 145 Kulturbolschewik [cultural Bolshevist] 155 Kunstwollen [formative will of art] 126 (n.1) Kyoto, Japan 156 La Chaise-Dieu viii, 62, 145 labor unions 116 Landauer, Gustav 16 (n.81, n.82), 17 (n.87), 18 (n.97), 19, 26–7, 29, 91 (n.37), 119 (n.10, n.12), 164

INDEX

Landflucht [flight from the land] 2, 82 Lang, Fritz 1 (n.1, n.4), 2, 23, 23, 28; 28; see also Metropolis

Lao-Tsu 118 Tao Te Ching by Lao-Tzu 118 (n.9) 118 (n.9)

Laqueur, Hans-Peter 170 (n.59) 170 (n.59) laws of nature 78 Le Corbusier 75 (n.6), 75 (n.6), 164–5, 164–5, 168 (n.27), 168 (n.27), 172 (n.87) 172 (n.87) Unite d’Habitation (Marseille) 154 (n.27 154 (n.27 League of Community Halls 85 lebendige Kunst [Living art] 88 (n.33) 88 (n.33) Leipzig 9 Leipziger Platz (Berlin) viii, 101, 101, 106, 146; see also Monument of Friedrich the Great (Gilly) (Gilly)

Letchworth, Letchworth, Garden City viii, viii, 8, 79, 79, 102, 102, 107, 146 letzter Ausdruck [last expression] 90 (n.35) 90 (n.35) library 13, 13, 16, 16, 80, 80, 88–9, 88–9, 98–9, 98–9, 103, 103, 105, 105, 143 light 8, 10–11, 10–11, 14, 14, 17–18, 17–18, 21, 21, 37, 37, 39–40, 39–40, 75–6, 84–6, 84–6, 89–91, 89–91, 101, 101, 105, 105, 117–19, 117–19, 122, 122, 126–9, 126–9, 133, 133, 137–8, 137–8, 152–3, 152–3, 155, 159, 159, 161–2 liturgy 82 living arts 88 Lochner, Stephan 129 loggias ix, Plate 1 Plate 1 London (Great Britain) viii, viii, 51, 79, 79, 102, 102, 145 Lorenzo, Fiorenzo di 129 Lowic, Lawrence 79 (n.18) 79 (n.18) Luckhardt, Hans 166 (n.4) 166 (n.4) Luckhardt, Wassili 166 (n.4) 166 (n.4) Maasberg, Ute 166 (n.1 166 (n.1 and 7), 168 (n.25), 168 (n.25), 170 (n.52, 170 (n.52, n.57, n.60, n.64) Machtergreifung [Siezure of power] 155 Madonna 129, 129, 132 Madurai, India vii, vii, 49, 145 Magdeburg (Germany) 8–9, 8–9, 22, 22, 150–51, 150–51, 162, 162, 166 (n.6), 166 (n.6), 174–5 Mainz (Germany) viii, 69, 145 Manchukuo (China) 157 Masquerade 37 Materialism 17, 17, 83 May, Ernst 163 (n.87), 163 (n.87), 173 medieval 3–4, 3–4, 6, 80, 91, 91, 102 102, 122, 162 (n.77), 162 (n.77), 171 meeting hall 16, 87 meeting houses 87, 87, 98–9 Meister Eckhart 19, 19, 27 (n.102), 27 (n.102), 91 (n.37), 91 (n.37), 131; 131; see also Gustav Landauer and Eckhart von Hochheim

183

Mendelsohn, Erich 163, 163, 172 (n.81) metropolis 79, 100, 100, 176 Metropolis (Fritz Lang) 1 (n.1, n.4), 2, 23; 23; see also Fritz Lang Meyer, Hannes 165, 168 (n.33) 168 (n.33) Miao Tai Tze, Memorial Temple for Chancillor Chang-Liang viii, viii, 67, 145 Middle Ages 17, 80–81 Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig 162–3 (n.84, 162–3 (n.84, n.87), 165 Mietskasernen [rental barracks] 2 (n.6), 23, 23, 30 Mimari Bigisi [Lectures [Lectures on Architecture] 157, 157, 170, 170, 176; 176; see also Architekturlehre

