Juliaan Lampens (*1926)

Due to my continuing fascination with brutalist architecture over the last 10 years I have accumulated a considerable amount of mostly monographs on architects that, based on their building style, can be termed brutalists. Besides popularly known proponents of Brutalism like the late Le Corbusier or Marcel Breuer, there are also a number of largely unknown architects that have adopted Brutalism as their architectural language. Among them is Belgian architect Juliaan Lampens whom I learned about in a very insightful article published by Domus Magazine: his buildings are highly individual both on the outside and the inside and not only challenge its spectators but especially its inhabitants who are forced to adopt to the outstandingly free floor plan. As can be obtained from the floor plan below, the interiors of Juliaan Lampens single-family houses are characterized by the complete absence of load-bearing walls as well as possibilities to retreat. The book features an interesting essay of Wouter Vandenhoute who spent his childhood in the Lampens' designed Vandenhoute House and gives a firsthand account of what it is like to live in such an environment.
As far as I know the book the book is the only English-language overview of Juliaan Lampens' small oeuvre but nonetheless is an interesing and comprehensive read that pays contribute to this little-known master of modern architecture.

The Vandenhoute House, image taken from domusweb.it

Interior of the Vandenhoute House, taken from domusweb.it

Floor plan of the Vandenhoute House, taken from Domusweb.it

Werner Düttmann (1921-1983)

Einer meiner Sammlungsschwerpunkte ist, wie man meinen bisherigen Posts sicherlich entnehmen kann, die Nachkriegsmoderne in Deutschland. Sie wird zur Zeit glücklicherweise wiederentdeckt, ist aber dennoch über Jahre vernachlässigt worden und allzu häufig der Abrissbirne zum Opfer gefallen. Ein besonders schönes Buch, das einen der führenden Protagonisten der deutschen Nachkriegsmoderne porträtiert, ist "Werner Düttmann - Verliebt ins Bauen": es versammelt eine breite Anzahl von Essays über und Projekte von Werner Düttmann. Werner Düttmann gehört sicherlich nicht zu den Namen, die dem Leser sofort im Zusammenhang mit Nachkriegsarchitektur durch den Kopf schießen, jedoch hat er über Jahrzehnte die Architektur in Deutschland durch sein Wirken als Lehrer und Präsident der Akademie der Künste geprägt. Das Buch lässt dementsprechend auch fachfremde Autoren zu Wort kommen und zeichnet so ein lebendiges Bild von Düttmann, der sich durch sein ausgleichendes Naturell Respekt und Zuneigung auch von Konkurrenten erworben hat.
Eines seiner bekanntesten Projekte ist in letzter Zeit häufiger in den Feuilletons thematisiert worden: die Kirche St. Agnes in Berlin. Sie ist nach ihrer Profanierung an den Galeristen Johann König veräußert worden und dient nun ausschließlich der Zurschaustellung bildender Kunst. Das Gebäude fasziniert mich seit Jahren, ist es doch ein herausragendes Beispiel des Brutalismus, das aufgrund des rohen Betons und seiner verschlossenen Fassade auch heute noch polarisiert. Auf dem zweiten unten angefügten Bild kann man vielleicht einen kurzen Eindruck von der archaischen Kraft der Kirche gewinnen.

Dieter Rams (*1932)

Undoubtedly, one of the seminal figures in the history of postwar industrial design is Dieter Rams. With his whollistic design approach he not only shaped the image of German design but has continued to influence generations of designer with Jonathan Ive of Apple being his most prominent disciple. Dieter Rams's work for the German company Braun, nowadays a subsidiary of Gillette, has become classic due to its formal reduction, attention to detail, as well as its overall user-friendliness.
The book "Dieter Rams: As little design as possible", written by Sophie Lovell, is a massive, career-spanning overview of Rams's design process and principles, the products he designed, and in the end an oral history of industrial design after WWII. The approximately 400 pages are an interesting read and provide the reader with a detailed analysis of Dieter Rams's ethos and approach to design.
Luckily the book also includes a photo essay on Dieter Rams's self-designed Kronberg house, completed in 1971: although originally trained as an architect, the Kronberg house is the only architectural project of Dieter Rams and in its formal purity both out and inside a built manifesto of his design convictions. Furnished with his well-known designs for the company Vitsoe, the house exudes a sense of quiteness and ease that can also be found in houses designed by architect Richard Neutra.
To cut a long story short: the book as must-read for everyone with at least a slight sense for design.

