Are the buildings that were built after WWII to replace those destroyed by bombs anything but ugly and deserving of the wrecking ball? German Phd graduate Bettina Heine-Hippler believes that post-World War II architecture is aesthetically valuable and needs to be conserved.
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Bettina Heine-Hippler’s PhD thesis examined the life and work of the famous artist, architect and urban planner, Will Schwarz, who was one of the most important figures in post-World War II Dortmund (Germany), as the city and country began the painstaking process of rebuilding the damage done by Allied bombs.
During the 1950s, Schwarz served as Chairman of the Bund Deutscher Architekten (German Architects Union) or BDA. Although Schwarz hadn’t studied architecture at university, he was a hugely influential figure within the BDA. His influence, bolstered by his dynamic personality, made Dortmund the meeting place for international discussions about town planning between 1953 and 1962.
“A lot of famous international architects attended these ‘Dortmund discussions’, including the Swiss writer and architect Max Frisch, and Dutch architects like J.B. Bakema and J.H. van de Broek. They discussed how Dortmund and the Ruhr area should be rebuilt,” Heine-Hippler says.
The interdisciplinary character of these discussions was important and ground-breaking, with sociologists, architects and town planners coming together to devise ways of getting the general public involved in the planning process. “Previously, planners and designers had no contact with the people they built for,” Heine-Hippler says. “But since discussions about urban planning concern everyone, in 1976 a law was passed that said all citizens must be allowed to participate in town planning meetings. This was an important development, but few people realize that it all started in Dortmund.”
Bombs
After World War II ended, Germany was rebuilt remarkably quickly. But the buildings built in the 1950s are generally unpopular today and many are now either being demolished or seriously renovated. Modern Germany must decide what to do with these old buildings: Are they ugly relics deserving of destruction, or are they important historical artifacts worth conserving?
The demolition of the German Parliament (Plenary Hall in Bonn, designed by Hans Schwippert) in 1987 caused much debate within Germany. “A lot of buildings in Munich and Dortmund are being demolished because of a lack of consciousness regarding the ideas and aesthetics of post-war architecture,” Heine-Hippler argues in her thesis. “Nobody recognizes the overall artistic design and, consequently, it is therefore lost.”
This was the starting point of Heine-Hippler’s Phd research: she wanted more attention to be given to the architectural period immediately following WW II.
“It’s important to recognize the architectural quality and worth of that period,” she says. “And to do so it is necessary to study Schwarz’s life and work, because he%s representative of that period.” Schwarz’s most important works are the Health Department building and Florian television tower in Dortmund. He also designed furniture, schools, administrative and industrial buildings and single-family homes.
Logic
With Heine-Hippler’s subject being a German architect who worked exclusively in Germany (and incidentally, her thesis is written in German) the obvious question is why Delft? Wouldn’t it have made more sense for Heine-Hippler to have done her research in Germany?
According to TU Professor Franziska Bollerey, Delft is as good a place as any for Heine-Hippler’s work: “Heine-Hippler was looking for someone that had knowledge about architecture in the Ruhr area, and my specialization is post-war architecture. We receive many applications from foreign PhDs in this area and we enjoy an international reputation in Germany, Spain, Switzerland and the United States. As long as the thesis is written in English or German, it’s allowed at TUD,” Bollerey says.
Colors
It was ten years ago that Heine-Hippler first wanted to write an article about Schwarz’s influence on Dortmund, and she was fortunate enough to meet Schwarz a year before his death in 1992. “I kept in contact with his wife, and she found a lot of his work in cellar of their home, including plans for building houses. With these findings, I decided to extend my paper to a thesis. Fortunately for me, I contacted Schwarz’s widow at the right time, because she was planning to throw his work away.”
Coincidently, Heine-Hippler and her family now live in Schwarz’s former home and atelier, which, according to Heine-Hippler, is a very colorful but otherwise unexceptional house.
Today, Heine-Hippler works at a monument conservation office in Münster, where she%s involved in heritage education. “I try to find an active and interdisciplinary form of education based on cultural heritage. In this project I worked out several monuments for children aged between 8-12 years old.”
In future, Heine-Hippler hopes to publish her thesis, rewriting it to reach a wider audience. “It’s important to recognize how important the buildings are. The buildings that were built during the 1950s must be conserved. But if nobody pays attention to them, they will indeed be destroyed. It’s amazing, the destructive effect that insufficient knowledge can have.”
