Erich Mendelsohn Jewish German Architect in the Great Britain in 1930-1937 - Essay Example

Erich Mendelsohn Jewish German Architect in the Great Britain in 1930-1937 Introduction Erich Mendelsohn was a Jewish architect born on March 1887. He was born to David Mendelsohn and Emma Ester in a town called East Prussia. He went to school in Berlin and his hometown. He went to different universities and got his degree in architecture in 1912 from the University of Munich. He is one of the prominent architect known for working in the inter- war period. He was the best-known representative of the architect profession from 1919-1933. His office that was in Berlin was one of the busiest architectural offices that had more than forty employees. Eric’s first main building is the most well known tower that is designed in an extravagant style. The building was intended to host laboratories for research in relation to Einstein’s theory. Today, the building is a museum in addition to being a solar observatory. He married in 1915 and built his wife Loise Maes a dream house outside of Berlin to win her affection. In 1925, he got an intuition that he was not going to end his days there. Erich made the most graceful modernist masterpieces of the 20th century. Erich was famous since his architecture was seen as expressionist and his projects were considered to be of dynamic style mostly composed of department stores and cinemas. He was a pioneer in Art Deco architecture and the streamline modern. In 1924, Eric and Miles Van Der Rohe founded the progressive architectural collective Der ring. He designed Emporiums in Germany for department store chain. ERIC Mendelssohn’s work is not only found in Germany but also in Israel, Britain, and the United States. His name was struck from the architect’s union of German and he was exiled. The exile was with the rise of Hitler, he left his flourishing practice as well as his dream house that was recently finished. He departed from Germany and he was not going back (Bruno 1985). In Britain after being active for two years, he teamed up with Serge Chermayeff and designed a stunning Modernist De la war Pavilion that is a cultural centre in Bexhill. He then moved to Pre-state Palestine where he designed several buildings between 1935 and 1941 at Wezmann Institute inclusive of Chaim Weizmann, Hospitals in Haifa and Jerusalem such as Jerusalem’s schocken library. Eric’s most notable buildings in England included the De la Warr Pavillion in Bexhill, Nimmo house in Buckinghamshire, Cohen House in Chelsea, and White city in wood lane. The de la war Pavilion in Bexhill acts as a cultural hub for the community and is located at the sea front in Bexhill. It is known to be the first building that was constructed under the Britain modernist style. Ninth Earl DE la Warr commissioned it. The building is multipurpose and it provides entertainment especially for the local community. The building has a roof top sun terrace, a café, and a reading roof that provides leisure and exposes the people of Bexhill to their culture. The building generates economy within the area. This building has cantilevered balconies, large glass windows, and terrazzo floors. The Pavillion dilapidated after the second world war with acceleration of salty seawater destroying the metals (Erich 2013). Nimmo house in Buckinghamshire is a home that was built in the Buckingham countryside on a spot that is isolated. The building maximizes the view over the countryside since it is situated on the highest point of an old orchard. The building utilizes the fall on the ground through a garage space. The ground floor has a cloakroom, kitchen, hall, and a study. An internal staircase leads to the ground floor. On the eastern and southern ends, there is an extensive terrace area. The design of the house is just peculiar. The construction of the house started in 1934 and ended in 1935. The architects were Eric Mendelssohn and Serge Chermayeff. Cohen house located in Chelsea is private and was built for the Cohen family. The house adjoins the church street and it is still well preserved despite having been built a century ago. The Cohen house was less popular compared to the other works of Eric Mendelssohn but it is still a modern architect symbol. The house has an appearance that is uniform on the side that faces the street. White city’s first sketch did not conceptualize because of the tough economic times at the time it was developed. The structures that Eric made were all accurate from the furnishings to the entire contents. Erich Mendelssohn died in 1953 in San Francisco (Mattens 2011). Erich Mendelson did not use any historical precedents when formulating the designs that he used for his buildings. For this reason, the early buildings that he made did not have eclectic borrowing that act as a mark to his contemporaries. Most of his architectural ideas were from some expressionistic sketches and romantic symbolism that had the recognition of modern building materials dictating a new architecture. Later Erich stopped using expressionist architecture and started building in a linear fashion. Synopsis In history, Erich Mendelssohn’s heritage went through a convoluted process that is very interesting. The glory he achieved in the 1930s and later repulsion after leaving for USA is exciting. In 1933 when it was spring time there was anti-Semitism that was growing and there was the rise of Nazis in Germany. Due to this reason, Erich Mendelsohn fled to England and the Nazis took his fortune. His name was removed from the German architects union and in addition, he was excluded from Prussian academy of arts. He was seen as a traitor to the Zionist. However, the architectural historians have all published some aspects of his work. Erich’s creativity was highly connected with the cultural atmosphere of Britain and thus it highly blossomed and thrived quickly. He brought a lot of change to Britain and his star shone brightest while there. The period he was architecture in Britain is the period that Britain experienced the most innovative period. The exile from Germany therefore, came to him as an advantage. The rich cultural context was not easily replaceable and his good intentions made his work a success the entire time. The condition of exile/ arrival in Great Britain/ his friends and colleagues When Erich left Germany, he went to Great Britain where he also built during the British mandate. He first opened a new office in London where he established partnership with serge Chermayeff. While