Julien Flegenheimer

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Cornavin Central Station in Geneva (1927–1933)
The Palais des Nations in Geneva (1929–1938), view from the park

Julien Flegenheimer (born April 25, 1880 in Geneva as Jules-Jacques Flegenheimer ; † October 1, 1938 ibid) was a Swiss architect. His most famous works are the Palais des Nations (now the seat of the United Nations Office in Geneva ), in which he was one of five architects, and the Geneva Central Station (Cornavin). The building project of the Palais des Nations became the subject of a fierce controversy between the representatives of a modernist architectural conception and traditionalist currents.

In 1924 Flegenheimer was knighted in the French Legion of Honor .

biography

Youth, studies and the years in Paris

Julien Flegenheimer was of Jewish origin and grew up as the son of the merchant Gerson Flegenheimer and the born Hélène Nordmann. He was a cousin of the well-known writer Edmond Fleg , who was also born as Flegenheimer, but later shortened his last name.

Julien Flegenheimer first studied humanities and law in Geneva before going to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich . From 1897 to 1903, the Swiss finally pursued his studies at the Paris École des Beaux-Arts , the College of Fine Arts , where he worked in Odilon Redon's studio .

Subsequently, Flegenheimer worked in the architectural office of Henri-Paul Nénot , of which he became a partner. Nénot and Flegenheimer designed residential and commercial buildings, churches and department stores, especially in Paris. Outside the French capital, Flegenheimer built the Tietz galleries in Strasbourg, Germany at that time, and several villas on the Côte d'Azur ; In 1906 he submitted a design in the competition for the construction of a new town hall in Laken, Belgium (see web link for a picture of the design), but ultimately only achieved fourth place; In 1910, Flegenheimer started a hotel project in Grimaud ( Départment Var ) in the Beauvallon district, with which Flegenheimer participated in the construction of the balnéaire de Beauvallon à Grimaud station , which is now listed as Patrimoine de France ( heritage of France ). In Caprarola near Rome he restored the renaissance building of the Palazzo Farnese (not to be confused with the Roman Palazzo Farnese ). In Paris he also worked with the architects Henri Bard and F. Garella.

Return to Geneva and breakthrough

In 1919 or 1920 Flegenheimer returned to Geneva and opened an architectural office there. Initially, he mainly worked here, in Zurich and in Arosa ( Canton of Graubünden ), erecting the monument to the French dead ( monument aux morts français ) in Geneva in 1924 and equipping the Alhambra cinema in 1926 . In 1926 Flegenheimer became a member of the Swiss Association of Engineers and Architects (SIA) .

View from a side wing of the Palais des Nations

Flegenheimer made a name for himself above all with the new construction of the Cornavin station in Geneva , which burned down in 1909 : after two competitions in which the basic lines of the station to be built were determined, Flegenheimer was awarded the contract in 1925; Together with Th. Nager, the then chief architect of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) , he realized the building from 1927–1932. Flegenheimer cemented his reputation when he submitted a draft for the building of the League of Nations in 1929 and - like Nénot - was selected as one of five international architects to build the building together. From 1929 to 1938 the Palais des Nations was built among them in Geneva , which now houses the United Nations Office in Geneva. Both the train station and the Palais des Nations are monumental, late neoclassical buildings that are counted among the most important structures in western Switzerland of the 1920s. At the same time, however, the Palais des Nations sparked the first major conflict between traditional and modern architects in Switzerland, as the latter criticized the conservative design.

Thermal baths in Ostend

One of the projects that Flegenheimer carried out during the construction of the Geneva train station and the Palais des Nations was, from 1929 onwards, participating in the renovation of the thermal baths in Ostend, Belgium (opened in 1933), together with Bard, Garella and the Ostend architect André Daniels (1883–1883). 1976). 1930-1931 Flegenheimer designed for expansion of the located on the Swiss-French border, Jewish cemetery in Veyrier ( chemin de l'Arvaz 16 , in the area of Canton Geneva ) a cemetery hall and a prayer hall. In 1933 Flegenheimer started planning an expansion plan for Antwerp .

Julien Flegenheimer remained unmarried throughout his life. Shortly after the completion of the Palais des Nations, Flegenheimer died on October 1, 1938.

literature

  • Armand Brulhart: Flegenheimer, Julien. In: Isabelle Rucki, Dorothee Huber (Hrsg.): Architectural Lexicon of Switzerland - 19./20. Century. Birkhäuser, Basel 1998, ISBN 3-7643-5261-2 , p. 179 f.
  • Arnold Kohler: Julien Flegenheimer . Maitres de l'Architecture, Geneva 1931, OCLC 841699156 .
  • P. Filipi: Flegenheimer. In: Journal de la construction de la Suisse romande. 1936, pp. 119-129.

Web links

Commons : Julien Flegenheimer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

supporting documents

The article in its first version dated August 22, 2007 is based on the biography of Flegenheimer on julien.flegenheimer.site.voila.fr , based on the Archives de la Communauté Israélite de Genève and BPU Genève, “Julien Flegenheimer” biography, Editions les Maîtres de l'Architecture SA Genève, 1931 (French) and Julien Flegenheimer. In: arch INFORM ., Based on Dave Lüthi & Renate Treydel in: Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon (AKL) , KG Saur Verlag (both accessed August 22, 2007). To be mentioned in detail:

  1. ↑ The conflict was dealt with chronologically and bibliographically in: Martin Steinmann: Der Völkerbundpalast: a "chronique scandaleuse" . In: Werk - Archithese . tape 65 , no. 23-24 , 1947, pp. 28–31 , doi : 10.5169 / seals-50168 .
  2. ^ Station balnéaire à Grimaud on www.patrimoine-de-france.org ( Memento of March 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (French; accessed August 22, 2007)
  3. ↑ Different information in the biography of Flegenheimer on julien.flegenheimer.site.voila.fr , based on the Archives de la Communauté Israélite de Genève and BPU Genève, "Julien Flegenheimer" biography, Editions les Maîtres de l'Architecture SA Genève, 1931 (French) and Julien Flegenheimer. In: arch INFORM ., Based on Dave Lüthi & Renate Treydel in: Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon (AKL) , KG Saur Verlag (both accessed August 22, 2007)
  4. ↑ 16. Gare de Beaulieu. La Gare de Beaulieu, 1913 on etat.geneve.ch ( Memento from July 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (French; accessed August 22, 2007)
  5. ↑ (2006). Geneva: Renovation project for Cornavin train station. tec21, edition 25, p. 46 ( Memento from October 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) ( PDF file, accessed August 22, 2007)
  6. ^ Stanislaus von Moos: "Casino of Nations": on the architecture of the League of Nations palace in Geneva . In: Werk - Archithese . tape 65 , no. 23-24 , 1947, pp. 32-36 , doi : 10.5169 / seals-50169 .
personal data
SURNAME Flegenheimer, Julien
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Flegenheimer, Jules-Jacques
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss architect
DATE OF BIRTH April 25, 1880
PLACE OF BIRTH Geneva
DATE OF DEATH October 1, 1938
Place of death Geneva