Konrad Wachsmann

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Konrad Ludwig guard (* 16th May 1901 in Frankfurt (Oder) , † 25 / 26. November 1980 in Los Angeles ) was a German architect of Jewish descent who emigrated to the United States 1941st His most famous building is the Einsteinhaus in Caputh near Potsdam .

Life

Memorial plaque at the location of his birthplace in Frankfurt (Oder).
Residence Dr. Screed in Jüterbog
Timber house of the company Christoph & Unmack in Caputh (today: Einsteinhaus)
Christoph & Unmack's wooden house in Niesky (today: Konrad-Wachsmann-Haus)

Wachsmann completed an apprenticeship as a carpenter in the Münnich workshop in Frankfurt (Oder) and studied from 1920 to 1924 in Berlin and Dresden with Heinrich Tessenow , then as a master student of Hans Poelzig at the TH Berlin . Security guard was looking after the cancellation of a job request of JJP Oud , Le Corbusier in Paris, who could offer him only a job as an unpaid intern, however. Wachsmann refused this.

Wachsmann was one of the first architects to deal extensively with industrial prefabrication . From 1926 he was chief architect of the company Christoph & Unmack AG in Niesky ( Upper Lusatia ), which specializes in wooden structures . Hans Poelzig had found him the job . During this time, many of his completed buildings were created.

His first house as a freelance architect was the home for Dr. Screed in Jüterbog (Brandenburg).

"In Konrad Wachsmann's work, the house occupies a special position as the first project that he carried out as a freelance architect and as his only solid building."

- Marie-Luise Buchinger, Marcus Cante (arr.)

A highlight in Wachsmann's work is the summer house for Albert Einstein in Caputh, which was built in 1929 almost at the same time as Haus Estrich .

In 1932, Wachsmann received the Rome Prize of the Prussian Academy of Arts , a scholarship that enabled him to work as an artist in the Villa Massimo in Rome . However, when Hitler came to power , he left this after a month and a dispute with Arno Breker . Wachsmann returned the award, and later wrote: “After Goebbels' mad attack on the culture and spirit of our people, I had no other choice. I couldn't possibly identify with the state that had openly professed barbarism. ”However, he stayed in Rome until 1938 and made numerous trips to Italy. During this time, some of his designs were also carried out there.

In 1938, Wachsmann emigrated to Paris, where he volunteered in the French army when the war broke out.

In 1941, with Einstein's support, Wachsmann emigrated to the USA , where an intensive collaboration with Walter Gropius began. Together they developed the "Packaged House System", a prefabricated house system made of wood, with which Wachsmann became internationally known. Such a house could be erected by five unskilled workers in less than nine hours. Despite the outstanding engineering, the company became a failure.

Under his guidance, the so-called German Village , a realistic replica of Berlin tenement barracks , was built in 1943 on the Dugway Proving Ground test site in Utah . Various high-explosive and incendiary bombs were tested for their effect on the special design.

Then, on behalf of the Atlas Aircraft Corporation, towards the end of the Second World War (1944–1945) , Wachsmann developed a transportable aircraft hangar as a so-called "mobilar structure", which was never built. In 1947, Wachsmann became a citizen of the United States. From 1949 he devoted himself to research and teaching, first at the Institute of Design in Chicago.

From 1956, Wachsmann headed the architecture class of the International Summer Academy for Fine Arts in Salzburg for a few years , where he inspired numerous Austrian architects for the idea of ​​industrial construction, including Gustav Peichl , Hans Hollein , Friedrich Kurrent , Ottokar Uhl , Hermann Czech , Gunther Wawrik and other.

In 1964 he moved to Los Angeles to the University of Southern California and carried out extensive research work in large self-supporting halls , especially aircraft hangars, which was largely financed by the US Air Force.

In his work, Wachsmann always strived for universal usability of the individual components of his construction . He wanted to achieve a wide variety of design options with as few parts as possible. His life's work could be described as the search for the "universal node". The technically remarkable work of his late work was never carried out, although research and production were carried out right into industrial production .

After his death, the Foundation Archive of the Academy of Arts (Berlin) acquired his professional estate as the Konrad-Wachsmann-Archive.

Konrad Wachsmann was buried in his birthplace Frankfurt (Oder). The Konrad-Wachsmann-Oberstufenzentrum in Frankfurt (Oder) is named after him. On May 7, 2012, stumbling blocks were laid in Frankfurt (Oder) for him, his mother Else Wachsmann (née Bodenstein, * 1872) and his sister Charlotte Philippine Pencil (née Wachsmann, * 1899). The two women were deported to the Riga ghetto in 1942 and perished there.

