Walter Behrendt (architect)

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Walter Curt Behrendt (born December 16, 1884 in Metz , Lorraine , † April 26, 1945 in Norwich , Vermont ) was a German-American architect , urban planner and author .

Live and act

Walter Curt Behrendt studied at the Technical University (Berlin-) Charlottenburg , in Munich and in Dresden. After completing his studies, he received his doctorate in 1911 with a dissertation on “The uniform block front as a spatial element in urban construction. A contribution to contemporary urban architecture ”, which was published in the same year by Bruno Cassirer's renowned publishing house . Also in 1911 he published a monograph on Alfred Messel with Cassirer as a tribute to the Berlin architect of the famous Wertheim department stores in Berlin, who died in 1909 .

From 1912 Behrendt was active in the Prussian civil service, including 1912-1919 in the Ministry of Public Works , 1919-1926 in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning . From 1927–1933 he was a consultant in the Ministry of Finance, responsible for overseeing all public construction projects in Prussia .

Behrendt was a member of the Deutscher Werkbund (DWB) from 1912 and of the architects' association Der Ring from 1926 . In addition to his work in the civil service, Behrendt always remained active in journalism. Between 1919 and 1924 he took over the editorial management of the magazine Die Volkswohnung , from 1925 also the editing of the magazine Die Form, which is supported by the German Werkbund, until it was replaced by Walter Riezler in 1927. He was also the editor of other magazines and newspapers and mainly worked with his Articles for the Frankfurter Zeitung .

In 1934 he emigrated to the USA and worked there in various areas, mainly in residential construction and urban planning. After teaching at Dartmouth College, Hanover in North Hampshire, he was from 1937 to 1941 professor of urban and housing construction at the University of Buffalo. In 1941 he received US citizenship .

Fonts (selection)

  • The uniform block front as a spatial element in urban construction. Berlin: Bruno Cassirer, 1911.
  • Alfred Messel. Cassirer, Berlin 1911. ( as a Reprint : Gebr man, Berlin 1998).
  • New tasks in architecture. Stuttgart, Berlin 1919.
  • The struggle for style in applied arts and architecture. 1920.
  • Urban Design and Housing in the United States. 2nd edition, Berlin 1927.
  • The victory of the new architectural style. Academic publisher Dr. Fritz Wedekind & Co., Stuttgart 1927.
  • The Dutch city. Berlin 1928.
  • Modern building. Its nature, problems and forms. New York 1937.

most important essays:

  • About contemporary German architecture. In: Kunst und Künstler , issue 12/1914, pp. 263–276, pp. 328–340, pp. 373–383.
  • Church architecture in Berlin: from 1848 to 1870. In: Kunst und Künstler , Issue 14/1916, pp. 535–554 ( digitized version )
  • The city problem. In: Kunst und Künstler , Issue 21/1922/1923, pp. 171–179.
  • The architecture at the Great Berlin Art Exhibition in 1924. In: Art and Artists , Issue 22/1923/1924, pp. 347–352.
  • The first tower house in Berlin. In: Die Woche , No. 9, March 4, 1922, pp. 193–194.
  • The skyscraper. In: Kunst und Künstler , Issue 22/1923/1924, pp. 175–181.
  • Skyscrapers in Germany. In: Journal of the American Institute of Architects 1923, pp. 365-370.
  • From new building. In: Zentralblatt der Bauverwaltung , Volume 48, 1928, No. 41 (from October 10, 1928) , pp. 657–662.
  • Berlin is becoming a metropolis in the heart of Europe. In: Das neue Berlin , Issue 5/1929, pp. 98-101.

Behrendt was also the editor of the 2nd edition (Munich 1918) and the 3rd edition (Munich 1920) of the influential book:

  • Paul Mebes : Around 1800. Architecture and craftsmanship in the last century of its traditional development.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Deutscher Werkbund NW - 1925: Journal »Die Form« (accessed on November 7, 2011)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Behrendt, Walter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Behrendt, Walter Curt (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-American architect, urban planner and author
DATE OF BIRTH December 16, 1884
PLACE OF BIRTH Metz
DATE OF DEATH April 26, 1945
Place of death Norwich, Vermont