Hans Poelzig- The design of mystical film architecture

HANSPOEL ZI G Thedes i gnofmy s t i c al f i l m ar c hi t ec t ur e

Des pi naMar i aI l i nc aI or ga P30026Des i gnL i t er at ur eRev i ew 3Dec ember2014

HANS POELZIG The design of mystical film architecture

Name of student: Despina Iorga Student number: 14005143 Module number: P30026 Module name: Research Philosophy for Design Module leader: Igea Troiani Date of submission: 3 December 2014

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Fig.1- Hans Poelzig, 1929; (Sander, 2012)

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Contents

Introduction………………………………………………………………page 4 Pathway to architects’ collaboration with film designers to create exemplary Expressionist movies in 1920’s Germany…………………………………………………..…………...…..page 7 Weimar Culture……………………….........................................page 8 Expressionism…………………………………………………………….page 10 Collaboration…………………………………………………………….page 10 Hans Poelzig and Paul Wegener…………….……………..page 14 Der Golem and Lebende Buddhas……………………….page 18 Conclusion………………………………………………………………..page 31 Bibliography……….……………………………………………………..page 33 Figure list…….………………………………………………………………page 36

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Fig.2- Hans Poelzig’s Sulphuric Acid Factory in Luboń, Poland (1911-1912) one of the finest examples of German architectural Expressionism; (Lucarelli, 2013)

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Introduction

“The architectural metaphor, if not its material reality, was deemed essential to the filmic imagination.” 1

The cinema industry has always attracted architects, as the “modernist art of space par excellence, a vision of the fusion of space and time” 2 , but the first real materialization of the combined efforts of architects and film designers appeared through the 1920’s German Expressionist movement, which reached all forms of art for the first time in history.

This essay analyses Hans Poelzig’s use of designing films sets as research methodology, through which he further developed his theories regarding the new architecture of the 20th century, dealing with the postWWI society and technology. The case studies used are two examples of his collaboration with film director Paul Wegener: Der Golem and Lebende Buddhas.

The main body is structured in three chapters. The first chapter depicts the course of events and circumstances which sparked architects’ interest in the film design industry, defines Weimar culture and the characteristics of Expressionism, and elaborates on the benefits of architect-director collaboration. The second chapter talks about Poelzig, Wegener and their relationship, while the third one represents a more in-depth study of the two case-study films.

1

Vidler, A. (1993). The Explosion of Space: Architecture and the Filmic Imaginary. Assemblage, (21), pp.46.

2 Vidler, A. (1993). The Explosion of Space: Architecture and the Filmic Imaginary. Assemblage, (21), pp.46.

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Among the large variety of resources used, including newspaper and journal articles, books and videos, two books were especially relevant: Bob Fear’s “Architecture+ Film II” and “Designing Dreams- Modern Architecture in the Movies”, by Donald Albrecht.

Anthony Vidler’s article, “The explosion of space: Architecture and the Filming Imaginary” provided useful insight into the techniques of film architecture, while the journal article, “Expressionism in film and architecture”, by John R. Clarke, explained most clearly Poelzig’s design strategy for the set of Der Golem.

The topic was chosen in relation to the lecture on video-making in architectural research, in which Krystallia Kamvasinou talked about video as a tool more appropriate for architectural research in the current urban conditions. The reason behind the choice was to understand the beginnings of architects’ interest in the art of filming, which stimulates through moving imagery, as opposed to the previous “static” architectural representation.

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Fig.3- Architects constructing film sets in the 1920’s; (Lambert, 2010)

“I am kino-eyes. I am a builder. I have placed you, whom I’ve created today, in an extraordinary room which did not exist until just now when I also created it. In this room there are twelve walls shot by me in various parts of the world. In bringing together shots of walls and details, I’ve managed to arrange them in an order that is pleasing and to construct with intervals, correctly, a film-phase which is the room.” 3 Dziga Vertov, 1923

3

Lambert, L. (2010). The Funambulist. [online] The Funambulist.

