‘[…] We should help the artists to overcome the bad luck that has overcome them’
A thesis on the relationship between politics, power and practice of Hermann Henselmann.
H.A. van Rossum (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
Ivan Nevzgodin – Mentor (TU Delft - Heritage & Architecture)
More Info
expand_more
Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.
Abstract
This thesis researches the effects that politics can have on architecture. As a field of research, former East Germany is chosen. Here, political powers influenced heavily what was being built. This relationship is researched through the life of East Germany's most prominent architect: Hermann Henselmann. He changed his architectural course quite drastically in the early 50s, going from modernism, to socialist realism and back to modernism. By looking at his publications and the historic developments that lead to two prominent buildings designed by him, it is researched what effect the politics of the central socialist government had on his designs. It turns out that the influence and power of the state was enormous, and that Henselmann could only build so much because of his talent of finding his way around these political constraints and still applying his design talent within these boundaries.