Fritz Bornemann
Encyclopedia
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
.
Life and works
Bornemann studied architectureArchitecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
at the Technical University of Berlin
Technical University of Berlin
The Technische Universität Berlin is a research university located in Berlin, Germany. Translating the name into English is discouraged by the university, however paraphrasing as Berlin Institute of Technology is recommended by the university if necessary .The TU Berlin was founded...
. After graduating in 1936, he was Assistant Scenic Designer at the Berlin Municipal Opera and, starting in 1945, Construction Supervisor with the city of Berlin. Since 1950 he became an independent architect active in Berlin. The designs for the Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek
Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek
Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek is one of the largest public libraries in Berlin, Germany. It was a donation from the United States after the Berlin Blockade, which took place in 1948/49. The building was designed by American and German architects, including Fritz Bornemann and Willy Kreuer...
(America Commemoration Library) (1951–1955), the Deutsche Oper Berlin
Deutsche Oper Berlin
The Deutsche Oper Berlin is an opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin, Germany. The resident building is also home to the Berlin State Ballet.-History:...
(1956–1961), the Freie Volksbühne (1961–1963) and the Museumszentrum Berlin-Dahlem
Dahlem (Berlin)
Dahlem is a locality of the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough in southwestern Berlin. Until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a part of the former borough of Zehlendorf. Dahlem is one of the most affluent parts of the city and home to the main campus of the Free University of Berlin with the...
(1966–1970) were drawn up by him. He also designed the headquarters of the Commerzbank Berlin (1969–1974).
He designed the German Pavilion for the 1970 World’s Fair
Expo '70
was a World's Fair held in Suita, Osaka, Japan between March 15 and September 13, 1970. The theme of the Expo was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese Expo '70 is often referred to as Ōsaka Banpaku...
in Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
(Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
). With this building Bornemann decisively renounced the large architectonic gesture by burying the exhibition area below ground; a spherical auditorium served for multimedia presentations of current trends in electronic music.
Wedding (Berlin)
Wedding is a locality in the borough of Mitte, Berlin, Germany and was a separate borough in the north-western inner city until it was fused with Tiergarten and Mitte in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform...
and the University Library in Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
. He never built residential houses.
Less well-known is his work in multimedia. He designed some exhibitions, amongst them Atom (1953) and Farmer Smith (1957). The Osaka Pavilion was his crowning achievement in this field.
Bornemann’s architecture was and is a subject of violent controversial opinions over the modern trends of the 1950s and 1960s. The critics speak of "cold" or "austere" architecture and belittle his buildings with expressions like "elegance in exposed-aggregate concrete." His adherents see in his work a model for modern architecture, and especially for modern theatre architecture.
For more than 16 years Fritz Bornemann was Chairman of the Bund Deutscher Architekten (Association of German Architects).
Competitions
- Imperial Palace in Addis AbabaAddis AbabaAddis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...
, EthiopiaEthiopiaEthiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, 3rd Prize (1948) - Municipal Theater of GelsenkirchenGelsenkirchenGelsenkirchen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the Ruhr area. Its population in 2006 was c. 267,000....
, 2nd Prize (1953) - Municipal Theater of BonnBonnBonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
, 2nd Prize (1960) - HanoverHanoverHanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
Playhouse (1964)
Awards
- Honorary membership in the Association of German Architects
Sources
- Schindler, Susanne (ed.): Inszenierte Moderne. Zur Architektur von Fritz Bornemann. Berlin: Jovis Verlag. ISBN 3-936314-03-9
- Sigel, Paul. 2000. "Der deutsche Beitrag auf der Expo70 in Osaka." Arch plus no. 149–150 (April): 116–33. Reprinted online Thema 5, no. 1 (July 2000)
External links
- http://www.tu-berlin.de/presse/pi/2003/pi98.htm
- http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/gesellschaft/0,1518,485512,00.html
- http://web.archive.org/web/20070927041247/http://www.reffert.de/architekten/bornemann.html