He had a daughter with his wife Judith.

plant

Buildings and designs

  • 1927: Director's residence of Christoph & Unmack AG in Niesky (as chief architect of Christoph & Unmack AG)
  • 1926–1929 (as chief architect of Christoph & Unmack AG):
  • 1929: House for Dr. Screed in Jüterbog
  • 1929: Albert Einstein's summer home in Caputh near Potsdam
  • Competition draft for "60 cheap contemporary houses" (commendation and 3rd prize)
  • Competition design for a bridge over the Rance near Saint-Malo
  • 1930: Steel tube construction for the Torkret company , shown at the Berlin building exhibition
  • 1933: Design for the so-called "chain houses" for the planned Werkbund housing estate "Deutsches Holz" in Stuttgart
  • 1934: Apartment house T. & S. in Rome, Via Pepoli 5
  • Holiday home for Felix Tannenbaum and Kronberg on the island of Capri , Piccola Marina
  • 1935: Design of a wholesale market hall in Rome, Via Chiana
  • 1930s: timber house settlement in Ludwigsfelde
  • 1938: Design of a country house near Grottaferrata
  • 1941–1942: Recreation Center in Key West , Florida (with Walter Gropius)
  • 1941–1942: “Packaged House System” prefabricated building system development for single-family houses of the later General Panel Corporation (continued until 1952; together with Walter Gropius)
  • 1944–1945: System development of the "Mobilar Structure" for small hangars for Atlas Aircraft Corporation
  • 1947–1949: Marshall House (duplex) in Los Angeles
  • 1951–1955: System development for aircraft hangars for the US Air Force
  • 1956: Chalet for Sigfried Giedion in Amden
  • 1961–1963: Design of a 50-storey, modular steel high-rise in Genoa for Italsider
  • Draft for the reorganization of the passenger port in Genoa ( Renzo Piano referred to it 40 years later.)
  • 1966: Design of a town hall for California City

The wooden director's house in Nieskyer Goethestrasse, the Einsteinhaus in Caputh in Waldstrasse and the Dr. Screed are the three only wax-man buildings preserved in Germany. Einstein's country house is well preserved and is used as a museum. The Niesky director's house was the seat of the FDJ district leadership during the GDR times and has been vacant since 1990. The city acquired the building in 2005 and began its renovation in spring 2010 with the support of the federal government and the Wüstenrot Foundation .

Fonts

  • Wooden house construction. Technology and design. Ernst Wasmuth, Berlin 1930.
as a reprint Birkhäuser, Basel 1995, ISBN 3-7643-5133-0 .
  • Eidon 1, Salzburg - The old town. Grieben Verlag, Berlin 1934.
  • Eidon 2, Berlin - Unter den Linden. Grieben Verlag, Berlin 1934.
  • Eidon 3, Prague. Grieben Verlag, Berlin 1934. (cannot be found in the Berlin National Library)
  • Turning point in construction. Krausskopf Verlag, Wiesbaden 1959.
as paperback edition: Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1962. (= Rowohlt's German Encyclopedia .)
  • Una svolta nelle costruzioni. Il Saggiatore, Milan 1960.
as paperback edition: Il Saggiatore, Milan 1965.
  • Aspects. Krausskopf Verlag, Wiesbaden 1961.
  • Building in our time. Welz Gallery, Salzburg 1957.
as a reprint : turning point in construction. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1989. / Verlag der Kunst, Dresden 1989, ISBN 3-364-00116-2 .

as well as previously unpublished:

  • Timebridge 1901-2001. (Working title: Toward 2001 ; autobiography) Typescript , 1966/1981. In the archive of the Berlin Academy of the Arts. (Rights holders are Judith Wachsmann and Gloria Kaufmann)

Konrad Wachsmann Prize

Since 2015, the state associations of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia of the Federation of German Architects have awarded the Konrad-Wachsmann-Preis, with which graduates from universities of the above-mentioned state associations have obtained a degree with a degree in architecture or urban planning and their work is known to a wide audience want to do. Graduates with a grade of 2.0 or better are entitled to participate in the annual award ceremony.

