Although expressionist architecture was individualistic and generally lacking in dogma, a series of objective criteria can be established that define it. Within the multiple expressionist works that are known today, and regardless of the great differences between them, common aspects can also be seen:

Contenido

La arquitectura expresionista se desarrolló principalmente en Alemania, Países Bajos, Austria, Checoslovaquia y Dinamarca. Se caracterizó por el uso de nuevos materiales, suscitado en ocasiones por el uso de formas biomórficas o por la ampliación de posibilidades ofrecida por la fabricación en masa de materiales de construcción como el ladrillo, el acero o el vidrio. Muchos arquitectos expresionistas combatieron en la Primera Guerra Mundial, y su experiencia, combinada con los cambios políticos y sociales producto de la Revolución alemana de 1918, desembocaron en perspectivas utópicas y un programa socialista romántico. La arquitectura expresionista recibió la influencia del modernismo "Modernismo (arte)"), sobre todo de la obra de arquitectos como Henry van de Velde, Joseph Maria Olbrich y Antoni Gaudí. De carácter fuertemente experimental y utópico, las realizaciones de los expresionistas destacan por su monumentalidad, el empleo del ladrillo y la composición subjetiva, que otorga a sus obras cierto aire de excentricidad.[1]​.

Un aporte teórico a la arquitectura expresionista fue el ensayo Arquitectura de cristal (1914) de Paul Scheerbart, donde ataca el funcionalismo "Funcionalismo (arquitectura)") por su falta de artisticidad y defiende la sustitución del ladrillo por el cristal. Vemos así, por ejemplo, el Pabellón de Cristal de la Exposición de Colonia "Colonia (Alemania)") de 1914, de Bruno Taut, autor que también plasmó su ideario por escrito (Arquitectura alpina, 1919).[2]​ La arquitectura expresionista se desarrolló en diversos grupos, como la Deutscher Werkbund, Arbeitsrat für Kunst, Der Ring y Neues Bauen, vinculado este último a la Nueva Objetividad; también cabe destacar la Escuela de Ámsterdam. Los principales arquitectos expresionistas fueron: Bruno Taut, Walter Gropius, Erich Mendelsohn, Hans Poelzig, Hermann Finsterlin, Fritz Höger, Hans Scharoun y Rudolf Steiner.

Deutscher Werkbund

The Deutscher Werkbund (German Labor Federation) was the first architectural movement related to expressionism produced in Germany. Founded in Munich on October 9, 1907 by Hermann Muthesius, Friedrich Naumann and Karl Schmidt"), it later incorporated figures such as Walter Gropius, Bruno Taut, Hans Poelzig, Peter Behrens, Theodor Fischer, Josef Hoffmann, Wilhelm Kreis, Adelbert Niemeyer") and Richard Riemerschmidt"). Heir to the Jugendstil and the Viennese Sezession, and inspired by the Arts & Crafts movement, its objective was the integration of architecture, industry and crafts through professional work, education and advertising, as well as introducing architectural design into modernity and giving it an industrial character. The main characteristics of the movement were the use of new materials such as glass and steel, the importance of industrial design and decorative functionalism.[3]​.

The Deutscher Werkbund organized various conferences later published in the form of yearbooks, such as Art in Industry and Commerce (1913) and Transport (1914). Likewise, in 1914 they held an exhibition in Cologne that achieved great success and international dissemination, highlighting the glass and steel pavilion designed by Bruno Taut. The success of the exhibition caused a great boom in the movement, which went from having 491 members in 1908 to 3,000 in 1929. During those years, several controversies arose over whether industrial or artistic design should take precedence, producing various dissensions within the group.

