Talk:Expressionist architecture/Archive 1

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Cut and paste as some source from Archpedia:-

Expressionism was a style in the Western arts which straddled the latter half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th. Until the 19th century, the arts had been principally concerned with the depiction of reality, and artists used emotion--their own or their subject's--as one component of expression and not its guarantor. Expressionist art, by contrast, dealt directly with the transmission of emotion. It was subjective and incoherent rather than objective and precise. The urge towards the overt expression of feeling began with the Romantic movement at the end of the 18th century, but true expressionism was only liberated a century later, when Freud's work made complexes, neuroses and private obsessions acceptable subjects for polite study and for the arts.

In architecture, expressionism was identified with the works of architects in Germany, Holland and Scandinavia from the end of World War I until the 1920s. The expressionist buildings are characterized by unusual angular or organic forms and internal volumes, to some extent made possible by the imaginative use of reinforced concrete. The historian Pevsner saw the style as a deviation from the development of the Modernist movement, working under the influence of Art Nouveau in the political crisis following World War I. The prewar work most closely identified with expressionism is probably that of Peter Behrens (1868 - 1940), particularly his factories for A.E.G. in Berlin (1908-1913), and certainly the postwar work of Bauhaus, during the Weimar period, is felt to have absorbed the principal features of expressionism, visually the stark expressive simplicity and theoretically a sense of architecture's ethical obligation, as a tool for raising social standards. The best-known examples of postwar expressionist architecture are the Chilehaus in Hamburg of 1923, the work of , Fritz Hoeger (1877 - 1949) and the interior of the Grosses Schauspielhaus in Berlin of 1919 by , Hans Poelzig (1869 - 1936). Perhaps one of the most striking of all buildings in the expressionist idiom was an early work of , Erich Mendelson (1887 - 1953), the 'Einstenurm', an observatory tower, built at Potsdam in 1920, an organic form with a motif of streamlining which was to become so important in Western industrial design.

--Mcginnly 12:50, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Contents

Thoughts for inclusion

  • Some comments: First, should we merge what we have on Grosses Schauspielhaus back here into expressionist architecture, and reduce G.S. to a oneline stub? I retract this, I think we should keep this as is, and write here how it relates to expressionist architecture. DVD+ R/W 23:21, 12 May 2006 (UTC) Second, Glashaus is a band, we could disambig, keep that mostly in the article Werkbund Exhibition (1914), or use (I'm thinking) Glass Pavilion for a separate article. Third, The first world war had a bearing, so did the second, we should consider that too. What are C20 movements? DVD+ R/W 23:09, 12 May 2006 (UTC)
    • My thoughts on strategy:-
      • Agree Grosses Schauspielhaus should be a separate article.
      • Think we should disambig - wonder if the band are referencing Taut?
      • Think we need to clarify and restrict the article to the specifics of the european 1910-1925 movement mostly and then disucss how the terms has broadened later.
      • Seems functionalism and expressionism ran parallel lines in the Bauhaus until some shenanikans - good write up in Jencks which I'll try and distill in the next few days.
      • Think that Gaudi might be a problem as part of the definition because he builds also so much in the organicist mode. Expressionism isn't just 'Artistic freedom' - although that was one of it's tennets, so not totally convinced yet he ticks the expressionist boxes. More reading required on this one.--Mcginnly 23:42, 12 May 2006 (UTC)
      • C20 movements are 20th Century movements.
      • The politics are going to be quite important in this article - I'll get note writing on some of the thinking relating to 1. German war reparations. 2. Reactions to romanticism and the acceptance of the machine age. 3. Early socialism and the social determinism of architecture of the time. 4. The werkbund.
  • Important unbuilt design examples should be included. Some of the most important and most influential expressionist designs are either unbuilt, or in current circumstances are utopian and impractical. -- M0llusk 04:55, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Potential Sources

Timeline

Could we include some earlier dates in the 19th century, to list something about Nietzsche. He is definately an influence on expressionism, and should be in the timeline and also in the text. Kafka should also be mentioned, he corresponds with the timeline as is, I'll add some entries. DVD+ R/W 20:03, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

  • Sure, we should get something in about Freud and Jung I think too.--Mcginnly 22:14, 2 June 2006 (UTC)
    • Freud and Jung, definitely, and Darwin's The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals.
    • What section heading could we use to discuss Nietzsche, Freud, Jung and Darwin; maybe simply Philosophy? DVD+ R/W 22:49, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

I was able to enter the death of Nietzsche with the timeline as is. It might be better to keep from expanding too much into the 19th century and the precedents for expressionist architecture, though it might be nice to enter the publication date of lets say Thus Spoke Zarathustra and some other late-romantic era precedents. Any thoughts? DVD+ R/W 20:29, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

  • Yeah I agree.--Mcginnly 22:14, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

Freedom Tower?