Ministry of Foreign Foreign Affairs viii, viii, 113, 146 modern art 11, 11, 134 modern genres 88 Möhring, Bruno 150 Monet, Claude 136 Monsterbau [monster of a building] 161 Mont–Saint–Michel, Mont–Saint–Michel, France vii, vii, 6, 44, 145 Monte Compatri (Italy) vii, vii, 6, 46, 145 monument viii, viii, 7, 9,75, 9,75, 82 (n.82), 82 (n.82), 85, 85, 101–3, 101–3, 105, 105, 106 (Figure 106 (Figure 53), 114 (Figure 69), 120 , 120 , 127, 127, 143, 143, 146, 146, 150, 150, 157, 157, 159–60, 159–60 , 162 Monument des Eisens [Monument of Iron] (Bruno Taut) viii, viii, 9–11, 26 (n.84), 150, 150, 157 Monument for the People (H.P. Berlage) viii, viii, 114, 146 Moscow (Russia) viii, viii, 60, 61, 145, 145, 154 (n.27), 155 (n.30, 155 (n.30, n.34), 168 Moscow Soviet 154 Mumford, Lewis 163 (n.81, 163 (n.81, n.83), 172 Municipal Building (New York) York) viii, viii, 104, 104, 110, 146 municipality 91, 91, 100–101, 100–101, 103 Museum 4, 16, 16, 88, 88, 98–9, 98–9, 133 (n.4), 133 (n.4), 134 (n.5), 136 (n.8), 136 (n.8), 143 Muthesius, Hermann 7 (n.33), 18, 18, 24, 24, 29, 29, 75 (n.5), 75 (n.5), 79, 162 (n.78), 162 (n.78), 163, 163, 172 Mutzenbecher, Franz 150 116 (n.2) Nächstenliebe [charity] 116 (n.2) Napoleonic Wars 82 (n.28) 82 (n.28) National Assembly for the Creation of Community Centers 103 National buildings 81 National Romanticism 165 Nationalgedanke [national thought] 80 (n.22)

BY BRU NO TAUT TAUT 184 THE CITY CROWN BY

Nationalism 80–1, 80–1, 81 (n.22) 81 (n.22) Naumann, Friedrich 172 (n.78) 172 (n.78) Nazi 22, 150 (n.5), 150 (n.5), 155 (n.36), 155 (n.36), 157, 157, 161 (n.75), 165, 165, 166, 166, 168, 168, 171 Nazi Germany 22 Nazi regime 150 (n.5), 157, 157, 166 neo–Baroque 161 neoclassical 161 Neue Gemeinschaft [New [New Community] 7–8 Neues Bauen [new building] 156, 156, 163 (n.88), 163 (n.88), 166, 172 Neue Sachlichk S achlichkeit eit [New [New Objectivity] 172 (n.88) New York (United States of America) viii, viii, 23, 103, 103, 104, 104, 110, 119 (n.10), 119 (n.10), 146; 146; see also new Municipal building the Netherlands 102 Nicolai, Bernd 170 (n.51, 170 (n.51, n.64), 174 Nietzsche, Friedrich 189, 81 (n.25), 81 (n.25), 164 Nippon 156, 156, 169 (n.39), 169 (n.39), 175 Nobel Prize 120 Notverordnung zum Schutz von Volk und Staat [Presidential [Presidential Decree for the

Protection of People and State] 155 (n.36) Novinsky Boulevard (Moscow), 168 (n.27); see also Moisei Ginsburg and Narkofin Building

office 7, 9, 11, 11, 14, 14, 77, 77, 80, 80, 98, 98, 104, 153, 153, 155, 155, 157, 157, 160, 160, 166 (n.5) 166 (n.5) office buildings 77 ogival arches 128–9 Olbrich, Joseph Maria 172 (n.78) 172 (n.78) old city v, 12, 12, 76–8, 76–8, 86, 86, 147 Onkel Toms Hütte ix, 153, 153, 167 (n.11), 167 (n.11), Plates 6–14 , see also Waldsiedlung Onkel Toms Hütte , Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf opera/opera house 5, 11, 11, 14, 14, 16, 16, 87–8, 98–9 Oppenheimer, Franz 101 Orient 12 (n.66), 12 (n.66), 25, 25, 138, 155–6, 155–6, 160 (n.37), 160 (n.37), 160 (n.45), 160 (n.45), 173 (n.93), 175 orientation 5, 78, 159 Osthaus, Karl Ernst 12, 12, 21 (n.108, 21 (n.108, n.109), 27, 29 Ottoman skyline 157 Ottoman traditions 165 Ozenfant, Amédée 75 pacifist 154, 154, 161 Padgett, Laura J. ix, 175, 175, 176, 176, Plates 1–14