In the 1920s the movement derived from expressionism and crafts to functionalism "Functionalism (architecture)") and industry, incorporating new members such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. A new magazine was published, Die Form (1922-1934), which disseminated the group's new ideas, focused on the social aspect of architecture and urban development. In 1927 they held a new exhibition in Stuttgart, building a large housing colony, the Weissenhofsiedlung, with a design by Mies van der Rohe and buildings built by Gropius, Behrens, Poelzig, Taut, etc., together with architects from outside Germany such as Jacobus Johannes Pieter Oud, Le Corbusier and Victor Bourgeois. This exhibition was one of the starting points of the new architectural style that was beginning to emerge, known as international style or rationalism. The Deutscher Werkbund was dissolved in 1934 mainly due to the economic crisis and Nazism. His spirit greatly influenced the Bauhaus, and inspired the founding of similar organizations in other countries, such as Switzerland, Austria, Sweden and Great Britain.[5]​.

Amsterdam School

Parallel to the German Deutscher Werkbund, between 1915 and 1930 a notable architectural school of an expressionist nature developed in Amsterdam (Netherlands). Influenced by modernism (mainly Henry van de Velde and Antoni Gaudí) and by Hendrik Petrus Berlage, they were inspired by natural forms, with buildings of imaginative design where the use of brick and concrete predominates. Its main members were Michel de Klerk, Pieter Lodewijk Kramer and Johann Melchior Van der Mey, who worked together countless times, contributing greatly to the urban development of Amsterdam, with an organic style inspired by traditional Dutch architecture, highlighting the undulating surfaces. His main works were the Scheepvaarthuis (Van der Mey, 1911-1916) and the Eigen Haard Estate (De Klerk, 1913-1920).[6]​.

Arbeitsrat für Kunst

The Arbeitsrat für Kunst (Council of Art Workers) was founded in 1918 in Berlin by the architect Bruno Taut and the critic Adolf Behne. Emerged after the end of the First World War, its objective was the creation of a group of artists who could influence the new German government, with a view to the regeneration of national architecture, with a clear utopian component. Their works stand out for the use of glass and steel, as well as for the imaginative and loaded with intense mysticism. They immediately recruited members from the Deutscher Werkbund, such as Walter Gropius, Erich Mendelsohn, Otto Bartning and Ludwig Hilberseimer, and had the collaboration of other artists, such as the painters Lyonel Feininger, Erich Heckel, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Emil Nolde and Max Pechstein, and the sculptors Georg Kolbe, Rudolf Belling and Gerhard Gerhard. Marcks. This variety is explained because the group's aspirations were more political than artistic, seeking to influence the decisions of the new government regarding art and architecture. However, after the events of January 1919 related to the Spartacist League, the group renounced its political goals, dedicating itself to organizing exhibitions, and was replaced by Gropius, although they finally dissolved on May 30, 1921.[7]

Der Ring

The group Der Ring (The Circle) was founded in Berlin in 1923 by Bruno Taut, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Peter Behrens, Erich Mendelsohn, Otto Bartning, Hugo Häring and several other architects, to whom Walter Gropius, Ludwig Hilberseimer, Hans Scharoun, Ernst May, Hans and Wassili Luckhardt, Adolf Meyer "Adolf Meyer (architect)"), Martin Wagner "Martin Wagner (architect)"), etc. Its objective was, as in previous movements, to renew the architecture of its time, placing special emphasis on social and urban aspects, as well as research into new materials and construction techniques. Between 1926 and 1930 they carried out a notable work of construction of social housing in Berlin, with houses that stand out for their use of natural light and their location in green areas, highlighting the Hufeisensiedlung (Horseshoe Colony, 1925-1930), by Taut and Wagner. Der Ring disappeared in 1933 after the advent of Nazism.[8]​.

Neues Bauen

Neues Bauen (New Building) was the name given in architecture to the New Objectivity, a direct reaction to the stylistic excesses of expressionist architecture and the change in the national mood, in which the social component predominated over the individual. Architects such as Bruno Taut, Erich Mendelsohn and Hans Poelzig turned to the simple, functional and practical approach of the New Objectivity. The Neues Bauen flourished in the brief period between the adoption of the Dawes plan and the rise of Nazism, encompassing public exhibitions such as the Weissenhof Estate, the extensive urban planning and public promotion projects of Taut and Ernst May, and the influential experiments of the Bauhaus.

(See Expressionism#Bibliography).