Freedom Tower
Freedom Tower

Is Freedom Tower considered to be expressionist? I've seen it referred to that way before.

Perhaps it would be fair to say there are expressionist elements to the design as a way of going part way with the statement? -- M0llusk 04:48, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Contents / headings

A proposed change. It looks, to me, like there too many headings in this article. The content box leaves a long blank space adjacent to it, and it, itself seems too long. We need to try and prune a bit of the headings and consolidate, so it flows better from lead to body paragraphs. The timeline is a major contributor in this. It takes up 27 lines. I suggest we reduce it somehow, so that the content box is at least half the size it is now. Any thoughts? DVD+ R/W 22:22, 23 June 2006 (UTC) We need to start moving away from bullet points in the article, and toward complete sentances and paragraphs. DVD+ R/W 22:28, 23 June 2006 (UTC) We also need to start referencing our work with footnotes, I know it is another line in the content box, but it is necessary. DVD+ R/W 22:37, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

I have made changes to this effect, for your consideration and approval. DVD+ R/W 01:30, 24 June 2006 (UTC)
My book from amazon has finally arrived so I'll get some writing done this weekend. I'm fine with the changes to the timeline. I'd actually only made each year into headings to make it easier to edit - the intention was to completely remove them at the end, but I like the way you've done it. I did want to keep the distinction between the German expressionist movement and the amsterdam school, the german movement seems quite complex and needs to be examined in isolation first before discussion of parallel movements and legacies. --Mcginnly 10:41, 24 June 2006 (UTC)
I'm not so sure I like making the article too nationalistic, and making the article too much about Germany, and dividing it by country rather than content. I think we can mention Germany as needed but shouldn't make the headlines about any Country. I also think we should re consider adding Antoni Gaudí, he was well published at the time, Taut was certainly aware of his work and Finsterlin was friends with him.-Pehnt p. 59. Much of expressionist content is also evident with contemporaries Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Frank Lloyd Wright. -Pehnt p.8. DVD+ R/W 21:01, 25 June 2006 (UTC)
I'm afraid, (unusually) I have to disagree here. It's not a matter of making the article nationalistic, the point is that I'd like the article to first deal with the particular movements of big E expressionism and then deal with expressionist architecture (really architecture with more obvious emotional content than classic modernism). From what I've been reading, German expressionism arose out of a particularly germanic (and complex) melting pot of ideas and reactions to very diverse political, social and economic circumstances, particularly pertinent to german/austria/poland, whereas the amsterdam school, whilst sharing some of the influences, should be treated in a different way, because it's motivations and causes differed. Another important aspect of the germanic school are several sources that cite links between some of the activities and thinking behind german expressionism and the later nazi propaganda, which we'll need to address. Both schools however were a divergence, and seeking something different from art nouveau and the vienna secession and play complex roles in their influence on international style modernism, art deco and later styles. These are obviously moot points but we need some boundaries to frame the article. I think Gaudi should be considered as primarily an eclectic Art Nouveau practitioner who we should cite as contributing influence and FLW is a direct influence on the Amsterdam school through his 1900's portfolio and tour. Otherwise I worry that we risk writing a complete history of early 20th century european architecture in the one article.--Mcginnly 00:58, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

Original German Page

de:Expressionismus (Architektur)

Expressionist architecture is an almost exclusively German phenomenon which started at the end of World War I and lasted until the end of the 1920's. Adolf Behne had described Bruno Tauts architecture as being Expressionist in the magazine Pan. Many of the architects had previously been exponents of Art Nouveau and were members of the Deutscher Werkbund. Most later went on to become Modernists.

Characteristics

Unlike Modernist architecture, expressionist architecture used rounded and serrated forms.

