Rudi Högner

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rudi Högner (born April 14, 1907 in Pausa / Vogtl. , † February 24, 1995 in Dresden ) was a German industrial designer , medalist and one of the founders of technical design.

Life

After an apprenticeship as a wood sculptor from 1921 to 1924 in Zeulenroda and the master’s examination in Ilmenau , he studied sculpture, architecture and commercial graphics at the Academy for Applied Arts in Dresden from 1924 to 1932 . 1932–1933 he was a master class student with Theodor Artur Winde (1886–1965). In 1933 he was removed from the Dresden Art Academy for political reasons, and then worked as a freelance architect (interior design) and commercial artist. 1939–1947 Military service and prisoner of war.

From 1948 he worked as a lecturer and assistant at the Academy of Applied Arts and as a freelance commercial artist, architect and sculptor at the Dresden University of Fine Arts . In 1950 Högner became head of the industrial design department at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts. In 1953 he followed together with some colleagues Mart Stam as a lecturer at the University of Fine and Applied Arts Berlin-Weißensee . In 1959 he was appointed professor for industrial design in Weißensee and after teaching from 1958, teaching assignment from 1960, finally in 1964 as visiting professor for industrial design at what was then the Dresden University of Technology . In 1972 he retired from the Art Academy Berlin-Weißensee and in 1973 from the Technical University of Dresden.

Act

Front of a 1-mark coin of the GDR

Högner was significantly involved in the establishment and development of industrial design in the GDR. He shaped the training of the first generation of industrial designers in the GDR. The basic design training that was typical for design training at East German universities was specific to this. Starting in 1953, he and two employees built up the Industrial Design Department at the Weißensee School of Art , essentially at the same time as the Ulm School of Design was established . The formalism discussion , as a result of which Mart Stam was removed as rector of the Weissensee School of Art at the end of 1952, was able to evade Högner and his colleagues with the focus on technical design "successful attempts at cultural-political interference". The first qualified industrial designers left the university in Weißensee in 1958. When the training capacity for industrial design at the University of Industrial Design in Halle was later expanded, the teaching staff were all Högner's students in the early days. His students include Clauss Dietel and Erich John .

He gave design training for engineers, for example a two-year course from the Chamber of Technology from 1958 and the design training as part of his visiting professorship at the Technical University of Dresden , from which the Center for Technical Design has developed as a research and training facility. As part of the training courses of the Chamber of Technology, Högner worked on tasks that had been brought with them from the companies together with chief designers from Dresden companies in mechanical engineering and electrical engineering. Several of the designs that emerged during the two-year project were put into series production by the companies. 14-day courses were later offered to impart basic design skills, which Christa Petroff-Bohne continued from 1972 onwards.

Högner created designs for industry, including furniture, textiles, electrical appliances, video and phono devices, medals and coins (including the aluminum coins (1 Pf., 5 Pf., 10 Pf., 50 Pf., 1 M and 2 M) of the coins of the GDR ). The gold medals that were once internationally coveted at the Leipzig Trade Fair (1963 to 1990) were also created by Högner.

In a survey in the period after his retirement, Högner stated the drafts for industry that were made in Dresden between 1948 and 1954 and the “concrete study projects for the technical industry” that were made in Berlin between 1954 and 1972.

Publications by Högner (incomplete)

  • Shaping for industrial products. In: Technische Gemeinschaft 5 (1) 1957
  • Apprenticeship as a designer at the East Berlin Art Academy. German Design Council : International Design Congress Darmstadt + Berlin 1957
  • The training of the formers, team development (with inspection of the models). In: VVB - EBM design course at the Berlin-Weißensee University of Fine and Applied Arts. Institute for Applied Arts, Berlin 1959, pp. 108–123
  • Design in industry and its development in the GDR. In: form + Zweck Jahrbuch 1959
  • Shaping in precision engineering. In: Feingerätetechnik 9 (5) 1960
  • About design and its application in processing machine construction. In: Mechanical Engineering Issue 3 1961
  • Function - design - quality. A form designer course for designers in Dresden. Institute for Applied Arts, Berlin 1961.
  • Design and technology - a contribution to socialist culture. The technology issue 2 1962
  • On the problems of design in the technical industry. In: Bildende Kunst Heft 8 1962
  • About principles of design work. In: Technische Gemeinschaft Hefte 3/4, edition E 1962
  • On problems with the design of technical products. In: Fine Arts, No. 7 1964
  • Training of designers at the University of Fine and Applied Arts, Berlin Weißensee. In: Form + Zweck 1/1968
  • Experience in imparting design principles to engineering students in their final year of study at the Technical University of Dresden. In: Fertigungstechnik und Betrieb Issue 9 1969

Literature about Högner

  • Dietrich Herfurth: Prof. Rudi Högner - an important designer of decorations of the GDR. In: Numismatic Contributions 3/1988
  • Alfred Hückler: German Design East and West. Weißensee and Ulm. In: International Design Conference in Aspen 1996: Gestalt: Vision of German Design
  • Johannes Uhlmann: Art of the elementary. Högner's basic theory of visual-aesthetic design in product design. University Press, Dresden 1995, ISBN 3-931828-70-0 .
  • Johannes Uhlmann, Günter Kranke: Högner's double anniversary for technical design in Dresden. In: Linke et al .: Design - Costs and Benefits. Technical design in research, teaching and practice. TUDpress Verlag der Wissenschaften, Dresden 2010, ISBN 978-3-941298-90-3 , pp. 265-290.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Johannes Uhlmann: Art of the elementary. Högner's basic theory of visual-aesthetic design in product design. University Press, Dresden 1995, ISBN 3-931828-70-0 .
  2. ^ Rudi Högner: Training of designers at the University of Fine and Applied Arts Berlin Weißensee. In: Form + Zweck 1/1968.
  3. ^ Alfred Hückler: German Design East and West. Weißensee and Ulm. In: International Design Conference in Aspen 1996: Gestalt: Vision of German Design.
  4. ↑ Rudi Högner: Function - Design - Quality. A form designer course for designers in Dresden. Institute for Applied Arts, Berlin 1961.
  5. ^ Dietrich Herfurth: Prof. Rudi Högner - an important designer of decorations of the GDR. In: Numismatic Contributions 3/1988.
  6. ↑ University archive of the Technical University of Dresden: Questionnaire completed by Högner in preparation for the 1979 GDR design award.
personal data
SURNAME Högner, Rudi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German graphic artist, designer, architect and sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH April 14, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Break / Vogtl.
DATE OF DEATH February 24, 1995
Place of death Dresden