Available at: http://thefunambulist.net/page/60/?pages-list [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].

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Pathway to architects’ collaboration with film designers to create exemplary Expressionist movies in 1920’s Germany

The aspect of the Western European architectural landscape at the turn of the century was characterized by a conglomeration of styles, based on the achievements of the past. 4 Among the many reproduction styles the most commons ones, neoclassicism and neo-Gothic, recreated buildings “with archeological accuracy or eclectic whimsy”. 5 However, architects not satisfied with merely carefully reconstructing the past, sought to advance their art to the standards of their society defined by the changes the Industrial Revolution had brought, as “an inescapable reality of the modern world”. 6 At the same time, film was slowly gaining popularity as a laboratory for the definition of modernism, both in theory and practice, while architects started showing interest in this new form of art, as it represented an obvious platform for spatial experimentation. 7 As a result, one of the most important movements of the 20th century, Expressionism, emerged after WWI in Weimar Germany.

The war, which caused so much devastation in Western Europe, helped dissolve the notion of the 4 Albrecht, D. (1986). Designing dreams. New York, N.Y.: Published by Harper & Row in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art, pp. 3.

5 Albrecht, D. (1986). Designing dreams. New York, N.Y.: Published by Harper & Row in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art, pp. 3.

6 Albrecht, D. (1986). Designing dreams. New York, N.Y.: Published by Harper & Row in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art, pp. 3.

7Vidler, A. (1993). The Explosion of Space: Architecture and the Filmic Imaginary. Assemblage, (21), pp.45.

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separation between the “high arts”- painting, sculpture, architecture- and the “low” ones, like the cinema. 8 The new way of thinking “sought to combine all aesthetic efforts (…) with modern technology into a coherent, egalitarian agenda for the arts”. 9 The German Expressionist architects’ film set designs were the first tentative appearances in cinema. 10

Weimar Culture Weimar culture is very often mistakably indentified with Expressionism. While the Weimar Republic was born in 1919, in times of chaos in the city of Weimar, and lasted till 1933, when the Nazis seized power, Expressionism was manifested only through the first part of it, up to 1924. 11 This period, marked by economic and social instability caused by the devastation the war brought to Germany, can be described as “a turbulent, energetic, exciting, chaotic, liberating and frightening period”. 12 It would seem unlikely that such an unpromising environment would generate a revolutionary artistic movement, but German Expressionist artists “showed the world the powerful attraction horror could exert into the world of cinema”. 13

8

Albrecht, D. (1986). Designing dreams. New York, N.Y.: Published by Harper & Row in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art, pp. 35.

9 Albrecht, D. (1986). Designing dreams. New York, N.Y.: Published by Harper & Row in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art, pp. 35.

10 Albrecht, D. (1986). Designing dreams. New York, N.Y.: Published by Harper & Row in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art, pp. 35.

11 Babb, J. (2012). WEIMAR GERMANY: Why art flourished and democracy perished (Jeffry Babb). [online] Newsweekly.com.au.

Available at: http://newsweekly.com.au/article.php?id=5130 [Accessed 18 Nov. 2014].

12 Germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org, (2014). GHDI - Print Document. [online] Available at: http://germanhistorydocs.ghidc.org/print_document.cfm?document_id=4494 [Accessed 30 Nov. 2014].

13 CinemAesthetics, (2013). The Self Image in Weimar Cinema. [video]

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Fig.4- Inflation was one of the main causes of social insecurity at the beginning of the Weimar era; (Bundesarchiv, 2014)

Fig.5- Edvard Munch- The Scream, 1893; (galleryhip, n.d.)

Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyXfZNIhIgc [Accessed 18 Nov. 2014].