literature

  • arts & architecture, May 1967, Los Angeles, California
  • Wasmuth's monthly booklet Baukunst und Städtebau , year 1930, issue 12 (December), pp. 553–556. (Dr. Estrich House)
  • Peter Ackermann, Dietmar Strauch (eds.): Konrad Wachsmann and Einstein's summer idyll in Caputh. Caputh 2001, ISBN 3-8311-1771-3 .
  • Wilma Ruth Albrecht: Modular coordination. About the life and work of Konrad Wachsmann (1901–1988). In: Baukultur , 1.1998, pp. 9–12.
  • Ulrich Bücholdt: A small house for a great physicist. In: polis ( ISSN  0938-3689 ), 7th year 1996, issue 2.
  • Michael Grüning: The architect Konrad Wachsmann. Löcker, Wiesbaden 1986, ISBN 3-85409-088-9 .
  • Michael Grüning: The Wachsmann Report. Information from an architect. Birkhäuser, Basel 2001, ISBN 3-7643-6422-X .
  • Wolfgang Jung: Konrad Wachsmann, a Roma e in Italia gli anni 1932–1934 , in: L'Architettura nelle città italiane del XX secolo , Jaca Book, 2004, ISBN 978-88-16-40632-2 .
  • Barbara Anna Lutz: Albert Einstein's summer house by Konrad Wachsmann in Caputh. In: architectura ( ISSN  0044-863X ), 2/2005, pp. 178-198.
  • Otto Maier: Memory of Konrad Wachsmann. In: bauwelt , issue 22/1986, p. 775
  • Otto Maier: The spatial syntax. Konrad Wachsmann's contribution to building in our time. Dissertation, University of Karlsruhe, 1989.
  • Otto Maier: Konrad Wachsmann. In: The architect 6/1986, p. 262.
  • Winfried Nerdinger (Ed.): Turning points in building. From serial to digital architecture. Architecture Museum of the Technical University of Munich, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-920034-40-9 .
  • Museum Niesky , Konrad-Wachsmann-Haus (Ed.): Wooden buildings of the modern age: The development of the industrial wooden building. Sandstein Verlag, Dresden 2015, ISBN 978-3-95498-165-6
  • City of Niesky, Museum Niesky (ed.): Wooden buildings of modernity. Timber Houses of the Modern Age. Architectural guide Holzbauten Niesky.
  • Michael Hagner : Einstein on the Beach: The physicist as a phenomenon. Fischer Tb, 2005 Frankfurt / M., ISBN 3-596-16515-6 .
  • J.-Martina Schneider: About the sense of detail. On the complete works of Konrad Wachsmann. Volume 3, Part II, Müller, Cologne 1988, ISBN 3-481-19831-0 .
    (therein: Fritz Haller : Thoughts on Konrad Wachsmann , Peter Rodemeier: Konrad Wachsmann - or the love of geometry , Peter Rudolph: On the construction principles of Konrad Wachsmann , Eckhard Schulze-Fielitz: Beyond Wachsmann and this side and the other ... )
  • Dietmar Strauch and Bärbel Högner : Konrad Wachsmann. Stations of an architect. Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-88777-023-5 .
  • Werner Röder, Herbert A. Strauss (Eds.): International Biographical Dictionary of Central European Emigrés 1933–1945 , Vol. II, 2. Munich: Saur 1983. ISBN 3-598-10089-2 , p. 1198.

Web links

Commons : Konrad Wachsmann  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Konrad Wachsmann. In: Encyclopædia Britannica . Retrieved December 28, 2016 .
  2. ↑ Anna Łuszczakiewicz: architect Konrad Wachsmann. In: A virtual walk for Frankfurt (Oder) and Słubice. October 2016, accessed December 28, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Michael Grüning: The Wachsmann Report: Information from an architect .
  4. ↑ Marie-Luise Buchinger, Marcus Cante (edit.): Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany , Monuments in Brandenburg, Volume 17 (Teltow-Fläming district), Part 1: City of Jüterbog with Zinna monastery and Niedergörsdorf community. Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Worms 2000, ISBN 3-88462-154-8
  5. ↑ s. Jobst Knigge : The Villa Massimo in Rome 1933–1943. Struggle for artistic independence . Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 2013. ( full text at edoc.hu-berlin.de ), p. 33.
  6. ^ Wolfgang Jung: Konrad Wachsmann, a Roma e in Italia gli anni 1932-1934 . In: L'Architettura nelle città italiane del XX secolo . S. 121-131 (Italian).
  7. ^ Dugway Proving Ground, German-Japanese Village, South of Stark Road, in WWII Incendiary Test Area, Dugway, Tooele County, UT. In: Historic American Engineering Record ( Library of Congress ). Retrieved December 28, 2016 .
  8. ↑ Hans-Josef Küpper: Short biography: Konrad Wachsmann speaks of "University of Illinois" without any evidence, possibly a confusion with IIT?
  9. ^ Stumbling blocks for the Wachsmann family. In: Konrad Wachsmann Upper School Center Frankfurt (Oder). May 7, 2012, accessed December 28, 2016 .
  10. ^ Konrad-Wachsmann-Haus Niesky. (No longer available online.) In: Wachsmannhaus.niesky.de. Archived from the original on December 28, 2016 ; accessed on December 28, 2016 .
  11. ↑ Niesky renovates the Wachsmann building. Only three of the architect's houses have survived in Germany. In: Märkische Oderzeitung of December 29, 2009, p. 18.
  12. ^ Association of German Architects: Konrad-Wachsmann-Preis
  13. ^ Federal Foundation for Building Culture: Konrad-Wachsmann-Preis
personal data
SURNAME Wachsmann, Konrad
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wachsmann, Konrad Ludwig (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-American architect
DATE OF BIRTH May 16, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH Frankfurt (Oder)
DATE OF DEATH November 25, 1980 or November 26, 1980
Place of death los Angeles