Brinkman & van der Vlugt (1925-1936)

Friday I made a short trip to Holland and finally got hold of a monograph on Dutch architects Brinkman & van der Vlugt. Although relatively short-lived, the cooperation between Leendert Cornelis van der Vlugt and Michiel Brinkman had a profound influence on early modernist architecture. Their most famous building, the Van Nelle Complex near Rotterdam, has also been critically acclaimed by Philip Johnson and Henry Russel-Hitchcock in their groundbreaking exhibition "The International Style" in 1932 at the Museum of Modern Art. Unfortunately the story of Brinkman & van der Vlugt came to an abrupt end in 1936 when van der Vlugt unexpectedly died . Based on their architectural achievements, this fact makes you wonder what the two could have done for post-WWII rebuilding...

The book itself is lavishly illustrated and depicts not only those buildings designed in cooperation but also by the individual architects. What makes the book outstanding is the fact that it features both historic pictures of the numerous projects of Brinkman & van der Vlugt and those taken only recently. As far as I know it's the only book exclusively dedicated to the complete works of the bureau and hence I am quite satisfied to finally be able to trace the whole history of these incredibly talented architects.

João Filgueiras Lima called Lelé (*1932)

Yesterday I happened to visit the homepage of the Dutch Architecture Institute NAi and was quite suprised to learn that they are hosting an exhibition about Brazilian architect Joao Filgueiras Lima or, as he's being commonly called, Lelé. Entitled "Architect of Health and Happiness" it refers to Lelé's lifelong commitment to building for the public health sector which came as a result of his wife being injured in a car accident: due to his first hand experience of the horrible conditions in the different hospitals his wife has been treated in, Lelé decided to make bringing light and air into hospitals all over Brazil his mission. The exhibition dedicates a considerable part to his hospital building but also takes into account the breadth of Lelé's work that ranges from single-family houses over bus stations up to headquarters for private companies.

The book that, although not especially designed for it, accompanies the exhibition spans Lelé's entire career and with its 264 pages provides a profound inside into the architect's working methods. Published by Lisbon-based Editorial Blau in its ongoing series of monographs on Brazilian and Portuguese architects, the book is a welcome addition to my collection of books about modern architecture in Brazil.

Joseph Beuys (1921-1986) - Block Beuys

An artist whom I hold in very high esteem and whose work repetitively fascinates and challenges me is Joseph Beuys. A household name to both the general public and art afficionados he continues to be honoured by exhibitions around the world. An important part of his work is located at the Landesmusem Darmstadt, Germany, under the heading "Block Beuys". This large-scale installation covers some 310 objects, including important works such as "Grauballemann" and "Stuhl mit Fett", which are lavishly documented in the book "Block Beuys". This rather rare book differs from later editions of the same title insofar as it is much more extensive: with 410 pages and countless color-photographs as well as documents related to the individiual objects, the catalogue is the only publication that covers "Block Beuys" in its entirety.

From time to time I take the book from the shelf because and it always serves as a starting point for further examinations of Beuys's work.
Besides the book's intrinsic value to me as a "Beuysian", the book also has a sentimental value as it was a christmas gift I got from my grandfather a couple of years ago. He died in 2011 and the book always reminds me of him.

For further information on "Block Beuys" please visit Landesmuseum Darmstadt

Wils Ebert (1909-1979)

Yesterday I received the, to my knowledge, only comprehensive book on the work of Berlin architect Wils Ebert. Born in 1909 as Karl Willy Ebert, Wils Ebert between 1929 and 1933 studied under Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe at the Bauhaus in Dessau. The book comprises some 240 pages including Ebert's text on architectural topics and problems as well as numerous sketches and two-tone images of his built work.

His most famous buildings without a doubt are the 9-story complex built in collaboration with Walter Gropius's TAC on the occasion of the 1957 Interbau exhibition at Berlin, a groundbreaking exhibition that set the pace for building principles in postwar Germany, and the Völkerkundemuseum in Berlin-Dahlem built between 1965 and 1970, again in collaboration with another architect, this time fellow Berliner Fritz Bornemann. Today Wils Ebert is more or less forgotten but will, hopefully, be rediscovered in the course of the general revalution of postwar modern architecture in Germany which until just recently has neither been sufficiently preserved nor acknowledged by the greater public.