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Expressionism Expressionism manifested itself before WWI through literature and painting, fought against impressionistic superficiality and aspired to reveal agitated inner worlds: the iconic painting of Edvard Munch, “The Scream”, “tells the story of the human face, with wideopen eyes (…) staring at the new century with anguish and horror”. 14 In the 1920’s these features, exacerbated by the consequences of war, such as poverty, insecurity and the psychological impact of the deaths of so many young soldiers, were symbolically transposed through stories, filming techniques and set designs of the Expressionist cinema.

Expressionist theory and practice is based on the subjectivity of visual experiences and accentuated emotional response in favor of rationality, in attempt to move “away from nature, back to the picture”. This idea was mainly implemented through means of distorted imagery to reveal characters’ inner angst: “this synthesis of formalism, antirealism, and an intuitionist, subjectivist/objectivist aesthetic, led to the emergence of an artistic practice characterized by the foregrounding of formal devices, and by use of distorted, anti-realist, violent, and forceful imagery.” 15 Collaboration By the second decade of the 20th century, the film designer had a vast range of aesthetic possibilities to explore. Theatre gave way to the constructed set, the glass studio evolved into the opaque sound stage, where light could be manipulated to shape form out of darkness, and the static camera moved, allowing the film-maker to explore space with unprecedented 14

Fear, B. (2000). Architecture + film II. London: Wiley-Academy, pp.13.

Aitken, I. (2001). EUROPEAN Film Theory and Cinema Acritical introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp.52.

15

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freedom. 16 “The expression of space, light, and movement, a problem that now challenged film designers, had already been confronted by modern architects earlier in the century, and would continue to inspire their work into the following decades. It was during the 1920’s that the paths of film and architecture would converge, as the cinema sought more sophisticated modes of visual expression.” 17 What generated the collaboration of these “spatial arts” was the understanding of the obvious construction role of architecture and the film’s ability to create space through light and shade, scale and movement but, especially for architects, “the filming art offered the potential to develop a new architecture of space and time, unfettered by the material constraints of gravity and daily life.” 18 Film architecture is architecture turned into image; weather it was fully or partially constructed in reality, its meaning comes from its transposition into fiction. 19 Its presence delineates the setting, the social position of the characters and their inner moods. 20 Particularly for Expressionist films, their main goal was to express the inner anxiety, distrust, uneasiness and unstable self-image of the modern citizen of the postwar German society. This was mainly portrayed through Gothic, labyrinthine, irregular and “rough” settings.

Among the representative joint products of the Expressionist beginning of Weimar era are Robert Wiene’s “Das Kabinet des Dr. Caligari” (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari- 1920) and “Nosferatu: eine Symphonie des 16

Fear, B. (2000). Architecture + film II. London: Wiley-Academy, pp.34.

Fear, B. (2000). Architecture + film II. London: Wiley-Academy, pp.34.

18 Vidler, A. (1993). The Explosion of Space: Architecture and the Filmic Imaginary. Assemblage, (21), pp.46.

19 Fear, B. (2000). Architecture + film II. London: Wiley-Academy, pp.13.

20 Fear, B. (2000). Architecture + film II. London: Wiley-Academy, pp.13.

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Fig.6- Das Kabinet des Dr. Caligari, 1920; (Demeng, 2014)

Fig.7- Nosferatu, 1922; (MrDisgusting, 2013)

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Grauens” (Nosferatu: a symphony of horror- 1922) by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, both of which dealt with themes of alienation, insanity and supernatural forces.

They used labyrinths of angular constructions, momentous geometry and animated objects.

However, it was Paul Wegener’s 1920 “Der Golem: wie er in die Welt kam” (The Golem: How he came into the World) that exceeded the standards of visual representation in film design, through Hans Poelzig’s construction of an entire village, which exemplified sculptural Expressionism. The two teamed up once more, in 1923-1924, to create “Lebende Buddhas” (Living Buddhas), considered a lost film, of which only five minutes survived.

