MArch Year 5 Thesis
This thesis questions the accepted view, posed by architectural historian Peter Blundell-Jones, that Hans Scharoun was an ‘Organic’ Architect. The term ‘Organic’ was first used by Frank Lloyd Wright to describe site-specific architecture that had spatial fluidity from the outside to the inside. From the analysis of Scharoun’s original written and drawn material, housed in the AdK Archives in Berlin, a second impression of the architect is revealed. Scharoun often referred to the theory of ‘Cosmic’ architecture in his work, a vision that was developed during his involvement with the expressionists in the early 1920s. The term ‘Cosmic’ was used in Germany during the interwar years to describe the ideal society and it was believed that Cosmic Architecture, as the highest form of art, would act as the main agent to aid in the development of a utopian society. After the Second World War in 1951, Scharoun won a competition to build a school in the heavily bombed city of Darmstadt. Within this campus design, one can find a room that he named ‘The Cosmic Room’. Scharoun’s unrealised design for The Cosmic Room exposes many facets of his belief in the theory of Cosmic architecture. Contrary to the site-specific characteristics of Organic architecture, Cosmic architecture
used natural symbolism to translate intellectual thought through physical form. Scharoun projected the natural seasonal sunlight changes within the space of the Cosmic Room to symbolise the passing of time and the cycle of life. It was believed that the use of natural symbolism in The Cosmic Room would allow the students of the school to gain a higher level of consciousness. Scharoun’s interest in human consciousness and the development of society can be traced back to his interest in the work of philosophers such as Kant or Heidegger, whom he frequently quoted in his speeches. It is mainly within Scharoun’s drawings that one can find evidence of his Cosmic interests, yet subtle references of his constant preoccupation with Cosmic architecture is noticeable in his built work. Unlike Bundell-Jones’ argument that Scharoun’s early involvement with the German Expressionists was merely a stepping stone to what we now perceive as his ‘Organic’ style, this thesis argues that Organic architecture lacks the spiritual, utopian quality of Cosmic belief that was nurtured through a prolonged period of unrest in Germany throughout Scharoun’s professional career.
Image: A sculpted landscape over time. The sculpture was designed in conjunction with the research on Hans Scharoun’s Cosmic design approach of symbolising the meaning of time through nature and seasonal changes. Image by the author 335
The Bartlett School of Architecture 2017
Ozan Toksoz-Blauel Between Organic and Cosmic Architecture: A Historical Re-evaluation of Hans Scharoun Thesis Tutor: Jan Birksted