John K. Peck pays tribute to one of Berlin’s key architectural modernisers…
Modernist architecture in Berlin is, understandably, a subject heavy with the weight of history. The decades spent rebuilding from the devastation of World War Two while split down the middle by two hostile powers meant that, for many building projects, aesthetics played a distant secondary role to functionality.
Nonetheless, the severely limited building resources of both East and West did not stop the proliferation of bold, elegant Modernist constructions on both sides of the Wall. With entire neighbourhoods in ruins and a postwar population in desperate need of housing and infrastructure, the buildings would be build regardless; the question for posterity was who could transcend the limited resources provided and make a lasting aesthetic impression on the cityscape.
In West Berlin, one of the early champions of this architectural sublimation—turning the modest materials available such as concrete, raw plaster, and the rubble of the former city itself into elegant, timeless structures—was its native son Werner Düttmann.
Born in 1921, Düttmann was in the midst of his studies when he was conscripted. After being captured and spending several years as an Allied prisoner of war, he returned to Berlin in 1946 and resumed his studies, and after graduating he began working at the Berlin Building Authority.
In 1952 his first project, the Schulstraße pensioners’ home in Wedding, was realised; despite its modest budget and decidedly non-prestige purpose, the building was praised for its elegant minimalism, which stood in stark contrast to the flat, funereal demeanour that defined many similar projects.
More prestigious and visible projects soon followed, including the Zehlendorf Jugendzentrum, the Verkehrskanzel (traffic tower) on Ku’Damm, Hansaplatz U-Bahn station and the adjoining Hansabücherei (part of the 1957 Interbau), the unique suspension-structure Kongresshalle (a collaboration with the American architect Hugh A. Stubbins), and finally, the striking central buildings of the Akademie der Künste in Hansaviertel.
The next decade saw further projects related to transit, infrastructure, and culture, including three more U-Bahn stations, the iconic St. Agnes Church in Kreuzberg, the TU canteen in Charlottenburg, and the Brücke-Museum in Dahlem. In the decades that followed, his projects increased in scope, including such large-scale planning endeavours as Ernst-Reuter-Platz, Mehringplatz, and the massive Märkisches Viertel housing estates.
Decades later, to mark the centennial of Düttmann’s birth, the Brücke-Museum itself is paying tribute to its own builder with an exhibition, Werner Düttmann: Berlin. Bau. Werk. The museum is both the venue for the exhibition and a…