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Hans Poelzig and Paul Wegener

Hans Poelzig (1869-1936) was a German Expressionist architect, painter and designer, who worked on a variety of projects, but was mostly interested in theatre halls and factory buildings, “the true monumental task of contemporary architecture”. 21 His designs ranged from the heavy Gothic (ideal for his film sets) to the higher, more eccentric Art Deco Expressionism. 22 This was an architecturally complex and odd style, but Poelzig’s constructions further challenged its limits: they “were not merely idiosyncratic, they were positively psychotic.” 23 Poelzig was an active personality, involved in multiple projects, while teaching at various technical schools, and leading as president two architectural organizations.

His most famous and imaginative designs came after the war: the fire station and the City Hall in Dresden (1916-1917) and Max Reinhardt’s theatre, Grosses Schauspielhaus, in Berlin (1919), which represented a “triumph of lighting technique, from the repetitive dome-lit, stalactite-covered ceiling, to the papyrus-sheaf light columns of the entryway”. 24

21

wax, r. (2014). Hans Poelzig – passivity and hermeticism | Graphicine. [online] Graphicine.com. Available at: http://www.graphicine.com/?p=1918 [Accessed 18 Nov. 2014].

22 Dawson, L. (2008). PROLIFIC POELZIG - The Architectural Review. [online] Mutualart.com. Available at: http://www.mutualart.com/OpenArticle/PROLIFICPOELZIG/65B1C7CCB7E7153C [Accessed 26 Nov. 2014].

23 Wolfe, R. (2013). Scary architecture: The early works of Hans Poelzig. [online] The Charnel-House. Available at: http://thecharnelhouse.org/2013/11/25/scary-architecture-the-earlyworks-of-hans-poelzig/ [Accessed 25 Nov. 2014].

24 Clarke, J. (1974). Expressionism in Film and Architecture: Hans Poelzig's Sets for Paul Wegener's The Golem. Art Journal, 34(2), pp.115-

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His career also included four film sets: apart from the two collaborations with Wegener, he worked in 1920, on the set of “Anna Boleyn”, by Ernst Lubistch, and in 1925, he designed parts of the set of “Zur Chronik von Grieshuus” (The Chronicles of the Gray House), by Arthur von Gerlach. 25 The film sets gave full rein to Poelzig’s sense of architectural drama, through the construction of imaginary cities, temples and rooms, 26 which provided him the much needed freedom to fully develop the Expressionist theory of architecture as symbolic art. 27 Paul Wegener (1874- 1948) was an actor, writer and film director, renowned for his leading role in the German Expressionist cinema. His stage debut in theater was in Rostock, in 1895, he was also a member of Max Reinhardt's Deutsches Theater, in Berlin, and in 1937 he was named Actor of the State. 28 “Wegener saw that the possibilities in the cinema to easily change points of view, to divide the screen, and to superimpose were all means of creating the strange mixture of reality and fantasy which was at the heart of the German thriller.” 29

123.

25 Rateyourmusic.com, (2014). Hans Poelzig Filmography - Rate Your Music. [online] Available at: http://rateyourmusic.com/films/hans_poelzig [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].

26 Dawson, L. (2008). PROLIFIC POELZIG - The Architectural Review. [online] Mutualart.com. Available at: http://www.mutualart.com/OpenArticle/PROLIFICPOELZIG/65B1C7CCB7E7153C [Accessed 26 Nov. 2014].

27 ourtilane, M. (2014). Connexion-Berlin: Architecture: Hans Poelzig. [online] Connexion-berlin.blogspot.co.uk. Available at: http://connexionberlin.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/hans-poelzig.html#more [Accessed 25 Nov. 2014].

28 Classichorror.free-online.co.uk, (2014). Paul Wegener, Man or Monster?. [online] Available at: http://www.classichorror.freeonline.co.uk/wegener.htm [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].

29 Clarke, J. (1974). Expressionism in Film and Architecture: Hans Poelzig's Sets for Paul Wegener's The Golem. Art Journal, 34(2), pp.115.

