Individualism Exemplified

Evening Star, Issue 21218, 27 September 1932, Page 2

Individualism Exemplified

German Architect’s Own Home

All the Resources of Modern Technique Utilised

“ Erich Mendelsohn, Otto Bar tiling, and tho other expressionists, whoso extravagant fantasies dominated tho scene just after the war, are restraining their work in conformity with tbo now way of building.”

Thus writes Philip Johnson and Honry-llussell Hitchcock, jun., in tho catalogue of the Architecture Section in tho New York Exhibition of Modern Art. And it is curious to note that no work of Mendelsohn's was there exhibited. Perhaps tho reason is that Mendelsohn’s work defies attempts to label it. It does not belong to the “ Internationalist ” school. It is very personal and individual, even when it is seen in process of development along lines which others are following. And individualism is not a favourite with the Internationalists. Mendelsohn’s own house in th o Eupenhorn, near Berlin, has been described as one of the most agreeably designed, soundlyconstructed, and beautifully finished of any place or period. And that is high praise.

It is entirely free from triviality or those touches of whimsicality or amusement which are often dear to an owner, but cannot receive anything of a universal approbation. And yet the house has great character and charm, and is in no sense impersonal. It is beautifully equipped with everything that we call “ labour-saving,” yet nothing of

its luxurious mechanics appears on tho .surface. There is no stressing of apparatus for the sake of piquant or .strange effect. Yet, where for reasons of practical design or economy, tho organs are exposed,, they are accepted frankly. The result is that the architect and tho owner are people of taste and common sense.

Tho house is magnificently situated. From the roadside the site would appear as almost level. And thou comes, as one steps out from the living rooms on to the garden terrace, the surprise of an almost sheer drop of over one hundred feet to a great sheet of water, the .Havel and Stosscnsoo, with a lovely tree-softened prospect beyond. The view is dramatic, yet tho landscape is lender. -\o architect could wish for a finer site. And the Mendelsohns wore indeed both wise and courageous when

mounts stops just inside the gates, and then comes a straight path of travertine flanked on one sido by lamp standards. At tho end is the horizontal mass of the house, with its ground floor almost windowless • and a continuous band of windows above. There is a most satisfactory atmosphere of repose to this entirely simple mass, devoid ot ornament, but with windows of bronze. One realises more and more that lor windows; fine materials such as bronze, or at least sections of a certain weight, arc necessary to obtain effects of qualify in contrast to unrelieved unity of wall and in the absence of a roof with its relief of colour and texture. '1 ho ground door plan is very simple. Its charm lies in the sense of open space, enhanced by the great plate-glass windows which wind down into the

they early aimed to acquire such a sotting. The levels have provided opportunities which are well realised in the lay-out. One enters,from the road by car or on foot. If by tho former there is a straight run to the garage court, with stops up from the drive to tho front door. But to walk to the house one

basement by small independent electric motors. The floor is in travertine; there are no cornices or mouldings, and the colouring is something between white and beige, warm, but definitely a background colour.

Upstairs are bedrooms for the family and guests and Mendelsohn’s own workroom, all lit by big windows, most of them sliding, though in Mendelsohn’s own room is a casement. The bedrooms and bathrooms are very simple, though their planning and the contriving of their equipment is very thoughtful. The guest room has twin folding beds, which fact enables it to be enjoyed, as a sitting room by day, and gives added space for a single visitor. Mrs Mendelsohn’s bathroom has a glass floor, perhaps the only feature which has proved a little awkward in practical use. In the basement is a gymnasium, self-contained servants’ and chauffeur’s suites, laundry, plant room, etc. Here is visible the electrical equipment, which is of the very latest type and of a mechanical ingenuity and completeness designed to satisfy an architect of Mendelsohn’s ideals.

The artificial lighting in the living rooms is indirect, unobtrusive, efficient” and most attractive. But tho house is in reality better than even the published pictures suggest. Tho truth is that it is so simple and satisfactory as to offer a minimum of sensational details. It is meant to live in; and in its solid discreet comfort it wears an air of quiet culture which is pervading but unobtrusive.

English architects who are familiar with the Continent will recognise in looking at tho plans and photographs certain peculiarities of tho arrangement of space and furniture which are certainly not typical of our own practice. In this fact alone lies an educative value in the publication of Mendelsohn’s house. But its principal importance lies in the fact that here is a work of scholarly restraint which belongs to our own times, which utilises nil the resources of modern technique. It contributes a further proof that there arc architects of to-day who are adding to tradition in tho same fundamental way as did great masters of the past.