Behne, Adolf

Behne, Adolf (1885–1948). German architect, theorist, and critic. He was associated with the avant-garde before and after the 1914–18 war, and was involved in the Deutscher Werkbund, Arbeitsrat für Kunst, and Gläserne Kette, all of which he promoted in Die Wiederkehr der Kunst (The Return to Art—1919). He used the term Reklamerarchitektur (Advertising Architecture) to describe the works of Mendelsohn and others. In 1920 he published Ruf zum Bauen (A Call to Build), and in 1923–5 his best-known book, Der moderne Zweckbau (The Modern Functional Building), which promoted Functionalism and the Modern Movement. In his Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art) he described art and architecture banned by the Nazis, and continued to publish many articles and polemics until his death.

Bibliography

Behne (1919, 1920, 1926, 1988, 1994);
Saur (1994)