in Britain Erich was able to re-encounter his patron Salman who helped him in renewing the contacts he had while in Palestine. The outcome of the renewal of the contacts was several commissions that yielded very brilliant projects and masterpieces. This was a time that Erich faced a significant change in his life. He was able to have two office and travel while learning from the ancient world. Birkin Haward was a young architect in Erich Mendelson’s office that was located in London. He recognized that Erich was dividing his time well between England and Palestine. When Erich visited Palestine ten years earlier, he said that the experience was great. He settled in Palestine for four years and he showed a lot of interest in Palestine, its land and the architecture as well as the Jewish people (Quantrill 2008). Between 1923 and 1933, Erich’s work had the most considerable distinction since he built the best modern projects of that time. In 1925, Erich got an invitation at the Berlin seat of the youth movement Blau-Weiss. This was the first Zionist movement that was established in 1912 in Germany through the inspiration of the German Youth movement. In the meeting, there was a proposal for the founding of a large building society that would start from purchase of land to building dwelling houses in Palestine. In the 1930s Erich was already a different individual from the person who had come to Britain eleven years earlier, he was already at the pinnacle of his career. The first large new building in Berlin was Reichsbank, which is now Germany’s foreign office. Erich Mendelssohn’s life had good relationships with his wife and his close Jewish friends. His correspondence to them shows his extraordinary testimony of his feelings on cultural relations with himself, Germany and the Jewish identity. He wrote letters to his wife and friends that were later edited by Oskar Beyer who had been his architect friend for a very long time. Oskar Beyer edited the letters and made them a book that was then translated into English and published in 1967. In the book, it is evident that there are several instances of direct reference to zeitgeist, Zionism, and his Eretz-israel work. Three themes were evident in the book including Erich’s identification with cause of Zionism, the homeland of the Jewish people, and the artistic Zionism. Erich played a major role of restoring the visual awareness amongst the Jewish people. He was keen on creating nature within architecture. When Erich Mendelson arrived in Britain in 1933, it was one year after Adolf Hitler had become the chancellor and Wells Coates had founded MARS which was a British wing of CIAM. After three months, Erich had already won the first construction competition that was explicitly modernist. Earl De la Warr who was a mayor at the small south coast resort in Bexhill had organized it. Among the two hundred and thirty entrants were Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer who were émigrés like Mendelson. This indicated how much the British movement was benefiting from the events that were taking place in Germany. This where Mendelson made partnership with the Russian architect who was also an interior designer called Serge Chermayeff. Among the buildings and projects of Erich Mendelsohn were the Chiswick apartments in London that were built in 1935. The apartments were of very high standards and the residents could not help but want to live in the apartments. Research shows that they are among the best apartments that have been in existence for a long time and their location is just good since they are on a quiet street with transport links and near local amenities. In addition, the south sea hotel, isle of white that was built between 1935 and 1936 was seen as one of the best buildings in Great Britain. Other buildings by Erich Mendelsohn include the Hotel and Multistory garage in Blackpool and Gilbey offices on oval road in London both built in 1937. Erich Mendelson and Serge Chermayeff had a bigger plan than what they built eventually. In the plan, they wanted to include a cinema and a hotel on the wings of the pavilion building and a circular swimming pool at the front. However, what they ended up bringing up was a pleasure palace that was fulfilling to Earl De La Warr’s intentions to bring a state of art benefits of modern architecture to the entire community. The pavilion was opened in 1935 and the bars, restaurants, terraces, and rooftop areas got popular with the residents in Bexhill. However, some individuals kept their focus on the backgrounds of Erich Mendelson and Chermayeff. The Architect’s journal complained that Aliens had been employed in the Great Britain and that they were taking over opportunities that would have been given to the residents. The partnership that Erich mendelson and Serge Chermayeff ended in the year 1936 and Mendelson began working in Palestine. To preserve the buildings a lot of effort is put every century that passes. The buildings are maintained to fit their purpose and continue serving people without any problems. Most of these buildings have changes in their interior décor, and the programs have been changed regularly to be in terms with the cultural demands and audience expectations. Initially the buildings used to be in states of neglect and disrepair but with time, the states developed strategic plans for maintenance of the buildings and how they would be funded. For example, in 1985, the English Heritage was formed and with the enthusiasm to maintain the 1930’s architecture there were moves made and the Pavilion were repaired and upgraded. Other local architects have come together to ensure conservation of buildings that were built in the 1930’s and this is how Erich Mendelson’s buildings get preserved up to date. New directors are put in place to take care of the buildings often (Kargon 2013). Bibliography Bruno, Z, 1985, 1918-2000. Erich Mendelsohn / Bruno Zevi, London: Architectural Press. Erich Mendelsohn 2013. Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition, p. 1 Kargon, J, 2013. Critique of an ‘Artefactual’ landscape: Erich Mendelsohns engagement with The built and natural environment, 1919–1931, Journal of Architecture, 18, 1, pp. 1-24 Mattens, F, 2011. The Aesthetics of Space: Modern Architecture and Photography, Journal Of Aesthetics & Art Criticism, 69, 1, pp. 105-114 Quantrill, M, 2008. The Revenge of the Archives: Erich Mendelsohn: Dynamics and Function, Journal of Architectural Education, vol. 61, no. 4, pp. 143-144. Read More