To commemorate the 200th birthday of Martin Gropius (1824–1880), experts will discuss the significance of his life's work, both in his time and for contemporary architecture in Berlin.
The Gropius Bau was built according to plans by architects Martin Gropius and Heino Schmieden and opened in 1881 as a Museum and School of Decorative Arts. In its dual function as an educational institution and museum, it initially housed classrooms and studios as well as collections of European crafts and an art library. The centrepiece of the exhibition hall was and remains the atrium, which, slightly lowered, extends outward in all four cardinal directions.
Programme
Jenny Schlenzka, Director Gropius Bau: Welcome
Petra Kahlfeldt, Senate Building Director: Introduction
Christoph Rauhut, Berlin Monument Authority: What remains? The Legacy of Martin Gropius in Berlin
Hans-Dieter Nägelke, Architecture Museum: Martin Gropius in the Architecture Museum of the TU Berlin
Amrei Buchholz, Architectural Archives: The Ornament as a Source of Ideas. Martin Gropius’ Sketchbooks from the Architectural Archives of the Academy of Arts
Arnold Körte, Architect: On the Experience of Space in the Gropius Bau
Karl-Ludwig Lange, Photographer: Photo Documentation of the Restoration of the Gropius Bau 1981–1986
Carsten Boelter, Architectural Historian: Drewen – a Rediscovered Early Work