Brick was typical used for expressionist buildings. Concrete was also used. Around 1920, new building materials were being experimented with in a number of styles. The possibilities of curved forms particularly interested the expressionists. At the Einstein Tower in Potsdam, it was planned that concrete should be used. It was actually consructed in brick and then plastered over - probably because construction of the formwork would have been too great a problem.

The movement is remarkable for the synthesis of the arts in nearly all buildings and Interior design. Frequently sculpture was included in Relief. Also, silent films offered an outlet for architectural fantasies. Hans Poelzig designed the sets for the 1920 film "Golem".

  • Many expressionist designs remained unbuilt utopias.

Architects and Buidlings

For most architects Expressionism was a relatively short phase in their careers. This applies, for example to Hans Poelzig who later turned to Modernist architecture. The Grosses Schauspielhaus in Berlin was the first building of the style. The drip-like interior became particularly famous.

1920-1921 Erich Mendelsohn builds, probably the most famous expressionist building: Einstein tower in Potsdam-Babelsberg.

Even Bauhaus projects such as the Sommerfield residence "Haus Sommerfeld" in Berlin by Walter Gropius and Adolf Meyer were very expressionistically styled in the 1920s. The house was planned as an expressionistic synthesis of the arts. Gropius and Meyer worked very closely with the wood carver Jost Schmidt and the stained glass craftsman Josef Albers.

The Chilehaus in Hamburg by Fritz Höger or 1922-1924 influenced the Anzeiger-Hochhaus in Hannover in 1927-1928. The anthropologist centre building Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland built between 1924-1928 for Rudolf Steiner, exhibits very strong influences of expressionism. Bernhard Hoetger worked as a sculptor in Worpswede on the Böttcherstraße until 1931.

Outside of Germany, the Amsterdam School with the work of Michel de Klerk was of significance. After World War I and the expressionist architect group Glass Chain of Bruno Taut, Hans Scharoun established The Ring. His later buildings, such as the famous Philharmonie in Berlin (1956-1963), with organic architecture demonstrates Scharouns expressionist past.

Further expressionist architecture or buildings with an expressionistic resemblance:

  • Volkshaus Rotthausen in Gelsenkirchen (Alfred Fischer (architect), 1920-1921)
  • Pallottinerkirche St. Johannes der Täufer (Freising), 1928-1930 by Jan Hubert Pinand
  • Station conversion Stuttgart, Bolzstraße
  • Regional finance office, Stuttgart, Lautenschlagerstraße
  • Town hall in Oberhausen (Completed 1930)
  • Heilig-Kreuz-Church in Gelsenkirchen-Ückendorf
  • "Bastei" in Cologne on the bank of the Rhein.

Original Polish Page

Unedited translation from http://www.poltran.com/pl.php4

Ekspresjonizm Direction in architecture about features modernist - equal, as well as with modernism contradictory, in lats (summers; years) in Europe 1910-1935 developing (spread out), equivalent have in united states too, where usually defined takes place as article Deco. Strong enhancement of vertical direction was for characteristic ekspresjonizmu or horizontal, creation of dynamic form for induction of impression strzelistości, modernity, if (or) building functions in that speed. It dry artistic (plastic; vivid) forms from nature as well as it refer to gothic elements. First of all, movement (traffic) spread out in germany eksresjonistyczny, besides, certain meaning in holland achieving and countries of central Europe. Correspondence round presented main organization of expressionist & # 257 Die Gl; them ( serne Kette. Glass chain ), in (to) 1919 by members of advices of (councils of) artists concentrated around zawiązany Brunona Tauta. Letters (lists) were published by under nicknames Tauta. Ideas of expressionists were factorial < strong > utopijne and anarchistic, were tied with faith to power architecture glass house sprawczą and revolution. Crown of city had to become main architectonic motive - kind great center culture. Cities had substitute become (stay) loose housing estates, inhabitants had to be related with nature which (who) strictly. It was emerged from mid-year change 20 ekspresjonizmu. Style so called opływowy, called dynamic style too, referring to modern forms of cars, aircraft, but especially transatlantyków. Framer , functional project designs (projection) recognizing (regard) requirement, this way, they wanted to transmit pop-up form with their apprehension of programs buildings and typologii.

See also

Bibliography

Wolfgang Pehnt: Die Architektur des Expressionismus. Hatje Cantz Verlag, 1998, ISBN 3-7757-0668-2