pagoda vii–ix, vii–ix, 17, 17, 53, 70, 76–7, 76–7, 142, 145–6 ix, 142, 146 Great Pagoda of Udaipur ix, Great Wat Chaeng Pagoda (Bangkok– Siam) viii, viii, 70, 146 Shewdagon Pagoda (Yangon) vii, vii, 53, 145 Painting 6,11, 90, 118, 118, 126–37, 153, 153, 171 (n.77), 174 palace vi–vii, xii, xii, 6, 10, 10, 36–40, 36–40, 104–5, 113, 119–20, 119–20 , 141, 141, 142–3, 142–3, 146–7, 160 Palace of Justice (Brussels) viii, viii, 104, 104, 113, 146, 146, 160 Palestine viii, viii, 59, 145; 145; see also Hebron Palitana, Mount, the Great Temple Chamukte ix, 6, 139, 146, 146, 165 Pantheon 105, 105, 161, 161, 165 Pantheon of Humanity by by H.P. Berlage ix, 114, 146 Pantheon (Rome) 161 Paris (France) viii, viii, 68, 145 Park 3–4, 16, 21, 79–80, 79–80, 86–8, 86–8, 152, 152, 156 (n.38), 158–9, 158–9, 169 parlor 135–6 parsimony 80 Pavilion 7, 9, 10 (n.46, 10 (n.46, n. 47, n. 47, n. 48), 11, 11, 24, 24, 28, 28, 98, 98, 149–50, 149–50 , 158, 158, 162 (n.78), 162 (n.78), 172, 172, 174 Pehnt, Wolfgang 151–2 (n.13), 151–2 (n.13), 161 (n.73, 161 (n.73, n.75), 167, 167, 171, 171, 174 Performance 11, 11, 88, 88, 90, 90, 121, 121, 161 Petzold, Alfons 117 (n.4, 117 (n.4, n.5) Pevsner, Nikolaus 163 (n.87, 89), 165, 165, 172–3 Picture with Frame (also called: Sunset over 136 (n.8) the Sea) (L. von Hofmann 136 (n.8) Pilgrimage 116, 116, Pisa (Italy) viii, viii, 64, 145 Piazza del Duomo viii, viii, 64, 145 Pitz, Helge 152 Architekturwekstatt Architekturwekstatt Helge Pitz-Winfred Pitz-Winfred Brenne ix, Plate 6, Plate 7, Plate 8 Plato 122 playground 86–7, 158 Poelzig, Hans 5, 170 Posener, Julius 174 poverty 39 Prenzlau (Germany) vii, vii, ix, 57, 145, 145, Plates 1–5

Presidential Decree for the Protection of People and State 155 Preußische Akademie der Künste [Prussian Academy of the Arts] (Berlin) 154, 154, 173

INDEX

Prinz, Regina 166 (n.1, 166 (n.1, n.7), 167 (n.25), 170 (n.52, 170 (n.52, n.57, n.60, n.64) public 5, 7–8, 7–8, 14, 14, 16–17, 16–17, 18 (n.96), 18 (n.96), 20, 26, 74 (n.2), 74 (n.2), 78, 78, 81, 83, 83, 88, 88, 98–9, 98–9, 101, 105, 105, 116, 116, 149, 149, 152 159, 159, 162, 162, 173 public buildings 81–2, 81–2, 103, 149 public houses 5, 14 publication xi–xii, xi–xii, 1, 7, 12, 12, 21, 21, 91, 119 (n.10), 149 (n.10), 149 (n.1), (n.1), 150, 150, 154 (n.25), 154 (n.25), 156 (n.43), 157 (n.43), 157,, 158 (n.61), 158 (n.61), 159, 159, 163 (n.93), 163 (n.93), 164, 164, 166, 166, 168, 168, 169, 169, 170, 173 puriification 105 Qufu, China viii, viii, 102, 107, 108, 146 Plan of the city of Qufu viii, viii, 102, 102, 108, 146 Temple of Confucius (Qufu) viii, viii, 102, 107, 146 Raphael 137 Raphael 137 Rappaport, Phillip A. 81–2 (n.26) 81–2 (n.26) reading houses 88, 88, 98 reform vii, reform vii, 2, 2 (n.6, 8), 7–8, 7–8, 11, 11, 23, 23, 24 (n.38), 24 (n.38), 26 (n.77), 26 (n.77), 28, 28, 30, 30, 120, 120, 150–51, 150–51 , 152, 152, 157, 157, 158, 158, 166 9 (n.90), 170 (n.51) 170 (n.51) Reform, garden city estate Reform 150 (n.6), 151, 151, 158, 166; see also Siedlungen Reichstag 104, 104, 155 (n.36), 155 (n.36), 168 Reichtagsbrandverordnung Reichtagsbrandverordnung [Reichstag Fire Decree] 155 (n.36), 168 religion 5, 17, 17, 76, 76, 81, 81, 83, 83, 105, 105, 117–18, 117–18 , 121 residential housing estates 151–2 residential quarters 2–4, 2–4, 22, 22, 78, 78, 86–7, 159 restaurants 4, 88, 88, 98–9 Rheinfelden (Germany) 101 Rhineland Westphalia (Germany) 101 rhythm 15, 15, 77, 77, 90, 90, 102, 159 Rice University, Texas ix, 161, 161, Plate 16 Plate 16; see also James Turrell Riegl, Alois 126 (n.1) 126 (n.1) Riemerschmid, Richard 79 (n.17) 79 (n.17) Rochester, New York, United States of America 103 romanticism, romantic 78, 80, 80, 82, 82, 101, 101, 119, 119, 155, 155, 165 Rome (Italy) 145, 145, 161 Russia 149–50 Russia 149–50,, 160 Rüstringen (Germany) 101 St Luke (Rogier van der Weyden) 132 St Paul’s Church (London) 102 St Ulrich Church (Augsburg) vii, vii, 47, 104, 104, 145

