The City Crown by Bruno Taut

219 Pages·2015·9.7 MB·English

by  Matthew Mindrup

The CiTy Crown by bruno TauT
ashgate Studies in architecture Series
series editor: eamonn canniffe, manchester school of architecture,
manchester metropolitan university, uk
The discipline of architecture is undergoing subtle transformation as design
awareness permeates our visually dominated culture. Technological change, the
search for sustainability and debates around the value of place and meaning
of the architectural gesture are aspects which will affect the cities we inhabit.
This series seeks to address such topics, both theoretically and in practice,
through the publication of high quality original research, written and visual.
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The City Crown by bruno Taut
Translated and Edited by
Matthew Mindrup
The University of Sydney, Australia
and
ulrike altenmüller-Lewis
Drexel University, USA
© Matthew Mindrup and ulrike altenmüller-Lewis 2015
all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
Matthew Mindrup and ulrike altenmüller-Lewis have asserted their right under the
Copyright, Designs and Patents act, 1988, to be identified as the editors of this work.
Published by
ashgate Publishing Limited ashgate Publishing Company
Wey Court East 110 Cherry Street
union road Suite 3-1
Farnham burlington, VT 05401-3818
Surrey, Gu9 7PT uSa
England
www.ashgate.com
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
a catalogue record for this book is available from the british Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The city crown by bruno Taut / [translated and edited] by Matthew Mindrup and ulrike
altenmüller-Lewis.
pages cm. -- (ashgate studies in architecture)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISbn 978-1-4724-2199-9 (hbk) -- ISbn 978-1-4724-2200-2 (ebook) --
ISbn 978-1-4724-2201-9 (epub) 1. City planning--History. I. Taut, bruno, 1880-1938.
II. baron, Erich. III. behne, adolf, 1885-1948. IV. Scheerbart, Paul, 1863-1915. V.
Mindrup, Matthew. editor. VI. altenmüller-Lewis, ulrike, 1971- editor. VII. Taut, bruno,
1880-1938. Stadtkrone. English.
na9090.C58 2015
711’.4--dc23
2015002219
ISbn 9781472421999 (hbk)
ISbn 9781472422002 (ebk – PDF)
ISbn 9781472422019 (ebk – ePub)
Printed in the united Kingdom by Henry Ling Limited,
at the Dorset Press, Dorchester, DT1 1HD
Contents
List of illustrations vii
Translators’ Preface xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Introduction: Advancing the Reverie of Utopia 1
  
Title Page
Dedication
1 The New Life: An Architectonic Apocalypse 35
Paul Scheerbart
2 40 Examples: Historic City Crowns 41
3 The City Crown 73
Architecture 74
The Old City 76
The Chaos 77
The New City 78
Body Without a Head 79
Raise a Flag 82
The City Crown 86
Economic Costs for The City Crown 98
4 Epilogue: Recent Attempts at Crowning Cities 101
Bruno Taut
5 Aufbau 115
erich Baron
vi ThE CITy Crown By BRUNO TAUT
6 Rebirth of Architecture 125
Adolf Behne
7 The Dead Palace: An Architect’s Dream 141
Paul Scheerbart
Sources 143
List of Figures 145
Contents 147
  
