What It’s All About

Vielfalt der Moderne (Diversity of modernism). 

For me this term charac­te­rizes archi­tecture in the years between 1900 and 1935. 

In these few decades so much has happened, so many different styles of building have been experi­mented with – it never stops fasci­nating me. 

Careful conside­ration of history, region and location seems essential to me; the sole yardstick of the specta­cular does not do justice to the variety of expres­sions in the archi­tecture of that time. 

This website presents the known and documented as well as the more or less forgotten buildings and archi­tects and is conti­nuously updated. 

The overview reveals an astonishing variety of design concepts, which often cannot be assigned to any parti­cular style, but is charac­te­rized by hybrid tendencies, stylistic influences, upheavals as well as mixed forms. 

Regional diffe­rences in construction, design, use of materials and styli­stics play just as decisive a role as the uncertain pluralism of the 1920s and the still young democracy in the Weimar Republic, which is also reflected in the broad spectrum of archi­tec­tural and artistic designs.

In addition to function­alism and new objec­tivity of the archi­tects of Neues Bauen, there were a number of alter­native approaches to the task of developing archi­tecture appro­priate to the new, democratic society. 

In the 1920s, in Germany alone, Hans Scharoun´s organic building, the colorful projects of Bruno Taut, the masonry work of the Stuttgart School, Fritz Höger´s brick expres­sionism as well as the plaster buildings of the Postbauschule in Bavaria developed. 

The many facets of modern archi­tecture range from an indus­trially oriented, avant-garde modernism to a moderate modernism and the numerous varieties of expressionism. 

In addition, there are the prede­cessor buildings of Art Nouveau and German Reform Architecture, which paved the way for modernism and became essential impulses for its later development. 

Within only 35 years, a multitude of different and expressive building forms unfolded, which are worth viewing, discussing and documenting.