185

Salamanca, Spain viii, viii, 54, 145 Sano di Pietro 129 Pietro 129,, 139 Ancona (Siena) 129 Sarcophagus of Nelson (London) 102 Scharoun, Hans 160 Scheerbart, Paul v–vi, v–vi, xii, xii, 3, 5, 6 (n.25), 10 (n.49, n.50, n.53), 11, 11, 23, 23, 25, 25, 28–9, 28–9, 31, 31, 35–40, 35–40, 78 (n.12), 78 (n.12), 91 (n.36), 91 (n.36), 118 (n.8), 118 (n.8), 137, 137, 141–2, 141–2, 143, 143, 147, 147, 155–6, 155–6, 164, 164, 173–5 The Dead Palace: Palace: An Architectonic Apocalypse xii, xii, 6, 141–2, 141–2, 143, 143, 157 Münchhausen und Clarissa: Ein Berliner Roman 118 The New Life: An Architect’s Dream v,

35–40, 35–40, 143, 143, 157 Schinkel, Karl Friedrich viii, viii, 81 (n.23), 81 (n.23), 82 (n.28), 101, 101, 106 (Figure 52), 143, 143, 146 Schirren, Matthias 6 (n.28), 15 (n.73), 15 (n.73), 19 (n.102), 24, 24, 26–7, 26–7, 29, 29, 164, 164, 174–5 Schloss and Museum Belvedere 136 (n.8); 136 (n.8); see also Vienna Schmitz, Bruno 102 school 21, 27, 78, 80, 86, 98, 101, 101, 103, 103, 121 (n.17), 150, 150, 153 (n.51), 153 (n.51), 157–8, 157–8, 161 (n.74), 162 (n.77), 162 (n.77), 170–71 Schopenhauer, Arthur 81 (n.25) 81 (n.25) Schumacher, Fritz 163 sculpture 11, 11, 90, 90, 118, 118, 130, 130, 138, 138, 162 (n.77), 171 Second World War 149 (n.1), 149 (n.1), 150 (n.4), 150 (n.4), 153, 153, 155 (n.30), 155 (n.30), 163 163,, 166, 166, 168 secular spirit 133 self–deception 39 Selim Mosque (Adrianople) vii, vii, 47, 145 Selinunt, (Greece) vii, vii, 52, 145 Semiotics 135 (n.7) 135 (n.7) Sforza, Battista 130 Sharp, Dennis 19 (n.53), 19 (n.53), 25, 25, 29, 29, 163 (n.89), 163 (n.89), 173, 173, 175 Shotaro, Shimomura 169 (n.38) 169 (n.38) Shwedagon Pagoda , (Yangon) vii, 53, 145 Siedlungen [Housing developments] ix,7 ix,7 (n.33), 8, 24, 24, 151 (n.11), 151 (n.11), 152–3, 152–3, 154 (n.21), 162, 162, 163 (n.87), 163 (n.87), 165, 165, 167, 167, 172, 172, 174, 174, Plates 7–14 Falkenberg (Berlin) viii, Gartenstadt Am Falkenberg viii, 3, 8, 9, 15, 15, 17, 17, 26 (n.89), 26 (n.89), 96, 97, 146, 146, 150, 150, 152, 152, 158–60, 158–60, 166 (n.6); 166 (n.6); see also Tuschkasten-Siedlung Gartenstadt Reform 150 (Magdeburg) 150 (Magdeburg)

