Health center Dortmund
| Health center Dortmund | |
|---|---|
 Health Department of the City of Dortmund |
|
| Data | |
| place | Dortmund |
| architect | Want black |
| Client | City of Dortmund |
| Construction year | 1957-1961 |
| height | 25 m |
| Coordinates | 51 ° 30 '44.3 " N , 7 ° 27' 38.7" E |
| particularities | |
| Five artists created works of art set into the brick wall in the stairwell | |
The Dortmund Health Center as the seat of the Dortmund Health Department at Hövelstraße 8 in the City district is one of the few post-war modernist buildings in Germany that has largely been preserved in its original state to this day. It was created by Will Black designed and built in 1958-1961. In many details of the architecture, it allows you to relive the design language of the 1950s and is therefore one of the most important architectural structures of the West German post-war period . It stands as a monument under monument protection and was in 1993 in the list of monuments of the city of Dortmund registered under No. 571. A.
history
As early as 1901 there was an office for health care in Dortmund, which was renamed the health office in 1927. After 1945, the various departments were distributed and housed in different locations throughout the city. The high degree of war destruction in the city center with over 95% as well as the rapid population growth resulted in considerable hygienic problems and increased medical needs in the city. For this reason, the Medical Councilor Dr. Gerhard Olivier publicly for a new government building. By clearing the rubble, large areas were available in the city center. The area around the old theater and playhouse as well as the old synagogue on Hövelstraße guaranteed both the necessary space and good accessibility, and so in 1954 the architect Will Schwarz from Gelsenkirchen was commissioned with the planning.
Building history
Due to its size and scope, the entire structure was built in two sections. First the seven-storey main building with administration and examination rooms, tuberculosis counseling, school dental clinic and district medical service along Hövelsstraße was completed in 1958. The bar at the back of the theater on Kuhstrasse accommodated the chemical testing institute, the hygiene institute and a maternity and sports advice center on five floors. The training rooms for medical-technical assistants formed the northern end, in the supplementary part of the building on Eisenmarkt there were service rooms and staff apartments. Both parts of the building were built from 1959 to 1961.
Building description
The house consists of a five-part building ensemble, with the main focus being on the eight-story administration wing of the complex. The central themes of the building are health, brightness and the relationship between architecture, art and user-friendliness. The support grid of the reinforced concrete skeleton structure is clad with prefabricated parapet elements made of three-part windows with narrow profiles and concrete slabs, which are covered with blue charging glass plates measuring 15 × 15 millimeters. The process for their manufacture was specially developed for this building. The choice of material was justified aesthetically and practically; the glass mosaic was washable and was therefore considered hygienic. The other wall surfaces were covered with colored clinker brick slips. The front wall of the main building is designed as a separate part of the building for the escape stairs on Kuhstrasse, clad with colored glazed split clinker brick slips and interspersed with concrete glass blocks. Together with the curved roof, both components form a bracket. A cantilevered canopy made of eight concrete half-shells points to the main entrance on Hövelstrasse. This is followed by a bright foyer, which represents the interface to the individual wings. Public-intensive areas were arranged close to the ground floor.
The building is accessed vertically through the main foyer with its brightly colored, freely organically arranged shapes in the floor. In the foyer there is also an elevator, a small staircase to the first floor and the central main staircase that winds upwards like a sculpture as a defining style element of the 1950s. The corner of the building bordering on it is dissolved with partly colored glass blocks. Round, freely distributed ceiling lights illuminate the stairwell. A colored terrazzo floor with free organic forms makes reference to the architecture. There are six more differently designed stairs in the house. The canteen was located on the top floor of the main building and had access to the roof terrace, which is crowned by the curved flat roof. In the meantime, the canteen has been converted into additional office space.
architectural art
Several artists were involved in and throughout the building, who made their contributions specifically for the building and on the subject of health. There are six works of art in the large staircase and accompany the staircase, including an abstract glass and ceramic mosaic by Gustav Deppe on the 1st floor, glass mosaics by Wilhelm Strauss on the 2nd floor, and a figural plaster relief by Wilhelm Viegener on the 3rd floor 3rd floor, representational ceramics by Walter Lindgens on the 4th floor and lacquer paintings by Hans Kuhn on the 5th and 6th floors.
1. floor
2nd Floor
4th floor
5th floor
Overall, the light play of colors throughout the building, including on the floor, makes the entire building look like a work of art. The interiors were designed according to a complex system, which should simplify the orientation of the visitors. Among other things, the brick colors in the office sides on the floors are getting darker upwards and the colors of the doors are intended to refer to the functions behind them. For example, glass doors in gray steel frames were used for passages between departments.
Perspective situation
Currently it is mainly used for the administration of the health department of the city of Dortmund, with numerous rooms and the entire fourth floor being empty. In addition, the canteen on Eisenmarkt was converted into offices. One danger lies in the abandonment of the current use as the health department of the city of Dortmund. Should it come to a reorganization of the urban real estate suggested by Mayor Ullrich Sierau and the bundling of functions in a new building on the castle wall, several properties would be given up. Much of the building would then likely be emptied.
In December 2019, Landmarken AG announced that it would be extensively refurbishing the house under the project name "New Health House". From 2022, the prizeotel hotel chain will operate a hotel in the former main building. Furthermore, a daycare center and offices are to be located in the property.
literature
- Thomas Schulp and Andrea Zupancic (eds.): The new Dortmund - the Dortmund health center by Will Schwarz , photographed by Gert Kittel. Wasmuth, Tübingen / Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-8030-0783-4 .
Web links
- Post-war architecture in North Rhine-Westphalia: Dortmund Health Center . Results of the seminars on public buildings in the Ruhr area after 1945 (summer semester 2012) and post-war modernism in North Rhine-Westphalia. Architecture and urban planning between 1945 and 1975 (summer semester 2013) at the Art History Institute of the Ruhr University Bochum
Individual evidence
- ↑ List of monuments of the city of Dortmund. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: dortmund.de - Das Dortmunder Stadtportal. Monument Authority of the City of Dortmund, April 14, 2014, archived from the original on September 15, 2014 ; Retrieved June 11, 2014 (size: 180 KB). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Bought a health center: FROM MARCH, INVESTORS WILL BUILD THE MONUMENT FOR A DESIGN HOTEL, A KITA AND OFFICES AROUND December 14, 2019
- ^ The legacy of our early years in FAZ of October 22, 2014, page 12