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Fig.8- Hans Poelzig’s Grosses Schauspielhaus (“theater of five thousand”), remodeled from a Berlin circus building in 1919; (Hunt, 2004)

Fig.9- Paul Wegener; (blu-ray, 2014)

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Wegener and Poelzig knew each other from before the war and, given the shared interests in the mysterious, occult, and the fantastic, Poelzig gladly accepted Wegener’s proposal to work on the sets for Der Golem, when they met again in 1918. 30 Poelzig’s design proved to be a great achievement in the art of cinema décor, as well as an exemplary product of German Expressionist architecture of the post-war era. 31 The successful fusion of Wegener’s conception and Poelzig’s execution of set resulted in a painterly and sculptural Expressionist film, which led to a second extravagant project undergone by the two artists in 1923-1924, Living Buddhas.

30

Clarke, J. (1974). Expressionism in Film and Architecture: Hans Poelzig's Sets for Paul Wegener's The Golem. Art Journal, 34(2), pp.115.

31 Clarke, J. (1974). Expressionism in Film and Architecture: Hans Poelzig's Sets for Paul Wegener's The Golem. Art Journal, 34(2), pp.116.

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Der Golem and Lebende Buddhas

Between 1918 and 1920, Hans Poelzign designed and constructed, along with his sculptor wife, Marlene Moeschke, a complete town of 54 buildings and a high ghetto wall for Wegener’s film, Der Golem. 32 Poelzig understood the director did not wish for him to create a typical medieval village. Entrusted with the design of “buildings, streets and interiors, which were a formal equivalent of the ideas of misery and the supernatural, which underline the film”, the architect created a threedimensional space, “a concept foreign to motion pictures up to that time” that “forced the camera eye to view it obliquely”. 33 The film tells the story of Rabbi Loew, a scientist/alchemist who prophesies that the Jewish people are soon to suffer persecution. As defense he responds by sculpting a man of clay and brings the Golem (played by Paul Wegener) to life through supernatural intervention. Rabbi Loew is invited to a festival at the palace of the Emperor and when the roof of the palace collapses and threatens to crush all those within, the Golem supports the sinking beams, determining the Emperor to end his oppression of the Jewish people. Afterwards, while the rabbi is away, his assistant takes control of the Golem in order to chase 32

Fear, B. (2000). Architecture + film II. London: Wiley-Academy, pp.16.

Aggregat456.com, (2006). this is a456: The Scenographic Poelzig. [online] Available at: http://www.aggregat456.com/2006/11/scenographic-poelzig.html [Accessed 18 Nov. 2014].

33

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Fig.10- Der Golem three-dimensional set design- ghetto scene; (Strand, 2013)

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away one of the Emperor's men who is wooing the Rabbi's daughter, loses control of the Golem, which then kills the intruder, sets fire to Rabbi Loew's house and escapes, dragging Miriam by the hair through the streets of Prague. In the end, the Golem dies at the hands of a child, who takes the magical amulet away from his chest. 34 “Poelzig’s own errant, maligned “playacting” architecture found a home within the dark, twisted logic of Wegener’s film” 35 and produced a sense of spatial mass by emphasizing the curved edges, varied textures of walls and the recurring motif of the spiral built-up of forms (the fountain, the town gate, the statue of Madonna, staircases- all are inevitably spiral). 36 Massing in the design sketches, on the other hand, is a direct result of the architect’s theory of working from the inside towards the outside: “to free from exterior conception, to make demands that operate from the inside outward, that helps this architecture achieve authenticity”. (H. Poelzig- “Fermentation in Architecture”, 1906) 37 German art critic, Herman G. Scheffauer, called Poelzig’s work for Der Golem as “sculptural” or “solid” space: “Professor Poelzig conceives of space in plastic terms, in solid concretions congealing under the artist’s 34

Jewish-theatre.com, (2014). All About Jewish Theatre - Der Golem (1920), directed by Paul Wegener and Carl Boese. [online] Available at: http://www.jewishtheatre.com/visitor/article_display.aspx?articleID=802 [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].