(n.6), 151, 151, 158, 158, 166

BY BRU NO TAUT TAUT 186 THE CITY CROWN BY

Hufeisensiedlung (Berlin-Britz) 151 (n.11), 151 (n.11),

152–3, 152–3, 162, 162, 165, 165, 167 Siedlung Schillerpark (Berlin) 152 Streusiedlung Mahlsdorf (Berlin) 165 Waldsiedlung Onkel Toms Hütte (Berlin Zehlendorf) Zehlendorf ) ix, 151 (n.11), 151 (n.11), 153, 153, 167, 167, Plates 6–14 ; see also Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf Wohnstadt Wohnstadt Carl Legien (Berlin) ix, 167 (n.11), Plates 1–4 Siena (Italy) 128–9 Academy of Siena 128 silence 6, 38, 118–19, 118–19, 142 Simpson, M.R. 81 (n.25) 81 (n.25) Sitte, Camillo 7 (n.31), 24, 24, 29, 29, 78 (n.13), 78 (n.13), 82 (n.26), 150 social xii, xii, 1, 3–5, 7, 11, 11, 16–17, 16–17, 19–20, 19–20, 38, 38, 78, 83 (n.30), 85, 87, 100, 100, 116, 116, 117, 117, 119–22, 119–22, 149, 149, 151–3, 151–3, 158, 158, 161–5, 166 (n.9), 167 (n.11), 167 (n.11), 174 social commitment 11, 11, 16, 16, 100 social concepts 116 (n.1) 116 (n.1) social democracy 117 social housing 152, 166 (n.9) 166 (n.9) social thought 85, 85, 116 (n.1) 116 (n.1) social–democratic 151 socialism xii socialism xii,, 3, 5–6, 16 (n.81, 16 (n.81, n.82), 17 (n.87), 17 (n.87), 18 (n.96, n.97), 22, 22, 26–7, 29–30, 29–30, 83 (n.30), 84, 84, 119, 119, 154, 154, 171 (n.74) 171 (n.74) socialist xi, xi, 8, 17, 20, 119, 119, 154 (n.27), 154 (n.27), 155, 159 (n.64), 159 (n.64), 161, 161, 168, 168, 170 solar filaments 128 Solitude 38, 142 Solomon’s Temple (Jerusalem) viii, viii, 50, 145 Soviet Union 154–5, 154–5, 165 der soziale Gedanke [the social thought] 83, 116 Speer, Albert 161, 161, 171 (n.75), 171 (n.75), 175 Speidel, Manfred xiii, xiii, 1 (n.2, 3), 6 (n.28, 29, 30), 29, 30), 7, 12 (n.61, 12 (n.61, 64–8), 13 (n.69, 13 (n.69, 70), 14 (n.70, 14 (n.70, n.71, n.72), 15 (n.74, 15 (n.74, 75), 16 (n.76–80), 16 (n.76–80), 19 (n.101–3), 19 (n.101–3), 21 (n.110, 111), 22 (n.113–118), 22 (n.113–118), 23–9, 23–9, 151, 151, 153, 153, 155–6, 155–6, 158, 158, 160, 160, 164, 164, 166 (n.1, n.7, n.10), 167 (n.18–20), 169 (n.37–42, n.45), 170 (n.49, 170 (n.49, n.54, n.60), 171 (n.65, 171 (n.65, 71), 172 (n.80), 172 (n.80), 173 (n.93), 174 –6 174 –6 Spengemann, Christof 21, 21, 27 (n.112) 27 (n.112) Sperlich, Hans G. 164 (n.90), 164 (n.90), 173–4 Phantastische Architektur 164 (n.90), 164 (n.90), 173 Speyer (Germany) viii, viii, 68, 145

spiritual 5, 11, 11, 17–20, 17–20, 74–6, 74–6, 80, 83, 83, 89, 89, 103, 103, 118–22, 118–22, 137–8, 137–8, 149, 149, 151, 151, 160–62, 160–62, 165 spirituality 16, 16, 83, 83, 160 Spiritualization 120 Srivilliputtur viii, viii, 66, 145 Staatsfeinde [enemies of the state] 155 Stadtbaukunst [art of urban design] 19 (n.100), 27, 27, 28 Stadtbaurat [city architect] 151 Städtebau [Urban Planning] 7–8 Planning] 7–8,, 17 (n.88), 26, 26, 28, 81 (n.26), 81 (n.26), 143, 143, 146, 146, 155 (n.34), 155 (n.34), 156 (n.41), 156 (n.41), 157 (n.54), 157 (n.54), 163 (n.87), 163 (n.87), 168–70, 168–70, 172, 172, 174–6 Stadtkrone [the City Crown] vii, vii, xi–xiii, xi–xiii, 1 (n.2), 3, 4, 5–6, 5–6, 9–14, 9–14, 115 (n.74, 115 (n.74, 75), 116 (n.76–80), 116 (n.76–80), 17–20, 17–20, 21 (n.112) 21 (n.112) 22 (n.113, 115), 23, 23, 26–9, 26–9, 149–50, 149–50 , 153, 153, 155 (n.36), 155 (n.36), 158, 158, 159 (n.64, 159 (n.64, n.65, n.66), 160 (n.67, 160 (n.67, n.71) 161 (n.74), 161 (n.74), 162 (n.77), 162 (n.77), 163 (n.87), 163 (n.87), 169–72, 169–72 , 175; 175; see also City Crown, crown steel 9–10, 9–10, 150 Steiner, Rudolf ix, 160 (n.72), 160 (n.72), 161, 161, 171, 171, Plate 15

Stella Werke [Stella Works] 12, 14, 155 (n.30), 168 Stephany, H. 80 Stern, Lisbeth 21–2 (n.113), 21–2 (n.113), 27, 27, 29 Strängnäs viii, viii, 64, 145 Strasbourg, France vii, vii, 6, 45, 98, 98, 145 Streusiedlung Mahlsdorf (Berlin) 165; 165; see also Siedlungen

