Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture et de Paysage (1969-73) in Bordeaux, France, by Claude Ferret

Colby Apartments (1951) in Los Angeles, CA, USA, by Raphael Soriano. Photo by Julius Shulman.

House Ketterer (1954-55) in Stuttgart, Germany, by Chen Kuen Lee. Photo by Roland Halbe.

Bicycle Shed of the Rehabilitation Center (1952-60) in Arnhem, the Netherlands, by J.J.P. Oud

In recent years publications like Beatriz Colomina‘s „X-Ray Architecture“ have again drawn attention to the relationship between health issues and transparency in early modern architecture. A pioneering yet enigmatic building of a very early connection between health and architectural innovation is the Queen Alexandra Sanatorium in Davos, Switzerland, designed by Pfleghard & Haefeli. Built between 1906 and 1909 the sanatorium showcased the properties of then new concrete construction and how it served the building‘s purpose: in order to provide the patients with a maximum of light the horizontal elements of the building, i.e. the floor slabs, were made from concrete and thus offered the chance to fully open the facade. The result was a rather spectacular amount of light, a feature Sigfried Giedion also recognized beforehand writing his book „Liberated Dwelling“. In it he featured the sanatorium in an already altered later state but still was able to capture the spectacularly open view from the rooms into the surrounding landscape.

The genesis and development of this groundbreaking building for the most part has remained opaque, a circumstance that Daniel Korwan changes with his comprehensive building monograph „Discovering Early Modernism in Switzerland - The Queen Alexandra Sanatorium“, recently published by Birkhäuser: through extensive research in various archives he was able to chronologically recount the sanatorium’s formation as a congenial collaboration between architects, engineer and client. The engineering-savvy architects’ concept of the building was frequently enriched by the client’s input regarding optimal treatment of future patients while Robert Maillart just at the right moments added important engineering solutions.

As Korwan points out, the building also anticipated future developments, namely in the form of the deliberately exposed of raw concrete in a building outside the industrial realm and the human-centered design of the building.

„Discovering Early Modernism in Switzerland” sheds long overdue light on a pivotal building of early Swiss and European architecture and will surely lead to additional research. Highly recommended!

Church Saint Pierre (1960-2006) in Firminy, France, by Le Corbusier. Posthumously completed by José Oubrerie.

Tyler House (1953) in Los Angeles, CA, USA, by John Lautner. Photo by Julius Shulman.

Montalinschulhaus (1963) in Chur, Switzerland, by Richard Brosi

Town Hall (1964-72) in Terneuzen, the Netherlands, by Van den Broek & Bakema

House Ruchat (1967) in Morbio Inferiore, Switzerland, by Flora Ruchat-Roncati

Although significant material and monetary constraints were in place in the immediate postwar years in Germany some architects used them to their advantage as the example of Hans Döllgast demonstrates: his interpretive/creative reconstructions of the Alte Pinakothek, the shurch St. Bonifaz and the Ostfriedhof mortuary chapel, all of them in Munich, are striking examples of his dealing with ruins. Instead of simply reconstructing the war-damaged buildings Döllgast deliberately left his interventions and thus scars of war visible. These interventions are clearly identifiable and often represent either simplified original forms or clearly contemporary solutions like metal pillars or concrete cornices.

In Franz Peter’s and Franz Wimmer’s book „Von den Spuren. Interpretierender Wieder­aufbau im Werk von Hans Döllgast“, published in 1998 by Verlag Anton Pustet, Döllgast’s key reconstruction works appear in stunning documentary photographs, a perfect visual supplement to the classic 1987 Döllgast monograph. The Wimmers’s book brings together 88 photographs, plans and sketches of as well as brief texts about St. Bonifaz, the Alte Pinakothek, the Ostfriedhof mortuary chapel, the Alte Südfriedhof and the Alte Nordfriedhof, arguably Döllgast’s most interesting works. They are prefaced by an informative text about Döllgast which contains biographical data as well as notes on the architect’s conception of reconstruction. In view of the book’s mere 120 pages the texts naturally do not cover Döllgast’s life and work exhaustively but for readers unfamiliar with his work provide sufficient information. This notwithstanding a hint at other concepts of interpretive reconstruction, e.g. those of Emil Steffann and Rudolf Schwarz, would have been very welcome. Thus „Von den Spuren“ first and foremost is an excellent visual source to Hans Döllgast’s reconstructions and as such highly recommended!

Church St Martin (1968-70) in Mailing, Germany, by Hans Zitzelsperger

Chemosphere House (1960) in Los Angeles, CA, USA, by John Lautner. Photo by Julius Shulman.

Collège d'enseignement secondaire (1973) in Romainville, France, by Paul Chemetov

House Büchner (1967) in Bamberg, Germany, by Klaus Kirsten & Heinz Nather

Cammann-Hochhaus (1926) in Chemnitz, Germany, by Willy Schönefeld

Queen Alexandra Sanatorium (1906-09) in Davos, Switzerland, by Pfleghard & Haefeli