35 Aggregat456.com, (2006). this is a456: The Scenographic Poelzig. [online] Available at: http://www.aggregat456.com/2006/11/scenographic-poelzig.html [Accessed 18 Nov. 2014].

36 Clarke, J. (1974). Expressionism in Film and Architecture: Hans Poelzig's Sets for Paul Wegener's The Golem. Art Journal, 34(2), pp.119.

37 Wolfe, R. (2013). Scary architecture: The early works of Hans Poelzig. [online] The Charnel-House. Available at: http://thecharnelhouse.org/2013/11/25/scary-architecture-the-earlyworks-of-hans-poelzig/ [Accessed 25 Nov. 2014].

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Fig.11- Curved features of the monumental city gate; (Hodgson, 2012)

Fig.12- The Golem acting as a statue to protect those inside, when the roof of the Emperor’s castle crashes; (Ensemble Megaphon, 2014)

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hand to expressive and organic forms. He works, therefore, in the solid masses of the sculptor (…) Under his caressing hands, a weird but spontaneous internal architecture, shell-like, cavernous, somber, has been evolved in simple, flowing lines, instinct with the bizarre spirit of the tale. (…)

Poelzig seeks to give an eerie and grotesque suggestiveness to the flights of houses and streets that are to furnish the external setting of this film-play. The will of this master architect animating facades into faces, insists that these houses are to speak in jargon- and gesticulate!” 38 The magic in the story has three purposes: destruction, redemption and ambivalence. The ghetto is an enclosed architectural system and, based on Expressionist interpretation of Gothic, the central spaces (the town where the Emperor’s castle is situated and the ghetto) are opposed to one another as a symbol of dualism. 39 If Gothic was the source for the shape and ribbing of the interior spaces, Poelzig transformed the regular, functional quality of this system of ribs and vaults so that their clear, structural properties are lost and, instead, the ribs harmoniously complete the hollows of the spaces designed as individual rooms and alcoves in the set, in an aesthetic and symbolic effort. 40 Poelzig managed to express the repression of the ghetto and the omnipresent pressures on the Jewish community by means of deformations, the dynamic application of fins and pillars and the spiral arrangement of stairs and towers, all of which physically express the fear and unrest. 41 There is also a

38

Vidler, A. (1993). The Explosion of Space: Architecture and the Filmic Imaginary. Assemblage, (21), pp.49.

39 Fear, B. (2000). Architecture + film II. London: Wiley-Academy, pp.19.

40 Clarke, J. (1974). Expressionism in Film and Architecture: Hans Poelzig's Sets for Paul Wegener's The Golem. Art Journal, 34(2), pp.120.

41 Fear, B. (2000). Architecture + film II. London: Wiley-Academy, pp.19.

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Fig.13- Night landscape in the ghetto- a “system of ribs and vaults”; (enrique, 2006)

Fig.14- Madonna statue overlooking the Golem “monster” following his master on the way to the Emperor’s castle; a glimpse of the city in the far background; (enrique, 2006)

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sense of spirituality in the ghetto, emphasized through the spiral staircase in the Rabbi’s laboratory, which “opens up like an ear towards the sky, allowing Loew to read the stars when standing on top of his tower”. 42 The tall, twisted city gate combines elements of light, shadow, and rough surface, (main preoccupations of modernist architects at the time) creating an undulating structure that spins upward in an angle, coming together at a point that mimics the very same artichoke silhouettes of ghetto houses from the night scene, clearly illustrated in Poelzig’s charcoal design sketches. 43 The architect uses these elements to accentuate landscape as well: in the scene where the Golem follows Loew across a serpentine, rocky bridge, “far away, beyond the unseen end of the bridge, a city’s gnarled and pointed towers and spires rise in the distance.