Strindberg, August 117 Der Sturm 11, 11, 25, 25, 29, 29, 162, 162, 175 Stuttgart (Germany) 13 (n.68), 13 (n.68), 25, 25, 28, 28, 102, 102, 146, 146, 150, 150, 153 Tagesansicht 17 (n.85), 17 (n.85), 26, 26, 28, 28, 83 (n.29) 83 (n.29) Taine, Hippolyte [Adolphe] 136 talismanic 18, 18, 84 Taut & Hoffmann 149 (n.1), 149 (n.1), 150 (n.5), 150 (n.5), 154 (n.23, n.24), 158–9, 158–9, 166–7, 166–7, 174 Taut, Bruno i, iii, v–xiii, 1–30, 1–30, 1 (n.1), 4 (n.12) 6 (n.28–30), 7 (n.33), 8 (n.34, n.40–42), 9, 10 (n.46–48, 10 (n.46–48, n.50–53), 11 (n.54–60), 11 (n.54–60), 12 (n.61–63, 12 (n.61–63, n.66, n.67), 14 (n.70–72), 15 (n.73–75), 13 (n.68), 14 (n.70–72), 16 (n.76–80, 16 (n.76–80, 83), 17 (n.86, 17 (n.86, 89–92), 18 (n.93–96, 18 (n.93–96, 98–99), 19 (n.101–103), 19 (n.101–103), 20 (n.104–105), 20 (n.104–105), 21 (n.105–106, 21 (n.105–106, 109, 109, 112), 22 (n.113–116, 22 (n.113–116, 119), 28–30, 28–30, 31, 31, 72–114, 72–114 , 89, 91–97, 149–165, 149–165, 149 (n.1), 149 (n.1), 150 (n.2–7), 150 (n.2–7), 151 (n.10–12), 151 (n.10–12),

INDEX

152 (n.13–14), 153 (n.16–20), 154 (n.21–26, 28), 155 (n.29–37), 156 (38–459, 157 (n.48–49, 51–55), 158 (n.57–62), 159 (n.62–64, 65–66), 160 (n.67–71), 162 (n.76–77, 79) 163 (n.80–89),164 (n.91–94), 165 (n.95), 165–173, 173–6, Plates 1–14 Alpine Architektur [ Alpine Architecture] vii, 15, 19, 25 (n.53), 26, (n.73) 29, 150, 162, 164, 169 (n.169), 175 Architekturlehre [Lectures on Architecture] (Bruno Taut) 156 (n.41), 157 (n.48, n. 54), 169–70, 175–6 Architekturprogramm [Architecture Program] (Bruno Taut) 162 (n.77), 171, 173 Architekturüberlegungen [Reflections on architecture] (Bruno Taut) 157 (n.48), 170, 175–6 Das Japanische Haus und sein Leben

157, 176 Frühlicht [early light] (Bruno Taut) 173 (93), 175 Mimari Bigisi [Lectures on Architecture] 157, 170, 176 Taut, Elisabeth 155, 168 (n.30) Taut, Heinrich 27, (n.99), 168 (n.30) Taut, Julius 150 Taut, Max 12 (n.61, n.64), 14 (n.70, n.71), 18 (n.99), 19, 25, 26, 27, 150, 166 (n.4, n.5), 167 (n.18, 22, 24), 168 (n.35), 174 Technische Hochschule [technical university] (Berlin) 19, 78 (n.14), 154–5 temple vii–ix, 3, 6, 15, 17, 48, 50, 67, 76–7, 81, 84–5, 102, 105, 107, 118, 137, 139, 145–6, 160, 165 Assyrian Temple vii, 48, 104, 145 Miao Tai Tze, Memorial Temple for Chancillor Chang–Liang viii, 67, 145 Palitana, the Great Temple Chamukte ix, 6, 139, 146, 165 Solomon’s Temple (Jerusalem) viii, 50, 145 Temple of Confucius (Qufu) viii, 102, 107, 146 Temple of Religions 105 Templowerberge, Templower Berg [Templower Mountain] (Berlin) 82 (n.28), 106, 146 Tenement 8, 76–9, 102, 151 terrestrial globe 36–7 terrestrial worship 118

187

Tessenow, Heinrich 79 The Hague (Netherlands) 85 (n.32) theater 5, 14, 16, 85 (n.32), 87–9, 98–100, 103, 116–17, 135 theosophy 161 Tivoli (Copenhagen) 88, Toledo (Spain) vii, 69, 145 Tolstoy, Leo 117–18 Torment 38–40, 122 town hall 16, 76–7, 102, 104 Trabzon (Turkey) 157 train station 4, 18, 86, 159 tranquility 162 triptych 130–32 Turkey 7, 22, 118, 149, 156 (n.46), 158 (n.58), 159 (n.64), 164–5, 169, 170, 173 Ankara 22, 157, 159 (n.64), 170 Istanbul 7, 22, 156–8, 158 (n.59), 163, 165, 170 Izmir 157 Trabzon 157 Turkish Ministry of Education 157–9 Turkish Parliament building 159 (n.64), 170 Turkish Republic 157, 159 (n.64), 170 Turrell, James ix, 161–2, Plate 16 Twilight Epiphany Skyspace (Rice University, Houston Texas) ix, 161–2, Plate 16

Tuschkasten–Siedlung [paint box estate] (Berlin) 8; see also Gartenstadt Am Falkenberg

twilight 37, 40 Tzaffin vii, 56, 145 Udaipur ix, 142, 146; see also The Great Pagoda of Udaipur

