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3. ERICH MENDELSOHN
EXPRESSIONIST
ARCHITECT
TOA-2
6 B TOSA
BY AR.NIDHI JOSHI
INTRODUCTION
CHARACTERISTICS
Expressionist architecture was individualistic and in many ways avoided aesthetic
dogma, but it is still useful to develop some criteria which defines it. Though
containing a great variety and differentiation, many points can be found as
recurring in works of Expressionist architecture, and are evident in some degree in
each of its works.
2. He was the fifth of six children; his mother was Emma Esther (ne
Jaruslawsky), a hatmaker and his father David was a shopkeeper.
2. From then until 1918, what is known of Mendelsohn is, above all, a
multiplicity of sketches of factories and other large buildings, often in
small format or in letters from the front to his wife, Louise Mendelsohn
(ne Maes) (18951980).
3. At the end of 1918, upon his return fromWorld War I, he settled his
practice in Berlin.
4. Shortly after the Einstein tower Mendelsohn began to turn away from
free-flowing designs. An example of this new direction is his Steinberg
Hat Factory (1920-1923) in Luckenwalde, Germany.
8. During the late 1920s he became more and more attracted to the
formal lines of the International Style. At this time he was
commissioned to design several branches of the Shocken Department
Store.
14. His fortune was seized by theNazis, his name struck from the list of
the German Architects' Union, and he was excluded from the
Prussian Academy of Arts
19.In 1938, after dissolving his London office, he took UK citizenship and
changed his name to "Eric."
21.From 1941 until his death, Mendelsohn lived in the United States and
taught at theUniversity of California, Berkeley.
22.Until the end ofWorld War IIhis activities were limited by his
immigration status to lectures and publications.
CONCEPT
The complexity of shapes that
make up the tower reflects on the
one hand, a great sense of artistic
freedom and, secondly, follows the
ideas of Mendelsohn on what he
called "functional dynamics",
although it never came to define
objectively, can be interpreted in
their works in general as a clear
desire for continuous and
integrated forms.
ARCHITECTURE
On an area of 10,000 square meters, four
production halls (in a row) , a boiler and a
turbine house, ( energy centre) a dyeing hall
and two gatehouses were designed and built.
The whole building is strictly symmetrical from
south to north with the dying mill in the
center.
The genius of Mendelsohn was particularly
evident in the construction of the dyeing hall,
the roof shaped with a modern, shaft-like
hood.
The dyeing hall funneled the toxic fumes out
its chute and it was considered a
breakthrough design.
The tower also resembled cross-section of the
famous Fedora Hat, eventually becoming a
trademark of Luckenwalde.
This shape had a real function and was not
only for looking good. There was an innovative
venting system for drying the hats placed.
The factory and its construction were
considered cutting-edge, using new and
modern materials - steel, concrete, glass and
wood.
On the industrial estate were two parallel
production courses for both hair and wool hats
ERICH MENDELSOHN: STEINBERG HAT FACTORY
ERICH MENDELSOHN: STEINBERG HAT FACTORY
ERICH MENDELSOHN: STEINBERG HAT FACTORY
ERICH MENDELSOHN: STEINBERG HAT FACTORY
ERICH MENDELSOHN: STEINBERG HAT FACTORY
ERICH MENDELSOHN: STEINBERG HAT FACTORY
ERICH MENDELSOHN: STEINBERG HAT FACTORY
ERICH MENDELSOHN: SHOCKEN DEPARTMENT STORE-1926
Erich Mendelsohn may be most known for a series of ground breaking commercial
structures for the Schocken Department Store chain In Germany, in the years 1928
to 1933.
. The only one to survive is the one in Chemnitz, formerly Karl Marx Stadt, in the
eastern section of Germany.
. The Chemnitz and Stuttgart stores were very different, while still have the sweep
and curvilinear quality of Mendelsohn's work of the period.
IN CHEMNITZ
3. The faade was restored in revamp by architecture firms Auer Weber and
accordance with conservation Knerer und Lang, with exhibition designer Atelier
criteria, the interior walls Brckner, to house the State Museum for
leave the original ground plan Archaeology in Chemnitz (SMAC)
visible, and the different
floors of the main
ERICH MENDELSOHN: MOSSEHAUS
ERICH MENDELSOHN: MOSSEHAUS
ERICH MENDELSOHN: MOSSEHAUS
ERICH MENDELSOHN: MOSSEHAUS
ERICH MENDELSOHN: MOSSEHAUS
Mossehaus
TYPE: office building
LOCATION: 18-25 Schtzenstrasse inBerlin
, renovated and with a corner designed by
Erich Mendelsohn
YEAR: 19211923.
The original Mosse building housed the
printing press and offices of the
newspapers owned byRudolf Mosse,
mainly liberal newspapers
The original building of 1900-1903, by
Cremer & Wolffenstein, was a neoclassical
sandstone affair, the corner of which was
badly damaged by post first world war
rioting.
In 1921, on the strength of his
Einstein Tower, Mendelsohn was hired to
add extra storeys and a new entrance to
the building.
Mendelsohn retained most of the
buildings main facades, but completely
rebuilt the corner, and added two/three
additional stories, in a totally original,
streamlined expressionist style.
The new frontage made prominent use of
aluminum and modern typography, and the
new upper floors were made fromferro Mossehaus, September 1923.
ERICH MENDELSOHN: MOSSEHAUS
10.Of course his very energy and eclecticism of his work flirting with
expressionism, constructivism , moderne-luxe, and white box high
modernism can at times seem to undermine the importance of the
work.
11. He had such ease and facility in design that the heart of the work
sometimes seems to be missing, and he left no polemical architectural
tracts to help fill in the blanks.