Peter Behrens Architect: Modern Buildings

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Peter Behrens Architect

20th Century German Architect Practice: Modern Buildings, International Style

post updated 13 May 2021

Peter Behrens – Key Projects

AEG Turbine Factory, Huttenstraße 12-16, Moabit, Berlin, Germany
Date built: 1908-09
AEG Building Berlin by Peter Behrens Architect
photo © Isabelle Lomholt
Berlin Turbine building – AEG Turbine Factory
The AEG turbine factory is the best known work of this Modern German architect. It is an influential and well-known example of industrial architecture. Its revolutionary design features 100m long and 15m tall glass and steel walls on either side. It was a bold move and world first that would have a durable impact on architecture as a whole.

House, Darmstadt, Germany
Date built: 1901

More information on Modern architecture projects by this German Modernist architect online soon

Location: Hamburg, Germany

Peter Behrens Architect Practice Information

Peter Behrens – world famous Modern architect, helping to start the move away from decoration to the ‘form follows function’ mantra of Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius and of course Le Corbusier.

In 1903 he was named director of the Kunstgewerbeschule in Düsseldorf, north west Germany.

In 1907 alongside ten others (Hermann Muthesius, Theodor Fischer, Josef Hoffmann, Joseph Maria Olbrich, Bruno Paul, Richard Riemerschmid, Fritz Schumacher, among others), plus twelve companies, he helped form the German Werkbund, an updated Teutonic version of the Arts and Crafts movement.

The Berlin Turbine building is the most famous work by this architect and features in most histories of 20th century buildings.

Peter was lead architect working with engineer Karl Bernhard. The steel and glass building is influenced by Greek and Egyptian temples. The neo-classical style for this industrial building evoked the Parthenon yet its simplicity presaged the Modern Movement.

Since 1956 the building has been classified as a protected historical monument, and it underwent a restoration in 1978. On the south side there is a plaque with information about the construction, architects, and heritage status.

Modern Architects

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Berlin Building
Neue National Galerie
photo © Adrian Welch

German Architects

German Architecture

Berlin Archive Museum of Design, Berlin, Germany
Designed 1964 ; built 1976-79
Bauhaus Archiv Germany
photo © Adrian Welch
Bauhaus-Archiv Building

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