Ueno, Isaburo 155–6, 169 (n.38) UNESCO World Heritage List 151 (n.9), 152, 153 (n.15) United States 156, 160 United States Capitol (Washington D.C.) 160 unity of form, 74 Unterriexingen (Germany) 150, 153 Unwin, Raymond 8 (n.39), 29, 52, 107, 146 urban xi–xii, 1–3, 6–8, 12–13, 17, 19, 22, 75 (n.5), 78, 80, 101–3, 150–52, 154–5, 158–61, 163 (n.88) urban center 80, 151 urban development 102–3, 149, 163 (n.85–88), 172 urban life 2, 8, 158


urban planning xi, 7, 8, 78 (n.11, n.14), 82 (n.26), 101, 150–51, 154, 158 urbanism xi, 78, 152 utopia xi–xiii, 1, 3, 12, 13, 15 (n.73), 20, 22 (n.119), 29, 86, 149, 156 (n.38), 161, 164, 173, 175, Utrecht (Netherlands) vii, 48, 145 Üxküll, Jacob von 135 (n.7) Venice (Italy) 138 Vermeer, Jan or Johann 134 Girl with a Wineglass 134 (n.5) Herzog-Anton-Ulrich-Museum (Braunschweig) 134 vernacular art 84, 165 Vienna (Austria) viii, 102, 111, 117, 136 Schloss and Museum Belvedere 136 Virgin 100, 130, 132 visual art 90, 126, 135, 138 Volk [people] 8 (n.36), 17–18 (n.96, n.97), 22 (n.116), 84, 121 (n.17), 155 (n.36), 168–9 Völkermord [genocide] 81 (n.22) Volksbühne [people’s theater] 85 (n.32) Volkseele [soul of the people] 84 Volkshalle [people’s hall/town hall] 161 Volkshaus [people’s house/community center] 14, 17, 85 (n.31), 87–8, 121 (n.17) Volkshochschule Ottakring 117 (n.5) Volkskunst [folk art] 121 (n.17) Volksschule [people’s school/elementary school] 121 (n.17) votive church (Karl Friedrich Schinkel) viii, 106, 146 Wachsman, Konrad 163 (n.84), 172 Wagner, Martin 150 (n.4), 152, 157, 166 Wagner, Otto 102, 111 142, 146 Wagner, Richard 130 Waldsiedlung Zehlendorf Onkel Toms Hütte (Berlin) ix 153, 151 (n.11), Plates 7–14; see also Siedlungen Argentinische Allee ix, Plate 6, Plate 7,

Weber, Carl Maria von 130 Oberon 130 Weimar Republic 20, 80–81 (n.22) 151 (n.9), 163 (n.81), 172, 174 Weltanschauung [world view] 156 Weltbaumeister [world master builder] 165 Weltgegenden [celestial spheres] 90 Werkbund vii–viii, 7, 9, 10, 11 (n.54), 12, 13, 18 (n.98), 155 (n.37), 158 (n.61), 160 (n.70), 162 (n.78), 171–2, 174; see also Deutscher Werkbund

van der Weyden, Rogier 130–31, 134, 136 Saint Luke Painting the Virgin 130 Whitman, Walt 117, 119 (n.10, 12, 13) A Clear Midnight 119 (n.13) Trommelschläge [drum taps] 80, 81 (n.22), 119 (n.20) The Carnage 119 (n.10) Whyte, Iain Boyd 10 (n.46, n.48, n.52), 12 (n.62, n.63), 17 (n.86), 18 (n.98, 99), 19, 21 (n.105, n.109), 22 (n.119), 24–8, 30, 160 (n.70), 164 (n.94), 173, 176 Wiesbaden (Germany) 150 Wilhelmshaven (Germany) 101 Willenbrook, Harald 153 (n.17), 167, 176 Wittich, Clarissa 168 Wittich, Erica,155 (n.30), 168 Wohnstadt Carl Legien (Berlin) ix, 151 (n.11), 152, 153 (n.15), 167, Plates 1–5 Sültstraße ix, Plates 2–5 Wohnung [the apartment] 154, 158, 172 (n.84), 174, 175 Wollgast, Hedwig 1 (n.2), 6 (n.30), 17 (n.72), 19 (n.102), 155 (n.30), 168 World Center viii, 104, 112, 164 World Heritage Committee 152 (n.9, 15), 166–7; see also UNESCO World War I/WWI xii, 3, 11, 20, 6, 11, 15, 22, 80, 149, 150, 151, 158,160 Wright, Frank Lloyd 172, 177, 186 XXII district in Vienna viii, 111, 146

Plate 8

Birkenhof ix, Plate 9 Hochsitzweg and Hochwildpfad ix, Plate 12

Am Wiesenblau ix, Plate 13 Wallroth-Unterlip, Maria 101 (n.2)

Yangon, China 7, 53, 55, 145 Zeitgeist [Spirit of the time] 22 (n.114,

n.118), 27, 28, 41, 42, 75 89 Zurich, Switzerland 22, 155

. 9 0 0 2 y r a u n a J , t t e g d a P . J a r u a L : o t o h P . k c o l b g n i s u o h t a s a i g g o L . 0 3 – 8 2 9 1 , g r e B r e u a l z n e r P n i l r e B , n e i g e L l r a C t d a t s n h o W , t u a T o n u r B 1 e t a l P

. 9 0 0 2 l i r p A , t t e g d a P . J a r u a L : o t o h P . e ß a r t s t l ü S k c o l b g n i s u o H . 0 3 – 8 2 9 1 , g r e B r e u a l z n e r P n i l r e B , n e i g e L l r a C t d a t s n h o W , t u a T o n u r B 2 e t a l P

Plate 3

Bruno Taut, Wohnstadt Carl Legien, Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg, 1928–30. Housing block Sültstraße. Courtyard elevation and corner balconies. Photo: Laura J. Padgett, January 2009.