Johannes Peter Hölzinger (*1936)

Die Entdeckung des vergangenen Jahres in Sachen Architektur war für mich ganz eindeutig Johannes Peter Hölzinger. Obwohl ich durchaus für mich in Anspruch nehme, die Entwicklung der deutschen Nachkriegsarchitektur in all ihren Verästelungen zu kennen, war mir sein umfangreiches Werk bis auf sein in eigener Bauherrenschaft entstandenes Wohnhaus in Bad Nauheim (es handelt sich um jenes auf den Buchseiten unten abgebildete Haus) nahezu unbekannt. Glücklicherweise hat das Deutsche Architekturmuseum in Frankfurt diesem eigensinnigen Architekten im letzten Jahr eine großangelegte Überblickschau gewidmet, die das zwischen Architektur und Kunst oszillierende Werk von Hölzinger unter dem sperrigen Titel "Psychodynamische Raumstrukturen" zusammengefasst hat: auch wenn der Begriff im Katalog nur touchiert wird, gibt er doch einen Einblick in das Entwurfsprinzip von Johannes Peter Hölzinger. Er zielt dabei auf eine dynamische Beziehung von Architektur und Bewohner ab, die sowohl auf intellektueller als auch auf psychischer Ebene immer wieder neu zu definieren ist. Durch die komplexen Raumstrukturen seiner Gebäude ergeben sich immer wieder neue Blickwinkel, immer abhängig von Lichteinfall und Standpunkt des Betrachters bzw. Bewohners.
Ich hoffe inständig, dass diese Ausstellung ihre Wirkung auch auf zeitgenössische Architekten und Baukünstler nicht verfehlt und jenen als Ausgangspunkt für spannungsreiche und komplexe Entwürfe dient, die einen Kontrapunkt zu den inflationären Town- und Fertighausentwürfen jüngster Zeit setzen.

J.J.P. Oud (1890-1963)

In line with my current obsession with Dutch modern architecture I would like to showcase a book about Jacobus Johannes Pieter Oud, among the eminent architects involved with De Stijl and rationalism in architecture in the Netherlands. In the 1920's and 1930's he was hailed by Philip Johnson as the most important architect in propagandising modern architectural principles, reflecting his importance during the formative years of modern architecture. The extensive monograph published by the publishing house of the National Architecture Institute of the Netherlands gives a profound insight into the development of J.J.P. Oud. It ranges from traditional beginnings influences by the work of Hendrik Petrus Berlage, forefather of the first Amsterdam School, to the highly functional designs he is mostly associated with. To me the book is the single most valuable publication dedicated to Oud's work as it includes countless drawings, sketches and photographs of almost all of his built and unbuilt work.

Modern Architecture A-Z

Last weekend I stumbled across this extensive encyclopaedia of modern architecture. It was quiet a bargain so it took me only seconds to realise: I need to buy it! Unfortunately the two volumes have a colossal weight (about 9 kilos) which made the way home with this monster in hand incredibly painful. When I finally recovered from all the hardships the content of the book made up for all the pains: although I already possess a number of books about the history of modern architecture these two volumes are a welcome supplement: containing more than 1,200 pages and roughly 400 architects and their key works it accounted for a number of "who's that guy, I need to dig deeper into his work" - situations. Accordingly I can warmly recommend this handsome coffee table book to anyone in need for some proper architectural inspiration.

Piet Blom (1934-1999)

Wooheee, it's time for my first blog entry. Today I got myself a nice little monograph about Dutch architect Piet Blom (1934 - 1999) at my favorite local bookshop, Extrabuch. With about 230 pages and countless full-colour images it provides a comprehensive overview of Blom's architectural work.

His by far most prominent building is the so called kubuswoningen (cube houses) in Rotterdam, a strange ensemble of houses that make you wonder how living in them is possible without getting seasick. What I like about Dutch post-WWII architecture in general is its playfulness: in contrast to the highly rational architecture of the De Stijl-years, the rebuilding after the war gave architects the opportunity to experiment with volumes and shapes that are out of the ordinary. I wonder how Piet Blom got his clients to buy into his designs:

Photo taken from Overblaak.nl