Paul Scheerbart's Architectural Fantasies

Abstract

GERMAN EXPRESSIONIST architecture consists mostly of rapid sketches, written programs, and publications. Paul Scheerbart's writing, which reveals a compelling architectural vision, is crucial to this work. The hero in much of Scheerbart's science fiction is an architect, subject is architecture of future. Inspired by such disparate things as light mysticism, Gothic cathedral, and nineteenthcentury glass structures, Scheerbart foresaw building of opulent and colorful glass constructions symbolic of extradimensional space and of a more spiritual world. Herwarth Walden, whose magazine Der Sturm and whose gallery of same name became rallying points of various contingents of prewar Expressionist art and literature, called Scheerbart the first Expressionist. Scheerbart's work fundamentally influenced architecture of his close friend Bruno Taut, whose position throughout period of architectural Expressionism in Germany was pivotal and commanding. The same month (November I9I8) which saw establishment of Weimar Republic through an act of political revolution saw also beginning of an architectural revolution, foundation of Arbeitsrat fur Kunst based on workers' soviets or Arbeiterrite. The Arbeitsrat, which was composed of a varied group of architects (Walter Gropius and Eric Mendelsohn among them), artists, art historians, writers, and journalists, was headed at its inception by Taut. The group's basic purpose was to use architecture and art to improve society. Members of Arbeitsrat organized exhibitions of their designs and published bristling programs and manifestoes in style of Expressionist writers. Moreover, during 1919 and 9zo0, Taut supervised an exchange of correspondence among a more loosely associated group called Glaserne Kette (Glass Chain), an effort to challenge imagination of participants. And from 19zo to I922, Taut was editor of only purely architectural Expressionist magazine, Fruhlicht (Dawn). Besides his leading role in these joint enterprises, characteristic of Expressionist period, Taut also produced on his own a profusion of articles and books. Foremost among them were: Alpine Architektur (I919), Die Stadtkrone (I919), Der Weltbaumeister (I9zo), and Die Auf16sung der Stddte (19zo); all use Scheerbartian ideas and select quotations from Scheerbart's writings. We review in this paper architectural themes explored by Scheerbart. Two major statements from his last years are amplified by an examination of earlier work and his utopian vision of life.