Plate 4

Bruno Taut, Wohnstadt Carl Legien, Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg, 1928–30. Housing block Sültstraße. Courtyard elevation. Photo: Laura J. Padgett, January 2009.

Plate 5

Bruno Taut, Wohnstadt Carl Legien, Legien, Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg, 1928–30.

Housing block Sültstraße. Staircase. Photo: Laura J. Padgett, April 2009.

. s i s y l a n a r o l o c e h t f o s t l u s e r g . n 7 i t 7 a 9 r t 1 / s 6 u l l 7 i 9 t 1 , u e a T n n o e n r u B r B d e y i r b f n n i a l p W r – o z l t i o P c e e g h t l e f H o t t n a o t i t s c k r u e r t s w n r o u c t e k e t R . i e h c e r l l A A , z e i t h P c s e i n l g i t e n e H : g g r n A i f w o a r h t d r o f o n , o s t e o s h u P o h w o r y l i m a f e l g n i S 6 e t a l P

Plate 7

Bruno Taut, Waldsiedlung Onkel Onkel Toms Hütte, Berlin-Zehlendorf, 1926–31. Single family

row houses, north of Argentinische Allee. Terraces with glass roof along the garden façade. faça de. Illustrating results of the color analysis. Photo of drawing: Helge Pitz, Architekturwerkstatt Helge Pitz – Winfried Brenne, 1976/1977.

. e e . l l 7 A 7 e 9 h 1 c / 6 s i 7 n 9 i t 1 , n e e n g n r A e r f B o d h e t i r r o f n i n , s W e – s z u i o t h P e w l g o r e y H l t i t m a t a s f k r e e l g w n r i u S t . k 1 e 3 i – t 6 h c 2 r 9 A 1 , , z f t r i o P d e n g e l l e h H e : Z - g n i n i l w r a e r B , d f e t t o ü o t H o s h m P . s o i T s l l e y k a n n a O r o g l n o u c l d e e h i t s f d l o a s t l W u , t s u e a r T e o h t n g u n r t B i a r t 8 s u l e t l a I l P

t n e c s i n i m e r e p a c s d . n 8 a 0 L . 0 f 2 o r h e n b e m k r e i B t t p e a S , d r t t a e Y . g 1 d 3 a – P . 6 J 2 a 9 r 1 , u f a r L o : d o n t o e h l h P e . Z r - e n u i t l r a e n B , m e o t r t f ü s H g s i n m w o a T r l d e l k e n t O s a g p n l y u r l d a e e i s s ’ t d l u a a T W f , o t u a T o n u r B 9 e t a l P

. 8 0 0 2 r e b m e t p e S , t t e g d a P . J a r u a L : o t o h P . 1 3 – 6 2 9 1 , f r o d n e l h e Z n i l r e B , e t t ü H s m o T l e k n O g n u l d e i s d l a W , t u a T o n u r B 0 1 e t a l P

Plate 11

Bruno Taut, Waldsiedlung Onkel Toms Hütte, Berlin-Zehlendorf, 1926–31. Apartment building Waldhüterpfad. View from stairhall. Photo: Laura J. Padgett, September 2008.

. d a f p d l i w h c o H d n a g e w z t i s h c o H r e n r o C . . 1 8 3 0 – 6 0 2 2 9 r 1 e , b f r m o t d e n p e e l h S , e t t Z - e n g i l r d e a B P . , J e a t t r ü u a H L s : t m o o o T l h e P k n O g n u l d e i s d l a W , t u a T o n u r B 2 1 e t a l P

Plate 13 Bruno Taut, Waldsiedlung Onkel Toms Hütte, Berlin-Zehlendorf, 1926–31. Am Wiesenblau. Garden facades. Photo: Laura J. Padgett, September 2009.

. 8 0 0 2 r e b m e t p e S , t t e g d a P . J a r u a L : o t o h P . 1 3 – 6 2 9 1 , f r o d n e l h e Z n i l r e B , e t t ü H s m o T l e k n O g n u l d e i s d l a W , t u a T o n u r B 4 1 e t a l P

. 9 8 9 1 , k c a r B k r a M : o t o h P . 8 – 5 2 9 1 m o r f e t e r c n o c d e r u o p n i t l i u B . d n a l r e z t i w S , h c a n r o D , m u n a e h t e o G , r e n i e t S f l o d u R 5 1 e t a l P

The City Crown by Bruno Taut

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