Although expressionist architecture was individualistic and generally lacking in dogma, a series of objective criteria can be established that define it. Within the multiple expressionist works that are known today, and regardless of the great differences between them, common aspects can also be seen:

Contenido

La arquitectura expresionista se desarrolló principalmente en Alemania, Países Bajos, Austria, Checoslovaquia y Dinamarca. Se caracterizó por el uso de nuevos materiales, suscitado en ocasiones por el uso de formas biomórficas o por la ampliación de posibilidades ofrecida por la fabricación en masa de materiales de construcción como el ladrillo, el acero o el vidrio. Muchos arquitectos expresionistas combatieron en la Primera Guerra Mundial, y su experiencia, combinada con los cambios políticos y sociales producto de la Revolución alemana de 1918, desembocaron en perspectivas utópicas y un programa socialista romántico. La arquitectura expresionista recibió la influencia del modernismo "Modernismo (arte)"), sobre todo de la obra de arquitectos como Henry van de Velde, Joseph Maria Olbrich y Antoni Gaudí. De carácter fuertemente experimental y utópico, las realizaciones de los expresionistas destacan por su monumentalidad, el empleo del ladrillo y la composición subjetiva, que otorga a sus obras cierto aire de excentricidad.[1]​.

Un aporte teórico a la arquitectura expresionista fue el ensayo Arquitectura de cristal (1914) de Paul Scheerbart, donde ataca el funcionalismo "Funcionalismo (arquitectura)") por su falta de artisticidad y defiende la sustitución del ladrillo por el cristal. Vemos así, por ejemplo, el Pabellón de Cristal de la Exposición de Colonia "Colonia (Alemania)") de 1914, de Bruno Taut, autor que también plasmó su ideario por escrito (Arquitectura alpina, 1919).[2]​ La arquitectura expresionista se desarrolló en diversos grupos, como la Deutscher Werkbund, Arbeitsrat für Kunst, Der Ring y Neues Bauen, vinculado este último a la Nueva Objetividad; también cabe destacar la Escuela de Ámsterdam. Los principales arquitectos expresionistas fueron: Bruno Taut, Walter Gropius, Erich Mendelsohn, Hans Poelzig, Hermann Finsterlin, Fritz Höger, Hans Scharoun y Rudolf Steiner.

Deutscher Werkbund

The Deutscher Werkbund (German Labor Federation) was the first architectural movement related to expressionism produced in Germany. Founded in Munich on October 9, 1907 by Hermann Muthesius, Friedrich Naumann and Karl Schmidt"), it later incorporated figures such as Walter Gropius, Bruno Taut, Hans Poelzig, Peter Behrens, Theodor Fischer, Josef Hoffmann, Wilhelm Kreis, Adelbert Niemeyer") and Richard Riemerschmidt"). Heir to the Jugendstil and the Viennese Sezession, and inspired by the Arts & Crafts movement, its objective was the integration of architecture, industry and crafts through professional work, education and advertising, as well as introducing architectural design into modernity and giving it an industrial character. The main characteristics of the movement were the use of new materials such as glass and steel, the importance of industrial design and decorative functionalism.[3]​.

The Deutscher Werkbund organized various conferences later published in the form of yearbooks, such as Art in Industry and Commerce (1913) and Transport (1914). Likewise, in 1914 they held an exhibition in Cologne that achieved great success and international dissemination, highlighting the glass and steel pavilion designed by Bruno Taut. The success of the exhibition caused a great boom in the movement, which went from having 491 members in 1908 to 3,000 in 1929. During those years, several controversies arose over whether industrial or artistic design should take precedence, producing various dissensions within the group.

