| Title |
German Expressionist Architecture Reassessed |
| Keywords |
Expressionism ; Modern Functionalism ; Hans Scharoun ; Hugo Haring |
| Abstract |
The artistic features of German Expressionism in the early twentieth century are often recognized for its abstract and emotional representation in art and architecture. Expressionism departed from the paintings, notably the works of Der Blaue Reiter and the Br?ck, but the architectural works with curve and organic features were also taken as expressive. German architects Hans Scharoun (1893-1972) and Hugo Haring (1882-1958), in this regard, have long been regarded as Expressionist architects, but recent studies suggest that their architectural designs include a profound idea of modern functional building. Scharoun and Haring held a socialist utopian vision as other modernists have also had, but their inherent view upon modern architecture was function which was mistakenly viewed as Expressionism in earlier documents. This paper intends to exemplify how Expressionism is inappropriate to represent the expressive presentations of Scharoun and Haring. Despite the fact that their designs possess certain expressionist elements, their works can also be constructed as an advanced functionalism. Many young architects in Germany were not given chances to build due to economic hardship after the First World War, and they were naturally led to imagery sketch designs for future architecture. Abstract idea was freely exposed in its preliminary visual form, and it is also uneasy to draw a borderline between expressive presentation and the Expressionism itself. |