Irrational theatre - Philharmonie in Berlin, Germany

Architectural Review, The, Feb, 1995 by Peter Blundell Jones

2 'In the architectural solution the city of Mannheim places special value on the creation of a theatre space to serve the people of our time', briefing document in the Scharoun Archive, Akademie der Kunste, my translation.

3 Born in 1900, she studied at Hamburg in the 1920s: literature under Robert Petsch and philosophy under the Neo-Kantians Ernst Cassirer and Albert Gorland. She became an administrator at the art school Kunst und Werk in Berlin which Haring ran from 1935-43, and subsequently became Haring's assistant. She later edited his posthumous book Fragmente. Her paper Uber die Baustruktur des Theaters was written in close consultation with Scharoun, and at the end of the design period in December 1952. She comments: 'Scharoun wanted to substantiate his project with a kind of thesis-paper to clarify his idea of theatre in relation to traditional forms. He discussed this with Haring, and they decided that I should do the literary and historical research, so I received the commission. It was understood that Haring would share in the work in a supervisory way, as he was specially qualified to do' (letter to me, my translation). She was working in Biberach in daily contact with Haring, and communication with Scharoun's office was largely by post. Versions went to and fro, and included a long and apparently dictated typescript by Scharoun discussing in detail various types of theatre.

4 One of Scharoun's principal assistants at the time, and later the author of books on town-planning. He told me that these were his drawings, and clarified the content.

5 The sketches show the two theatres and spine block disposed at different angles on the various sites, and similar adaptations were later proposed for the Philharmonie for various sites in Berlin. In my view the contextual strength in each case lay with the first site, though the Philharmonie was not helped by being placed initially on a flat featureless wasteland, then not having its context developed as the architect intended.

6 Much more urban, for example, than Scharoun's earlier and more curvaceous Kassel design which tumbled out of its square down a terraced slope towards the river Fulda, a park-like setting.

7 The western rehearsal hall which projects on both sides accommodates the same staging system as used in the main theatre. The eastward one has a sloping studio end window which is trying to twist around northwards.

8 The Kassel design won the competition of 1952 with a clear lead, and was developed over 1953/54 for construction. Under somewhat scandalous circumstances it was cancelled after site works had begun, and the commission was handed to Paul Bode, who had been developing a rival scheme covertly. This was a great blow to Scharoun, as Kassel promised to be one of his best buildings: see my Hans Scharoun, Phaidon 1995.

9 Lack of space prevents a discussion of aperspectivity beyond its relation to architectural space, but Scharoun and his circle saw the transition from perspective to aperspective as part of a profound and far-reaching change of consciousness sweeping across society. The term was given definition in the book Ursprung und Gegenwart by Jean Gebser which appeared in 1949 and was avidly read in German intellectual circles.