Peter Behrens
Born: 14-Apr-1868
Birthplace: Hamburg, Germany
Died: 27-Feb-1940
Location of death: Berlin, Germany
Cause of death: unspecified
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Occupation: Architect, Designer
Nationality: Germany
Executive summary: Invented corporate
identity
# In early days a "bohemian" and part of the Munich Secession,
Behrens dabbled in various artistic design enterprises
particularly in applied arts, including constructing typefaces,
ceramics, and magazine covers.
# A house he designed for the Darmstadt 1901 Exhibition
received universal acclaim, and he designed the entrance for
the German pavilion at the 1902 Turin Exhibition.
# In 1907, Allgemeine Elektricitts-Gessellschaft (AEG) hired
Behrens as a consultant. For them, he re-formed the company's
image and create a corporate identity, a first for the time -designing its trademark, stationery and catalogues, and key
products of the company.
# The great architect Walter Gropius later wrote, "It was
Behrens who first introduced me to logical and systematical
coordination in the handling of architectural problems."
# Behren's forms served as an intermediary between
Jugendstil and Industrial Classicism. Admired by Albert
Speer, he was essentially left alone during the Nazi period,
in which time he as he held the position of Professor of
Architecture at the Prussian Academy of Arts.
A. E. G. High Tension Factory
# "The turbine hall for the AEG in Berlin-Moabit on the
corner of Hutten Street of 1909 ...represented the
culmination of his efforts to give architectural dignity to a
workplace, similar to the achievement of [Frank Lloyd Wright]
with the Larkin Building in Buffalo.
# Glass and iron took over a workshop of an industrial plant,
with an enormous span (28.16 yd.; 25.6 m). Behrens achieved
a plastic effect and a dynamic form of construction of the
trusses, which were pulled towards the outside, as well as
through the tapering iron trusses and the glass areas which
were drawn towards the inside.
# In particular, the monumental shape of the
façade with corner pylons, which could not be
considered a necessity for construction, and which were
built with a thin ferro-concrete shell, caused criticism
among younger architects.
# Le Corbusier, admired the structure as being a
charged center, 'which represents the integral
architectonic creations of our timerooms with
admirable moderation and cleanness, with magnificent
machines, which set solemn and impressive accents, as
the center of attraction."
AEG Turbinenhalle 1909 by Peter Behrens
AEG 1910 Peter Behrens
AEG 1910 Peter Behrens
AEG 1911 by Peter Behrens
Behrens House
"In retrospect, much of this work now has the appearance of
being derivative: the dining room furniture in particular is
obviously close to the style of Henry van de Velde.
The house is organized about a dining and music room on
the raised ground floor, with a kitchen and ancilliary services
in the basement, and the main bedrooms and studio space
above.
While this format was quite typical for a small burgeois
house, its internal and external expression was unusual,
particularly for its combination of features drawn from the
English Arts and Crafts movement...with elements such as
the high-pitched roof drawn from the German vernacular."
Behrens House
I. G. Farben Offices
"Built in 1920-25 the paint factory of the I.G. Farben Company
features, in its administration building, a large hall around
which offices are arranged, on the model of the Larkin
Building by Frank Lloyd Wright. Peter Behrens' version is
strongly marked by Dutch expressionism, turning the well of
light into a very dynamic space both by the theatrical play of
light
and by the systematic use
of slanting rafters which
serve to disrupt the
overall rectilinearity."
Wasserturm, Hochbehlter Gaswerk Ost 1911
Peter Behrens
Verwaltungsgebude, Hoechster Farbwerke 1920/4
Peter Behrens
Turm und Brcke
Industrial Architecture: AEG and Fagus Factories
# The problems of turning industrial buildings into architecture are illustrated
in two German factories built by two different architects just before the First
World War.
# At first the gigantic monumentalism of Behrens' AEG turbine factory seems
very different from the delicate glass envelope of Gropius's Fagus shoe-last
factory; but we find that Gropius was in fact indebted to Behrens in many
ways, although his handling of glass in the faades was all his own, and
revolutionary.
# Both men were interested in the ideas of KF Schinkel, an early nineteenthcentury Neo-classical architect, and we can trace a continuity of classical
architectural ideas through the still recognizable columns and pediments of
Behrens to the less recognizable but still essentially classical forms of the
Fagus factory.
Alexanderhaus/Berolinahaus
# These two Neue Sachlichkeit buildings -the Alexanderhaus
and the Berolinahaus-designed by the architect Peter Behrens
and erected from 1930-32, are the only structures actually built
as part of a 1929 competition to remodel the Alexanderplatz.
# In each of the two eight-storey buildings is a ground floor
designed for shops and passages, a second floor featuring a
glass-covered gallery for restaurants and exhibitions, as well
as six further floors designed for office space.
# The peculiar curved shape of the Alexanderhaus is a result
of the original horseshoe design planned for the entire
Alexanderplatz.
# The "Bankgesellschaft Berlin" banking company renovated
the building from 1993-95 and relocated its headquarters there
soon thereafter.
# The second structure got its name from the "Berolina"
sculpture, a Berlin landmark that stood in the centre of the
Alexanderplatz from 1895 to 1944.
# The Berolinahaus is a protected monument that has been
empty since 1998. It will be remodelled and renovated by the
end of 2006 when the clothing company C&A will take up
residence on four floors.
Alexanderhaus/Berolinahaus
1995
Frankfurt, Germany
Fourth Meeting, 9-10 June 1995
meeting was held at the Peter Behrens Verwaltungsgebude
Hoechst AG and was hosted and sponsored by Hoechst AG
Ceiling of the Peter Behrens Verwaltungsgebude central hall
where the poster session was held
Designer
Peter Behrens
Description
A ceramic
flagon with
pewter lid. The
flagon is
decorated with
typical
secessionist
Art Nouveau
designs
Country of
Manufacture
Austrian
Date
c.1905
Marks
See photo
Condition
Slight
restoration to
spout
35cms high,
Peter Behrens. (German, 1868-1940). Fan (model GB1). c. 1908. Painted
cast iron and brass, 11 1/4 x 10 3/4 x 6" (28.6 x 27.3 x 15.3 cm).
Manufactured by Allgemeine Elektricitts Gesellschaft (A.E.G.), Germany.
Melva Bucksbaum Purchase Fund
