We all learned about the AEG Turbine Factory in Berlin; one of the first modern buildings, designed by Peter Behrens in 1908-1909 and cited as an important antecedent by Mies, Gropius and others. As I remember it, we were directed to notice the lack of decoration and the use and exposure of industrial materials. Ding an sich, the thing itself, freed from the representational requirements of history; here was the truth and purity of the future. Hogwash! Looking closely, you find a devilish composition of legerdemain. The massive masonry corners are battered to reinforce their visual strength but the roof appears to be supported by the vertical glazing assembly the stands proud of the masonry. Not satisfied with that topsy-turvy, Behrens upon turning the corner aligns the wall with the battered masonry. The steel columns which appear to slope out towards the top (happily in a sense to accommodate the moment between the column and the roof framing) are in fact vertical and the wall is not. This corner is almost Escher like in its ingenuity. All of this takes us to the column bases. I know about hinged connections, and I may be misunderstanding what is happening here, but it looks to me as if this is entirely an expression of the lack of verticality, an expression of a very modern dynamism. Rather than a carefully detailed industrial building, this is instead a worthy offering to Mother Art.
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Mike Mense FAIA
Owner
mmenseArchitects
Anchorage AK
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