Salvisberg, Otto Rudolf

views updated

Salvisberg, Otto Rudolf (1882–1940). Swiss-born architect. He settled in Berlin in 1908, where he designed the vaguely Expressionist concrete Lindenhaus, Berlin-Kreuzberg (1912–13). Some of his early works, however, contained eclectic references influenced, perhaps, by the ideas of Camillo Sitte. Many of his villas in and around Berlin were influenced by Jugendstil and Expressionism, as well as by the Arts-and-Crafts movement publicized by Muthesius. In the mid-1920s he became influenced by the Modern Movement, designing several houses on the Berlin-Zehlendorf housing estate under the overall direction of Bruno Taut (1926–31). One of his most luxurious houses was the Flechtheim Villa, Berlin-Grünewald (1928–9). He also designed the Gross-Siedlung Schillerpromenade, Weisse-Stadt (White City) development, Berlin-Reinickendorf (1929–31).

In 1930 he succeeded Karl Moser as Professor at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (Confederate Technical High School—ETH), Zürich, Switzerland, and designed numerous works, including university buildings, Berne (1930–1), the Machine Laboratory and Heating Plant, ETH (1930–3), and the Hoffman-La Roche Administration Building and Factories, Basel (1936–40), all in a severely rational manner. He was responsible for the Roche Products Factory, Welwyn Garden City, Herts., England (1939).

Bibliography

Platz (1927);
Salvisberg (2000);
Wertheim (ed.) (1927)

A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture

About this article

Salvisberg, Otto Rudolf

Updated About encyclopedia.com content Print Article