The Glass Pavilion constructed for the 1914 Werkbund Exhibition in Cologne challenged conventional masonry by utilising a prismatic dome to transform glass into a structural rather than purely decorative element. Bruno Taut, an architect, teacher, and urban planner, shaped early twentieth-century German housing through a focus on light, colour, and social reform.
Early Training and Influences
Born in 1880 in Königsberg, Taut attended the Kneiphof Gymnasium and the Baugewerkschule. His professional foundation involved working in architecture offices in Hamburg and Wiesbaden. By 1903, he joined Bruno Möhring in Berlin, where he explored Jugendstil and steel-masonry integration. Between 1904 and 1908, he worked under Theodor Fischer in Stuttgart, focusing on urban planning. He returned to Berlin in 1908 to study at the Königlich Technische Hochschule, eventually establishing the firm Taut & Hoffmann.
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Taut advocated for the Garden City movement, visible in his 1912 design for the Falkenberg Estate in Berlin. His commitment to utopian architecture grew during World War I, where he produced sketches for Alpine Architecture and his City Crown, an immense circular housing concept. As a member of the Arbeitsrat für Kunst, he engaged in revolutionary artistic discourse, maintaining socialist sympathies that defined his approach to communal living.
Urban Planning and Colour Theory
Serving as city architect in Magdeburg between 1921 and 1923, Taut oversaw the construction of the Hermann Beims estate and the City and Countryside exhibition hall. He gained recognition for integrating colour as a primary design principle, a trait that persisted in his later work with GEHAG in Berlin. During his tenure as chief architect for the housing cooperative, he developed the 1925 Hufeisensiedlung and the 1926 Onkel-Toms-Hütte, focusing on residential developments providing sunlight, air, and modern amenities.
Exile and Final Years
The rise of the Nazi regime forced Taut to leave Germany. Despite an offer to work in the USSR in 1932, he returned to a hostile environment briefly in 1933 before fleeing to Switzerland. Following an invitation from Japanese architect Isaburo Ueno, he travelled across France, Greece, Turkey, and Vladivostok to reach Japan. He eventually relocated to Turkey, where he died in 1938 and was buried at the Edirnekapı Martyr's Cemetery in Istanbul.
Fast facts
- Born: 1880, Königsberg
- Died: 1938, Istanbul
- Movement: New Objectivity, Neues Bauen
- Notable Works: Glass Pavilion, Hufeisensiedlung
- Citizenship: German Reich
- Languages: German, English
- Buried: Edirnekapı Martyr's Cemetery
Questions readers ask
What was Taut's contribution to the Werkbund Exhibition?
He designed the Glass Pavilion, an experimental structure featuring a prismatic dome and coloured mosaic glass.
Why was Taut known for his use of colour?
He pioneered the use of primary and clashing colours in architecture, distinguishing his designs from the white-walled aesthetic favored by contemporaries like Mies van der Rohe.
Achievements
- Notable work: Glass Pavilion
- Notable work: Glashaus: Werkbund-Ausstellung Cöln 1914
- Affiliated with Technische Universität Berlin
- Educated at Kneiphof Gymnasium and Baugewerkschule, Königsberg
- Worked as architect, urban planner and teacher