On the side of the bridge, a witness to the curving, malevolent shapes, unfurling across the landscape, a stone Madonna holds her own baby. The venerated creator and created, mother and child thus gazes on its tragic analogue: a monster following its inattentive creator into an uncertain future”. 44 Through the set design of Der Golem, Poelzig seized an opportunity to fully develop his theories of modern Expressionist architecture and implement them into concrete, palpable constructions, free from the pressure of material restrictions of gravity and everyday life. The architecture of film’s three-dimensional city was considered by architecture critics to have such an important impact on the course of the 20th designs,

42

Fear, B. (2000). Architecture + film II. London: Wiley-Academy, pp.19.

Aggregat456.com, (2006). this is a456: The Scenographic Poelzig. [online] Available at: http://www.aggregat456.com/2006/11/scenographic-poelzig.html [Accessed 18 Nov. 2014].

44 Aggregat456.com, (2006). this is a456: The Scenographic Poelzig. [online] Available at: http://www.aggregat456.com/2006/11/scenographic-poelzig.html [Accessed 18 Nov. 2014].

43

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Fig.15- The spiral staircase of Rabbi Loew’s laboratory; (Deutches Architekturmuseum, 2008)

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that the film became the subject of analysis whilst still in production. 45 In 1923 Wegener formed his own company "Paul Wegener AG." and invested heavily into a production about one of his primary interests, Buddhism. Since his days as a student, Wegener had been fascinated by the culture of the Far East and in this film he planned to take the role of the Dali Lama. 46 This plan materialized into the second film the two designers worked onLebende Buddhas.

Initially, a zeppelin hangar in Staaken was hired to house an entire reconstruction of a Tibetan town designed by Poelzig. However, it ended up being mainly filmed on location through Berlin 47 but, as the action was taking place between London and Tibet, Poelzig still managed to design a temple and place for human sacrifice. 48 Unfortunately, although the film was completed, it was never released. Wegener's hard work and images never got to be seen, leaving him in great financial debt. A test copy and the negatives were acquired by someone, but to this day they have never been found leaving only a few stills to confirm the film's existence. 49 The story is that of an expedition to Tibet. Professor Campbel, along with his colleague, Doctor Smith, goes there to unravel the mystery of a sect and comes across 45

Fear, B. (2000). Architecture + film II. London: Wiley-Academy, pp.17.

Classichorror.free-online.co.uk, (2014). Paul Wegener, Man or Monster?. [online] Available at: http://www.classichorror.freeonline.co.uk/wegener.htm [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].

47 IMDb, (2014). Living Buddhas (1925). [online] Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0132276/ [Accessed 26 Nov. 2014].

48 Lamberti, C. (2013). Cinema e cittĂƒ in Germania: le scenografie degli anni Venti-Trenta. [online] Hevelius.it. Available at: http://www.hevelius.it/webzine/leggi.php?codice=418 [Accessed 26 Nov. 2014].

49 Classichorror.free-online.co.uk, (2014). Paul Wegener, Man or Monster?. [online] Available at: http://www.classichorror.freeonline.co.uk/wegener.htm [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].

46

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Fig.16- Lebende Buddhas poster; (Danish Film Institute, 2014)

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a Holy Tibetan document, a Sutra. They cross paths with a High Lama (played by Wegener), in the middle of performing a hideous ritual of sacrificing a young woman. They rescue the Tibetan woman and go back to Europe. While trying to decipher the Sutra, the High Lama draws them back into the temple, appearing into an image brought to life. In the end, only Campbel survives. 50 The only confirmations of the project’s existence are few pieces of film, preserved in Seeber’s (photographer) snippet collection and some of Poelzig’s sketches. 51 With Lebende Buffhas, Wegener tried to go along with the lines of Poelzig’s set design for Golem; the architect’s constructions encompassed mystery and mysticism as main features of the story. 52 The complete loss of the film left a painful gap in the cinema history of the “Golden Twenties”.

