Page 149 - Libro Max Cetto

Daniel Escotto

arose from Gropius’ reflections on the collective nature of the Gothic cathedral and, during
its first stage, it would become a refuge for major expressionist painters. Giedion also writes
2
with certainty that expressionism “touched almost every German worker in the arts.” Ex-
pressionism was the first movement that really tried to break with an unconscious tradition,
not with its roots; Poelzig talked about running away from the “purely decorative adoption
3
of the forms of the past.” Today it is easy to relate the names of Hans Poelzig, Peter Beh-
rens, Bruno Taut and many others –once forgotten figures– to the early beginnings of a true
change in architecture. The implementation of the principle of empathy, or Einfühlung, in
Behrens’ Turbinenhalle for the AEG in Berlin already imposes its will of form, or Kunstwollen.
It speaks to an ability to transform form through ideology.
The 1914 Cologne exhibition organized by the Deutscher Werkbund, a union founded
in 1907 under the direction of Hermann Muthesius with the goal of uniting art, society
and production, definitively marked a change in standards. There were conflicts involving
typification and the object; Muthesius’ thesis on the gradual refinement of the produced
object was countered by the defense of the Kunstwollen concept as the sole generator of a
normal in art. The exhibition showcased the work of artists that formed part of the Werk-
bund, which supported the individuality of the artist. Henry van de Velde’s theater, the
factory by Walter Gropius and Adolf Meyer and Bruno Taut’s pavilion are the greatest
examples of that free, synthetic work of a synchronous reality. Standardization was not so
necessary, even just before the war; individual work had still to submit its final offers. The
main discussion of the exhibition was on the integration of the industrial and the artisan,
Taut’s glass pavilion embodying both. The Cologne exhibition aimed to be a political, prac-
tical and theoretical summary of the future and the paths it could go down. It was Bruno
Taut (1880-1938), the youngest of the first generation of expressionists, who realized how
to integrate the ideas of a truly modern architecture into the postwar avant-garde, incarnat-
ing Scheerbart’s “glass dream.”
Individualism was a decisive element in expressionism, as can be seen in the works of
Peter Behrens (1868-1940) and Hans Poelzig (1869-1936). The parallelism between the
two has been little-studied; although they started off in different places –Behrens in Darm-
stadt and Poelzig in Breslau– both consolidated their careers in Berlin. Hans Poelzig is
perhaps the one who proved to be most expressionist. He walked a diametrical design path,
never typecast himself and showed that inner strength and will of form are not at odds with
history, but on the contrary, find in it their own will. Poelzig’s first works were in Breslau,
where he was the director of the Academy of Arts between 1903 and 1916. The 1908 water
mill project declared that dichotomy which had interested Poelzig since the beginning of
his career: “tradition” and “technique.” This building represents a new “type”: it is a building
with a steel structure and brick wall (Stahlfachwerk) that allows one to appreciate the in-
novative arched shapes of the windows. Profiles are also smoothed in a curvilinear fashion;
there is an orthogonal metal grid for the windows, free of the body, and the two bodies of
the complex are united by means of an upper bridge. These last two elements are very similar
to those of some of Gropius’ buildings, such as the 1925 Bauhaus in Dessau.
The first stage of expressionism was to be the most important. While one cannot speak
of well-defined characteristics in formal matters, the founders of this current were united by
a shared spirit. Monumentality was reflected in their very drawings, featuring perspectives
of buildings that encompassed large expanses of land and always designed to be seen in their
entirety; one could say that a “total vision” is created in the pictures of the expressionists.
The idea of German monumentality emanated from all sides. On the occasion of the revival

2 Giedion, Space, Time and Architecture.
3 Theodor Heuss, Hans Poelzig: Das Lebensbild eines Deutschen Baumeisters (Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1939.
Reprint, 1985).

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