Are the buildings that were built after WWII to replace those destroyed by bombs anything but ugly and deserving of the wrecking ball? German Phd graduate Bettina Heine-Hippler believes that post-World War II architecture is aesthetically valuable and needs to be conserved.
Bettina Heine-Hippler’s PhD thesis examined the life and work of the famous artist, architect and urban planner, Will Schwarz, who was one of the most important figures in post-World War II Dortmund (Germany), as the city and country began the painstaking process of rebuilding the damage done by Allied bombs.
During the 1950s, Schwarz served as Chairman of the Bund Deutscher Architekten (German Architects Union) or BDA. Although Schwarz hadn’t studied architecture at university, he was a hugely influential figure within the BDA. His influence, bolstered by his dynamic personality, made Dortmund the meeting place for international discussions about town planning between 1953 and 1962.
“A lot of famous international architects attended these ‘Dortmund discussions’, including the Swiss writer and architect Max Frisch, and Dutch architects like J.B. Bakema and J.H. van de Broek. They discussed how Dortmund and the Ruhr area should be rebuilt,” Heine-Hippler says.
The interdisciplinary character of these discussions was important and ground-breaking, with sociologists, architects and town planners coming together to devise ways of getting the general public involved in the planning process. “Previously, planners and designers had no contact with the people they built for,” Heine-Hippler says. “But since discussions about urban planning concern everyone, in 1976 a law was passed that said all citizens must be allowed to participate in town planning meetings. This was an important development, but few people realize that it all started in Dortmund.”
Bombs
After World War II ended, Germany was rebuilt remarkably quickly. But the buildings built in the 1950s are generally unpopular today and many are now either being demolished or seriously renovated. Modern Germany must decide what to do with these old buildings: Are they ugly relics deserving of destruction, or are they important historical artifacts worth conserving?
The demolition of the German Parliament (Plenary Hall in Bonn, designed by Hans Schwippert) in 1987 caused much debate within Germany. “A lot of buildings in Munich and Dortmund are being demolished because of a lack of consciousness regarding the ideas and aesthetics of post-war architecture,” Heine-Hippler argues in her thesis. “Nobody recognizes the overall artistic design and, consequently, it is therefore lost.”
This was the starting point of Heine-Hippler’s Phd research: she wanted more attention to be given to the architectural period immediately following WW II.
“It’s important to recognize the architectural quality and worth of that period,” she says. “And to do so it is necessary to study Schwarz’s life and work, because he%s representative of that period.” Schwarz’s most important works are the Health Department building and Florian television tower in Dortmund. He also designed furniture, schools, administrative and industrial buildings and single-family homes.
Logic
With Heine-Hippler’s subject being a German architect who worked exclusively in Germany (and incidentally, her thesis is written in German) the obvious question is why Delft? Wouldn’t it have made more sense for Heine-Hippler to have done her research in Germany?
According to TU Professor Franziska Bollerey, Delft is as good a place as any for Heine-Hippler’s work: “Heine-Hippler was looking for someone that had knowledge about architecture in the Ruhr area, and my specialization is post-war architecture. We receive many applications from foreign PhDs in this area and we enjoy an international reputation in Germany, Spain, Switzerland and the United States. As long as the thesis is written in English or German, it’s allowed at TUD,” Bollerey says.
Colors
It was ten years ago that Heine-Hippler first wanted to write an article about Schwarz’s influence on Dortmund, and she was fortunate enough to meet Schwarz a year before his death in 1992. “I kept in contact with his wife, and she found a lot of his work in cellar of their home, including plans for building houses. With these findings, I decided to extend my paper to a thesis. Fortunately for me, I contacted Schwarz’s widow at the right time, because she was planning to throw his work away.”
Coincidently, Heine-Hippler and her family now live in Schwarz’s former home and atelier, which, according to Heine-Hippler, is a very colorful but otherwise unexceptional house.
Today, Heine-Hippler works at a monument conservation office in Münster, where she%s involved in heritage education. “I try to find an active and interdisciplinary form of education based on cultural heritage. In this project I worked out several monuments for children aged between 8-12 years old.”
In future, Heine-Hippler hopes to publish her thesis, rewriting it to reach a wider audience. “It’s important to recognize how important the buildings are. The buildings that were built during the 1950s must be conserved. But if nobody pays attention to them, they will indeed be destroyed. It’s amazing, the destructive effect that insufficient knowledge can have.”
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