50

Filmportal.de, (n.d.). Lebende Buddhas | filmportal.de. [online] Available at: http://www.filmportal.de/film/lebendebuddhas_71e9ebddcc31481197b6c4187e7b5b8d [Accessed 26 Nov. 2014].

51 Herbst, H. (2011). Seeber’s Snippet Collection. Journal of Film Preservation, [online] 84(4), p.44. Available at: http://www.fiafnet.org/content/jfp%2084.pdf [Accessed 26 Nov. 2014].

52 Lebende Buddhas (Gotter von Tibet). (n.d.). 1st ed. [ebook] Det Danske Filminstitus Bibliotek, pp.1-8. Available at: http://www.dfi.dk/faktaomfilm/film/en/41872.aspx?id=41872 [Accessed 1 Dec. 2014].

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Fig.17- Lebende Buddhas- temple; (filmportal, n.d.)

Fig.18-

Lebende

Buddhas-

place

(rateyourmusic, 2014)

Fig.19- Poelzig’s sketch; (filmportal, n.d.)

for

sacrifice;

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Fig.20- Poelzig’s sketch; (filmportal, n.d.)

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Conclusion

Hans Poelzig was one of the very few architects, at the beginning of the century, to venture into the field of cinema set design and analyze it as research and development methodology for his theories on the “fermentation in architecture”. Through the sets he designed for Wegener’s films, imbued with mysticism and fantasy, the architect had the freedom to explore, and even go beyond, the limits of the sculptural Expressionism of organic shapes, spatial complexities of both interior and external constructions, and the use of mysterious lighting.

As a practicing architect in the Weimar era, defined as a “culture of relentless questioning- what it meant to live in modern times” 53, Poelzig’s set designs stand as testimony of great achievements by the German Expressionist cinema and architecture, which sought to distance themselves from portraying an idealistic reality and, instead, illustrate the reality of the modern times, through the symbolism of alienation and inner anxiety.

53

Germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org, (2014). GHDI - Print Document. [online] Available at: http://germanhistorydocs.ghidc.org/print_document.cfm?document_id=4494 [Accessed 30 Nov. 2014].

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Fig.21- Der Golem- panic in the Jewish ghetto; (Hodgson, 2012)

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Figure List Fig.1-

Sander, A. (2012). August Sander, The Architect [Hans Poelzig] 1929. [image] Available at: http://minorplains.blogspot.co.uk/ [Accessed 25 Nov. 2014].

Fig.2-

Lucarelli, F. (2013). Poelzig's Sulphuric Acid Factory. [image] Available at: http://socksstudio.com/2013/11/26/hans-poelzigs-sulphuric-acid-factory-in-lubon-poland-1911-1912/ [Accessed 25 Nov. 2014].

Fig.3-

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Fig.4-

Bundesarchiv, (2014). Inflation, Schlange vor Lebensmittelgeschäft, Berlin. [image] Available at: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1971-10942,_Inflation,_Schlange_vor_Lebensmittelgesch%C3%A4ft,_Berlin.jpg [Accessed 25 Nov. 2014].

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galleryhip, (n.d.). The Scream Painting Original Munch. [image] Available at: http://galleryhip.com/the-scream-painting-original-munch.html [Accessed 25 Nov. 2014].

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Fig.14- enrique, (2006). Golem bridge. [image] Available at: http://www.aggregat456.com/2006/11/scenographic-poelzig.html [Accessed 25 Nov. 2014].

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Fig.20- filmportal, (n.d.). Lebende Buddhas sketch. [image] Available at: http://www.filmportal.de/node/26565/material/648591 [Accessed 25 Nov. 2014].

Fig.21-

Hodgson, M. (2012). Golem street. [image] Available at: http://blackholereviews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/golem-1920-must-see-for-horror.html [Accessed 25 Nov. 2014].