Scharoun, Hans Bernard (1893–1972). German architect. Sometimes described as influenced by
Expressionism, he was actually more eclectic, drawing on ideas of ‘new building’ promoted by
Häring and on the tenets of the
Modern Movement. During the 1914–18 war he worked on reconstruction projects in East Prussia until 1918, and later practised in that area of Germany (1919–25). His association with the
Gläserne Kette and Der
Ring led to his building a house at the
Weissenhof-siedlung, Stuttgart (1927). From 1925 to 1932 he taught at the
Staatliche Akademie für Kunst und Kunstgewerbe (State Academy for Art and Applied Art), Breslau (now Wrocław), and built a residential hall for the
Deutscher Werkbund exhibition in that city devoted to the theme of living-and work-spaces (1929). He prepared plans for the Siemensstadt and other housing schemes in Berlin (1929–30): at Siemensstadt he was associated with
Bartning,
Gropius, Häring, and others. During the 1930s he produced several Modernist houses, including the Schminke House, Löbau, Saxony (1932–3), with huge
cantilevered balconies, much glass, and steel construction. After the 1939–45 war he directed the Building and Housing Department for Greater Berlin, and prepared (with others) plans for the rebuilding of the shattered city. He was also appointed to the Chair of Urban Planning, Technical University of Berlin, which he occupied until 1958, exercising great influence.
He designed a series of residential schemes (‘Romeo’ and ‘Juliet’ apartments, Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen (1954–9), ‘Salute’ block, Stuttgart-Möhringen (1961–3), and dwellings at Charlottenburg-Nord, Berlin (1956–61)), schools, and other structures. His most celebrated building, however, is the
Philharmonie (Hall for the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra), Berlin (1956–63), where the auditorium is surrounded by foyers and offices, the whole freely composed in a way some have seen as a late flowering of Expressionism, or even as evidence of Scharoun's commitment to
organic architecture. He also designed the Prussian State Library, Berlin (1964–79), sited on the
Kulturforum that includes the
Philharmonie and
Mies van der Rohe's National Gallery, but it has to be said that these structures relate neither to each other nor to the city as a place of memory, and ignore one of the most significant historical axes. He also designed the German Embassy in Brasilia (1963–71), the Maritime Museum, Bremerhaven (1969–75), and the Town Theatre, Wolfsburg (1965–74), among other projects.
Bibliography
Builder Jodidio (1995);
Bürkle (1993);
Conrads & and Sperlich (1960);
Geist (1993);
Hoh-Slodczyk et al. (1992);
Janofske (1984);
Kirschenmann & and Syring (1993);
Marcianò (1992);
Messina et al. (1969);
Placzek (ed.) (1982);
Pehnt (1973);
Pfankuch (1974);
Syring & and Kirschenmann (2004);
Jane Turner (1996)
