Ludwig Karl Hilberseimer (1885 - 1967) was a German architect and
urban plannerUrban, city, and town planning is the integration of the disciplines of land use planning and transport planning to explore a very wide range of aspects of the built and social environments of urbanized municipalities and communities...
best known for his ties to the
Bauhaus' is the common term for the ', a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933....
and to
Mies van der RoheLudwig Mies van der Rohe, born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to and addressed by his surname, Mies, by his colleagues, students, writers, and others....
, as well as for his work in urban planning at the
Illinois Institute of TechnologyIllinois Institute of Technology , commonly called Illinois Tech, is a private Ph.D.-granting university located in Chicago, Illinois, with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, communications, industrial technology, information technology, design, and law...
, in
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
, Illinois.
Hilberseimer studied architecture at the Karlsruhe Technical University from 1906 to 1910. He left before completing a degree. Afterward he worked in the architectural office Behrens and Neumark.
Ludwig Karl Hilberseimer (1885 - 1967) was a German architect and
urban plannerUrban, city, and town planning is the integration of the disciplines of land use planning and transport planning to explore a very wide range of aspects of the built and social environments of urbanized municipalities and communities...
best known for his ties to the
Bauhaus' is the common term for the ', a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933....
and to
Mies van der RoheLudwig Mies van der Rohe, born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to and addressed by his surname, Mies, by his colleagues, students, writers, and others....
, as well as for his work in urban planning at the
Illinois Institute of TechnologyIllinois Institute of Technology , commonly called Illinois Tech, is a private Ph.D.-granting university located in Chicago, Illinois, with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, communications, industrial technology, information technology, design, and law...
, in
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
, Illinois.
Life
Hilberseimer studied architecture at the Karlsruhe Technical University from 1906 to 1910. He left before completing a degree. Afterward he worked in the architectural office Behrens and Neumark. Until 1914 he was coworker in the office of Heinz Lassen in Bremen. Later he led the planning office for Zeppelinhallenbau in Berlin Staaken. Beginning in 1919 he was member of the
Arbeitsrat für KunstThe Arbeitsrat für Kunst was a union of architects, painters, sculptors and art writers, who were based in Berlin from 1918 to 1921...
and November Group, worked as independent architect and town planner and published numerous theoretical writings over art, architecture and town construction.
In 1929 Hilberseimer was hired by
Hannes MeyerHannes Meyer was a Swiss architect and second director of the Bauhaus in Dessau from 1928 to 1930.- Early Work :...
to teach at the
Bauhaus' is the common term for the ', a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933....
at Dessau, Germany. In July 1933 Hilberseimer and
Wassily KandinskyWassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky was a Russian painter, and art theorist. He is credited with painting the first modern abstract works....
were the two members of the Bauhaus that the
GestapoThe was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning in April 1934, it was under the overall administration of the Schutzstaffel under Heinrich Himmler in his position as leader of the SS and Chief of German Police...
identified as problematically left-wing. Like many members of the Bauhaus, he fled Germany for America. He arrived in 1938 to work for Mies van der Rohe in
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
while heading the department of urban planning at the
Illinois Institute of TechnologyIllinois Institute of Technology , commonly called Illinois Tech, is a private Ph.D.-granting university located in Chicago, Illinois, with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, communications, industrial technology, information technology, design, and law...
College of Architecture. Hilberseimer also became director of Chicago's city planning office.
Work
Street hierarchyThe street hierarchy is an urban design technique for separating automobile through-traffic from developed areas. It can be seen as a hierarchy of roads that embeds the hierarchy in the network topology...
was first elaborated by Ludwig Hilberseimer in his book
City Plan, 1927. Hilberseimer emphasized safety for school-age children to walk to school while increasing the speed of the vehicular circulation system.
Beginning in 1929 at the Bauhaus, Hilberseimer developed studies concerning town construction for the decentralization of large cities. Against the background of the economic and political fall of the Weimar Republic he developed a universal and global adaptable planning system (The new town center, 1944), which planned a gradual dissolution of major cities and a complete penetration of landscape and settlement. He proposed that in order to create a sustainable relationship between humans, industry, and nature; human habitation should be built in a way to secure all people against all disasters and crises.
His most notable built project is Lafayette Park, Detroit, an urban renewal project designed in cooperation with architect
Mies van der RoheLudwig Mies van der Rohe, born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to and addressed by his surname, Mies, by his colleagues, students, writers, and others....
and landscape architect
Alfred CaldwellAlfred Caldwell was an American architect best known for his landscape architecture in and around Chicago, Illinois.- Career :* Attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, left before completing a degree....
.
The Ludwig Karl Hilberseimer Papers collection, including drawings, photographs, and other printerial material, is held by the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries in the
Art Institute of ChicagoThe School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, The Art Institute of Chicago. Providing degrees at the undergraduate and graduate levels, SAIC...
.
Published Writings
- Building of large cities; Aposs - publishing house, Hanover, 1925
- Large-town architecture; Julius Hoffman publishing house, Stuttgart, 1927
- Concrete as Form; with Dr. Julius Vi, Julius Hoffmann publishing house, Stuttgart, 1928
- International new architecture; Julius Hofmann publishing house, Stuttgart, 1928
- Hall constructions; J.M. Gerhardt, Leipzig, 1931
- The New City. Principles of Planning; Paul Theobald, Chicago, 1944. ASIN B0007DTJQQ.
- The New Regional Pattern. Industries and Gardens. Workshops and Farms; Paul Theobald, Chicago, 1949. ASIN B0007DW0NA.
- The Nature of Cities. Origin, Growth, and Decline. Pattern and Form. Planning Problems; Paul Theobald, Chicago, 1955
- Mies van der Rohe; Paul Theobald, Chicago, 1956
- Entfaltung einer Planungsidee; Bauwelt Fundamente 6, Berlin, Frankfurt, Wien, 1963
- Contemporary Architecture, Its Roots and Trends; Paul Theobald, Chicago, 1964
- Berlin architecture of the 20's; Florian copper mountain publishing house, Mainz, new building house books, 1967