Fragments of Metropolis - Rhein & Ruhr

Description

The architecture of Expressionism marks the starting point of the discipline into the Golden Twenties - also in the urban cityscape of the metropolises of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This volume documents for the first time in a complete overview all the buildings in the region which still exist and shows a completely new perspective on a familiar region - a fascinating rediscovery in terms of sheer volume. Enthusiasm for the Expressionist metropolis, an architecture by complexity, verticality and a sense of drama, embraced the urban landscape of the Rhine-Ruhr region during the 1920s. The Expressionist fragments which have survived to this day bear witness to a determined love of form and a rich and skilful treatment of colour, material and light. The volume documents in contemporary photographs and plans 155 buildings in Bochum, Bottrop, Dortmund, Duisburg, Dusseldorf, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Hagen, Cologne, Munster, Oberhausen and elsewhere. A detailed index and clearly drawn-up maps complete this reference work.

Christoph Rauhut is bsased in Berlin, where he works for the German Cultural Heritage Committee. Niels Lehmann is a Zurich-based architect and architectural photographer.