In the 1920s the movement derived from expressionism and crafts to functionalism "Functionalism (architecture)") and industry, incorporating new members such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. A new magazine was published, Die Form (1922-1934), which disseminated the group's new ideas, focused on the social aspect of architecture and urban development. In 1927 they held a new exhibition in Stuttgart, building a large housing colony, the Weissenhofsiedlung, with a design by Mies van der Rohe and buildings built by Gropius, Behrens, Poelzig, Taut, etc., together with architects from outside Germany such as Jacobus Johannes Pieter Oud, Le Corbusier and Victor Bourgeois. This exhibition was one of the starting points of the new architectural style that was beginning to emerge, known as international style or rationalism. The Deutscher Werkbund was dissolved in 1934 mainly due to the economic crisis and Nazism. His spirit greatly influenced the Bauhaus, and inspired the founding of similar organizations in other countries, such as Switzerland, Austria, Sweden and Great Britain.[5]​.

Amsterdam School

Parallel to the German Deutscher Werkbund, between 1915 and 1930 a notable architectural school of an expressionist nature developed in Amsterdam (Netherlands). Influenced by modernism (mainly Henry van de Velde and Antoni Gaudí) and by Hendrik Petrus Berlage, they were inspired by natural forms, with buildings of imaginative design where the use of brick and concrete predominates. Its main members were Michel de Klerk, Pieter Lodewijk Kramer and Johann Melchior Van der Mey, who worked together countless times, contributing greatly to the urban development of Amsterdam, with an organic style inspired by traditional Dutch architecture, highlighting the undulating surfaces. His main works were the Scheepvaarthuis (Van der Mey, 1911-1916) and the Eigen Haard Estate (De Klerk, 1913-1920).[6]​.

Arbeitsrat für Kunst

The Arbeitsrat für Kunst (Council of Art Workers) was founded in 1918 in Berlin by the architect Bruno Taut and the critic Adolf Behne. Emerged after the end of the First World War, its objective was the creation of a group of artists who could influence the new German government, with a view to the regeneration of national architecture, with a clear utopian component. Their works stand out for the use of glass and steel, as well as for the imaginative and loaded with intense mysticism. They immediately recruited members from the Deutscher Werkbund, such as Walter Gropius, Erich Mendelsohn, Otto Bartning and Ludwig Hilberseimer, and had the collaboration of other artists, such as the painters Lyonel Feininger, Erich Heckel, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Emil Nolde and Max Pechstein, and the sculptors Georg Kolbe, Rudolf Belling and Gerhard Gerhard. Marcks. This variety is explained because the group's aspirations were more political than artistic, seeking to influence the decisions of the new government regarding art and architecture. However, after the events of January 1919 related to the Spartacist League, the group renounced its political goals, dedicating itself to organizing exhibitions, and was replaced by Gropius, although they finally dissolved on May 30, 1921.[7]

Der Ring

The group Der Ring (The Circle) was founded in Berlin in 1923 by Bruno Taut, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Peter Behrens, Erich Mendelsohn, Otto Bartning, Hugo Häring and several other architects, to whom Walter Gropius, Ludwig Hilberseimer, Hans Scharoun, Ernst May, Hans and Wassili Luckhardt, Adolf Meyer "Adolf Meyer (architect)"), Martin Wagner "Martin Wagner (architect)"), etc. Its objective was, as in previous movements, to renew the architecture of its time, placing special emphasis on social and urban aspects, as well as research into new materials and construction techniques. Between 1926 and 1930 they carried out a notable work of construction of social housing in Berlin, with houses that stand out for their use of natural light and their location in green areas, highlighting the Hufeisensiedlung (Horseshoe Colony, 1925-1930), by Taut and Wagner. Der Ring disappeared in 1933 after the advent of Nazism.[8]​.

Neues Bauen

Neues Bauen (New Building) was the name given in architecture to the New Objectivity, a direct reaction to the stylistic excesses of expressionist architecture and the change in the national mood, in which the social component predominated over the individual. Architects such as Bruno Taut, Erich Mendelsohn and Hans Poelzig turned to the simple, functional and practical approach of the New Objectivity. The Neues Bauen flourished in the brief period between the adoption of the Dawes plan and the rise of Nazism, encompassing public exhibitions such as the Weissenhof Estate, the extensive urban planning and public promotion projects of Taut and Ernst May, and the influential experiments of the Bauhaus.

(See Expressionism#Bibliography).