Housing complex Marcusallee 2/4
The Marcusallee 2/4 residential complex in Bremen - Horn-Lehe , Horn district, was built for the American Consulate General. It is one of the few buildings in Germany that was designed by the Skidmore, Owings and Merrill architectural group.
In 2009 the residential complex of the American Consulate General was listed as a historical monument .
history
From 1953 to 1954, the United States Department of State built two modern blocks of houses for 16 families of the employees of the US Consulate General in Bremen on a large, park-like corner property with old trees on the corner of Marcusallee and Horner Heerstrasse . The consulate was created at the same time in Bremen-Mitte on Contrescarpe / President-Kennedy-Platz . The US government set up consulates general in Düsseldorf , Stuttgart and Frankfurt at the same time . The buildings were similar in design. The two listed houses were designed by the American architectural group Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) in collaboration with Otto Apel from Frankfurt / M. designed. The Bremen architect W. Rogge was in charge of construction.
The two parallel, elongated (approximately 81 and 73 meters long), three-storey arcade houses with flat roofs have a very high design quality, clear structures and an elegant lightness. Conservative circles directed clear criticism against this architecture because of “the alien architectural style in the form of a cube”. The State Office for Monument Preservation, on the other hand, justified the monument protection: "They are historically significant structural evidence of the post-war status of ' Bremen as an American enclave and supply port of the USA, a status' that made the continuation of the statehood of Bremen possible in the first place."
Due to the careful design of the open space with the large lawns between the houses and the preserved trees, the residential buildings are integrated into the park property.
The ground floors were intended for maid rooms, caretaker's apartment, storage rooms, etc. The apartments on each of the two upper floors had two to three bedrooms. All apartments had two entrances to the portico, so that the housemaid could get to the kitchen undisturbed. Each apartment had a living room, room, south loggia , dining area and a spacious fitted kitchen. Following the American model, the built-in cupboards were accessible.
From 1966 to around 1982, the Bremen University Building Authority (UBA) was housed in the buildings .
After that, the houses were used as women's dormitories. Structural changes in the 1980s, especially with the windows with their now wider muntin bars, impaired the design, but "do not question" - in the opinion of the State Monuments Office - "in view of the remaining architectural qualities, the high architectural and historical importance of the buildings" .
The Senator Care Center Marcusallee has been located here since 2010 , which has converted the building to accommodate 130 places and today (2012) occupies around 60 beds.
The residential complex was awarded the BDA Bremen Prize in 1974. The architects Hilmes and Lamprecht were awarded the Bremen Monument Preservation Prize 2013 for their renovation and conversion plans .
The listed building No. 1A tea house from Gut Kreyenhorst , No. 9 Villa Schütte , No. 11 Landhaus Krages and No. 38 Villa Koenenkamp are still on Marcusallee .
literature
- Otto Apel: Residential buildings for American consulate officials in Bremen . In: Bauen und Wohnen 11, 1956.
- Michael Koppel: Horn-Lehe-Lexikon . Edition Temmen , Bremen 2012, ISBN 978-3-8378-1029-5 .
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 53 ° 5 '30.8 " N , 8 ° 52' 21.8" E