Un interesant interviu privind necesitatea cunoasterii istoriei in
gandirea oraselor viitorului...
De mentionat ca arh.Albert Speer este la a 4-a generatie de arhitecti in
familie !
Se intareste atentionarea din legea Corpului Arhitectilor (romani) din
1940 asupra operei lor, care va caracteriza epoca in viitor...
La noi exista doar speranta prezentului in cosmetizarea viitoare a
fatadelor...
DG
Der Spiegel:
Interview with Architect Albert Speer
'Calamity of Postwar Construction Came from Rejecting History'
*City planner Albert Speer, son of the notorious Third Reich architect
of the same name, says that reconstruction in Germany has been
problematic because of the complete rejection of history after World War
II. He spoke with SPIEGEL ONLINE about why even new buildings must be
rooted in the past.*
*--- "SPIEGEL ONLINE:* Why is an awareness of history so important for
city planning?
*Speer:* Only the interplay between old and new creates diversity. Part
of the beauty of a city is that its buildings reflect various epochs.
These buildings don't always need to be especially beautiful, but they
need to stand for something. A city's character is not only formed by
its current function but is also deeply rooted in its history. An
architect wanting to respond to this must have a deep knowledge of
history. The architectural diversity of Germany's regions, which has
grown over the course of centuries, must be preserved and considered
during new construction. This is vital if we want to retain the nation's
architectural identity. Globalization, after all, has also been
standardizing global building styles for some time."
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,702213,00.html
Full text below.
Audun Engh
---------------
*Photo Gallery:* 9 Photos
<http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-56244.html>
DPA
*City planner Albert Speer, son of the notorious Third Reich architect
of the same name, says that reconstruction in Germany has been
problematic because of the complete rejection of history after World War
II. He spoke with SPIEGEL ONLINE about why even new buildings must be
rooted in the past.*
*SPIEGEL ONLINE:* Professor Speer, in the 1940s a working group under
the supervision of your father, also named Albert Speer, recommended
rebuilding German cities destroyed by war more spaciously, with
buildings widely dispersed. The idea was to make them more difficult to
bomb in the event of another war. After World War II, many German cities
adopted this spacious design concept. Did those designs actually have
Nazi roots?
*Albert Speer:* No, the idea of aerial defense did not play the role in
reconstruction that many say it did. Many of the planners involved in
reconstruction had also worked prior to the Third Reich. They wanted to
go back to that unsullied period -- to the 1920s modernist utopia.
Modernism promised two things. It offered the opportunity to break free
from Nazi marble, from the so-called "heroic style" of construction.
And, depending on how much industry a city had, it finally provided an
opportunity to design cities that were practical, car-friendly, light
and spacious -- using new materials, including more room between
neighbors and installing expansive green spaces.
*SPIEGEL ONLINE:* Most, however, didn't find the spacious, concrete
modernist design terribly liberating. Indeed, after 30 years of
modernist construction, people rediscovered the charms of cramped
historic city centers, to the extent they still existed. Was
reconstruction an architectural failure?
*Speer:* From today's perspective, of course it is easy to say that not
everything succeeded. In part, such criticism is certainly accurate. But
I also have to defend the architects. Consider the situation after 1945.
Frankfurt Mayor Walter Kolb said in 1952 that although we look with
reverence to the "mighty past," we must "create the new in the spirit of
our times." Innovation meant getting away from the maze-like streets of
the old town centers, constructing wide boulevards and building lines of
low-cost housing blocks around the cathedral. People like Kolb were the
clients. The architects wanted those contracts.
*SPIEGEL ONLINE:* Still, why didn't architects put up a little more
resistance to the ideas espoused by those clients?
*Speer:* Because they themselves were fascinated by the idea of a
completely fresh start. And that's entirely understandable after the
Nazi debacle.
*SPIEGEL ONLINE:* No professional self-criticism whatsoever?
*Speer:* There was. Modern architecture was connected to the idea of
creating better human beings through better building -- enlightened,
responsible citizens with a social conscience and a new self-awareness.
But we've since learned that architects are not social engineers. This
entire pretense -- what we think today is the only correct way and what
those who came before us thought is meaningless -- is presumptuous. This
new consciousness they were trying to create was utterly devoid of
history. People truly detested their history. The real cause of the
calamity of postwar construction is this complete rejection of history.
But no single architect was to blame for that.
*SPIEGEL ONLINE:* Why is an awareness of history so important for city
planning?
*Speer:* Only the interplay between old and new creates diversity. Part
of the beauty of a city is that its buildings reflect various epochs.
These buildings don't always need to be especially beautiful, but they
need to stand for something. A city's character is not only formed by
its current function but is also deeply rooted in its history. An
architect wanting to respond to this must have a deep knowledge of
history. The architectural diversity of Germany's regions, which has
grown over the course of centuries, must be preserved and considered
during new construction. This is vital if we want to retain the nation's
architectural identity. Globalization, after all, has also been
standardizing global building styles for some time.
*SPIEGEL ONLINE:* In the 1980s, your firm recommended that the city of
Frankfurt build a "boulevard" of skyscrapers between two historical
buildings. Wasn't that also presumptuous and neglectful of historical
considerations?
*Speer:* At the same time, we also recommended that the city not allow
any more skyscrapers apart from that axis. That saved many lovely old
villas in the Westend area from being demolished, which was also a goal
of citizens' initiatives that started in the early 1970s. And
skyscrapers are beautiful constructions, like church steeples. I'm
absolutely in favor of skyscrapers when they're located in the right
place and when the concentration of offices in them prevents residential
buildings in the city from being converted into offices.
*SPIEGEL ONLINE:* You're in favor of office towers but not residential
towers?
*Speer:* High-rise residential buildings are best suited for single
people and childless couples. They work only in special cases and when
they are of the highest standard. An office high-rise in the Niederrad
district of Frankfurt is currently being converted into a residential
building for managers who only plan to spend a short time in the city.
It's going to be very elegant. But when you plan high-rise apartment
buildings for everyone, you risk those buildings quickly falling into
disrepair.
*SPIEGEL ONLINE:* The city center of Cologne is soon to be re-worked
according to a master plan that your firm came up with. What is the core
concept?
*Speer:* The wide, north-south road that brutally divides the city
center for three kilometers (1.9 miles) will be considerably narrower,
greener and more urbane, with more pedestrian crossings. We want the
large ring road around the city center, constructed in the 19th century,
to be recognizable as a connector of the metropolitan spaces, but with
the character of a boulevard. And the mixture of different, vital
activities occurring within a small area in Cologne should be better
protected.
*SPIEGEL ONLINE:* In China, you have designed two "automobile cities."
But do cars actually have a future in cities? You said 20 years ago that
in two decades, city centers would no longer be usable for cars. That
prophecy seems to have been mistaken.
*Speer:* Not entirely. If all the cars registered in a city drove at the
same time, they would all be stuck in traffic jams. Cars only function
in cities today because working hours are more flexible than they once
were and because -- as in Frankfurt, for example -- around 80 percent of
office employees use public transportation. Of course cars belong in
cities too. A purely pedestrian city would be sterile and impractical.
But the number of cars needs to be reduced. I was right about the trend.
*SPIEGEL ONLINE:* What are you working on at the moment?
*Speer:* We're analyzing the capability of Cairo to host the Olympic
Games. Egypt may have a chance in 2020.
/Interview conducted by Mathias Schreiber/