Afterword: The City Crown in the Context of Bruno Taut’s Oeuvre 149
Index 177
List of Illustrations
Black and White Illustrations Figure 6 Durham.
1.1 Ebenezer Howard, “Garden City,” Image Figure 7 Adrianople, Selim Mosque.
no. 2 of Howard, To-morrow: A Peaceful Path
to real reform, 1898. © Town & Country Figure 8 Augsburg, St Ulrich Church.
Planning Association.
Figure 9 Utrecht.
1.2 Bruno Taut, Stadtschema (City
Figure 10 Assyrian Temple, reconstruction.
Diagram), in Die Stadtkrone, 1917.
Figure 11 Madurai, Great Gopura.
1.3 Bruno Taut, Das Glashaus (The Glashaus)
at the 1914 Kölner werkbund–Ausstellung
Figure 12 Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem,
(1914 Cologne Werkbund Exhibition), 1914.
reconstruction.
1.4 Bruno Taut, haus Der Freundschaft
Figure 13 Cologne.
in Konstantinople (House of Friendship in
Constantinople), 1916.
Figure 14 London.
1.5 Bruno Taut, Das Kristallhaus (The Figure 15 Selinunt, reconstruction.
Crystal Building), Sheet 3 of Bruno Taut,
Alpine Architecture, 1917. Figure 16 Athens.
Original Illustrations Figure 17 Yangon, Shwedagon Pagoda.
Figure 1 St Barbara by Jan van Eyck.
Figure 18 Salamanca.
Figure 2 Charles Cottet, City Image.
Figure 19 Yangon.
Figure 3 Mont-Saint-Michel. Figure 20 Buarcos.
Figure 4 Strasbourg. Figure 21 Tzaffin.
Figure 5 Monte Compatri. Figure 22 Prenzlau.
viii THe CiTy CRoWn BY BrUno TAUT
Figure 23 Angkor Wat. Figure 48 City crown, plan and elevation.
Figure 24 Cairo. Figure 49 City crown, perspectival view.
Figure 25 Hebron in Palestine. Figure 50 Garden City Estate Falkenberg
near Berlin.
Figure 26 Moscow. Great Cathedral in the
Kremlin. Figure 51 Street views from Falkenberg.
Figure 27 Moscow with the Kremlin. Figure 52 Design of a votive church by
Schinkel.
Figure 28 La Chaise-Dieu.
Figure 53 Design for a monument of
Figure 29 Béziers. Friedrich the Great on the Leipziger Platz in
Berlin by Gilly.
Figure 30 Strängnäs.
Figure 54 Karlsruhe, city plan.
Figure 31 Pisa, Piazza del Duomo.
Figure 55 Temple of Confucius in Qufu.
Figure 32 Danzig.
Figure 56 Plan diagram from Howard.
Figure 33 Aden.
Figure 57 City center of Letchworth
Figure 34 Srivilliputtur.
Figure 58 Plan of the city of Qufu.
Figure 35 Miao tai tae, Memorial Temple.
Figure 59 Augsburg, Elias Hollplatz.
Figure 36 Paris.
Figure 60 Municipal building for new York.
Figure 37 Speyer.
Figure 61 new York, city skyline.
Figure 38 Mainz. Figure 62 XXII District in Vienna.
Figure 39 Toledo. Figure 63 Project for Klein-Hoheim.
Figure 40 Bangkok. Figure 64 Plan for an Australian capital city.
Figure 41 Chidambaram, Shiva-Pond. Figure 65 Project for an International
World Center.
Figure 42 City crown, east elevation.
Figure 66 Ministry of Foreign Affairs in
Figure 43 City crown, west elevation. Berlin.
Figure 44 City crown, bird’s eye view Figure 67 Palace of Justice in Brussels.
looking west.
Figure 68 The Capitol in Washington.
Figure 45 City skyline.
Figure 69 Design of a Monument for the
Figure 46 City plan diagram. People by Berlage.
Figure 47 City crown, image. Figure 70 Cathedral in rouen.
LIST oF ILLUSTrATIonS ix
Figure 71 Palitana, the Great Temple 8 Bruno Taut, Waldsiedlung onkel Toms
Chamukte. Hütte, Berlin-Zehlendorf, 1926–31. Single
family row houses, north of Argentinische
Figure 72 The Great Pagoda of Udaipur. Allee. Illustrating the results of the color
analysis. Photo of drawing: Helge Pitz,
Colour Plates
Architekturwerkstatt Helge Pitz – Winfried
1 Bruno Taut, Wohnstadt Carl Legien, Brenne, 1976/1977.
Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg, 1928–30. Loggias
at housing block. Photo: Laura J. Padgett, 9 Bruno Taut, Waldsiedlung onkel Toms
January 2009. Hütte, Berlin-Zehlendorf, 1926–31. Yard at
Birkenhof. Landscape reminiscent of Taut’s
2 Bruno Taut, Wohnstadt Carl Legien, Berlin- early pastel drawings from nature. Photo:
Prenzlauer Berg, 1928–30. Housing block Laura J. Padgett, September 2008.
Sültstraße. Photo: Laura J. Padgett, April 2009.
10 Bruno Taut, Waldsiedlung onkel Toms
3 Bruno Taut, Wohnstadt Carl Legien, Hütte, Berlin-Zehlendorf, 1926–31. Photo:
Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg, 1928–30. Housing Laura J. Padgett, September 2008.
block Sültstraße. Courtyard elevation and
corner balconies. Photo: Laura J. Padgett, 11 Bruno Taut, Waldsiedlung onkel
January 2009. Toms Hütte, Berlin-Zehlendorf, 1926–31.
Apartment building Waldhüterpfad. View
4 Bruno Taut, Wohnstadt Carl Legien,
from stairhall. Photo: Laura J. Padgett,
Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg, 1928–30. Housing
September 2008.
block Sültstraße. Courtyard elevation.
Photo: Laura J. Padgett, January 2009.
12 Bruno Taut, Waldsiedlung onkel Toms
Hütte, Berlin-Zehlendorf, 1926–31. Corner
5 Bruno Taut, Wohnstadt Carl Legien,
Hochsitzweg and Hochwildpfad. Photo:
Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg, 1928–30. Housing
Laura J. Padgett, September 2008.
block Sültstraße. Staircase. Photo: Laura J.
Padgett, April 2009.
13 Bruno Taut, Waldsiedlung onkel Toms
Hütte, Berlin-Zehlendorf, 1926–31. Am
6 Single family row houses, north of
Wiesenblau. Garden facades. Photo: Laura J.
Argentinische Allee. reconstruction of the
Padgett, September 2009.
color plan by Bruno Taut illustrating results
of the color analysis. Photo of drawing:
14 Bruno Taut, Waldsiedlung onkel Toms
Helge Pitz, Architekturwerkstatt Helge Pitz –
Hütte, Berlin-Zehlendorf, 1926–31. Photo:
Winfried Brenne, 1976/1977.
Laura J. Padgett, September 2008.
7 Bruno Taut, Waldsiedlung onkel Toms
15 rudolf Steiner, Goetheanum, Dornach,
Hütte, Berlin-Zehlendorf, 1926–31. Single
Switzerland. Built in poured concrete from
family row houses, north of Argentinische
Allee. Terraces with glass roof along the 1925–8. Photo: Mark Brack, 1989.
garden façade. Illustrating results of the
color analysis. Photo of drawing: Helge Pitz, 16 James Turrell, “Twilight Epiphany”
Architekturwerkstatt Helge Pitz – Winfried skyspace at rice University, Houston, Texas,
Brenne, 1976/1977. 2012. Photo: Florian Holzherr, 2012.