Oswald Mathias Ungers
Encyclopedia
Oswald Mathias Ungers was a German architect
and architectural theorist
, known for his rationalist
designs and the use of cubic forms. Among his notable projects are museums in Frankfurt, Hamburg and Cologne.
in the Eifel
region. From 1947 to 1950 he studied architecture at the University of Karlsruhe under Egon Eiermann
. He set up an architectural practice in Cologne
in 1950, and opened offices in Berlin
in 1964, Frankfurt
in 1974 and Karlsruhe
in 1983.
He was a professor at the Technical University of Berlin
from 1963 to 1967 and served as the dean of the faculty of architecture from 1965 to 1967. In 1968 he moved to the United States, where he became the chair of the department of architecture at Cornell University
from 1969 to 1975. In 1971 he became a member of the American Institute of Architects
. He was also a visiting professor at Harvard University
(1973 and 1978) and the University of California, Los Angeles
(1974/75). He returned to Germany in 1976, becoming a visiting professor at the University of Applied Arts Vienna
(1979/80) and a full professor at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
(1986).
Oswald Mathias Ungers died on September 30, 2007 from pneumonia
. He was married to Liselotte Gabler and had one son (Simon Ungers
) and two daughters.
Proposed or under construction
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and architectural theorist
Architectural theory
Architectural theory is the act of thinking, discussing, or most importantly writing about architecture. Architectural theory is taught in most architecture schools and is practiced by the world's leading architects. Some forms that architecture theory takes are the lecture or dialogue, the...
, known for his rationalist
Rationalism (architecture)
The intellectual principles of rationalism are based on architectural theory. Vitruvius had already established in his work De Architectura that architecture is a science that can be comprehended rationally. This formulation was taken up and further developed in the architectural treatises of the...
designs and the use of cubic forms. Among his notable projects are museums in Frankfurt, Hamburg and Cologne.
Biography
Oswald Mathias Ungers was born in KaiserseschKaisersesch
Kaisersesch is a town in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde, to which it also belongs.- Location :...
in the Eifel
Eifel
The Eifel is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the south of the German-speaking Community of Belgium....
region. From 1947 to 1950 he studied architecture at the University of Karlsruhe under Egon Eiermann
Egon Eiermann
Egon Eiermann was one of Germany's most prominent architects in the second half of the 20th century....
. He set up an architectural practice in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
in 1950, and opened offices in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
in 1964, Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
in 1974 and Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
in 1983.
He was a professor at the Technical University of Berlin
Technical University of Berlin
The Technische Universität Berlin is a research university located in Berlin, Germany. Translating the name into English is discouraged by the university, however paraphrasing as Berlin Institute of Technology is recommended by the university if necessary .The TU Berlin was founded...
from 1963 to 1967 and served as the dean of the faculty of architecture from 1965 to 1967. In 1968 he moved to the United States, where he became the chair of the department of architecture at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
from 1969 to 1975. In 1971 he became a member of the American Institute of Architects
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
. He was also a visiting professor at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
(1973 and 1978) and the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
(1974/75). He returned to Germany in 1976, becoming a visiting professor at the University of Applied Arts Vienna
University of Applied Arts Vienna
The University of Applied Arts Vienna is an institution of higher education in Vienna, the capital of Austria. It has had university status since 1970.-History:...
(1979/80) and a full professor at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
The Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, formerly Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, is the Arts Academy of the city of Düsseldorf. It is well known for having produced many famous artists, such as Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke, Thomas Demand, and Andreas Gursky...
(1986).
Oswald Mathias Ungers died on September 30, 2007 from pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
. He was married to Liselotte Gabler and had one son (Simon Ungers
Simon Ungers
Simon Ungers was a German architect and artist.Simon Ungers was born in 1957 as the son of the architect Oswald Mathias Ungers and Liselotte Gable. In 1969, his family moved to the United States. From 1975 to 1980, he studied architecture at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York...
) and two daughters.
Selected projects
- 1979-1984 German Architecture MuseumGerman Architecture MuseumThe German Architecture Museum is located on the Museumsufer in Frankfurt, Germany. Housed in an 18th-century building, the interior has been re-designed by Oswald Mathias Ungers in 1984 as a set of "elemental Platonic buildings within elemental Platonic buildings".The museum organises several...
in FrankfurtFrankfurtFrankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010... - 1980-1983 Messe-TorhausMesse-TorhausMesse-Torhaus is a building in Frankfurt. It was designed by Oswald Mathias Ungers and erected in 1985 by the Hochtief company. 400 workers constructed the 60,000 ton building in a record time of 13 months from 1983 to 1984. Its unusual shape and use of materials resembles a guillotine...
in FrankfurtFrankfurtFrankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010... - 1983-1991 Badische Landesbibliothek in KarlsruheKarlsruheThe City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
- 1986 Former main building of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine ResearchAlfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine ResearchThe Alfred Wegener Institute of Polar and Marine Research is a scientific organization located in Bremerhaven, Germany. The institute was founded in 1980 and is named after revolutionary meteorologist climatologist, and geologist Alfred Wegener...
in BremerhavenBremerhavenBremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham... - 1993-1996 Friedrichstadt-Passagen (Quartier 205) in BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
- 1994 Residence of the German ambassador in Washington D.C.
- 1994-1995 Haus ohne Eigenschaften in CologneCologneCologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
- 1995 Museum of Contemporary Art in HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
- 1998-2001 Dorotheenhöfe, BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
- 2001 Wallraf-Richartz MuseumWallraf-Richartz MuseumThe Wallraf-Richartz-Museum is one of the three major museums in Cologne, Germany. It houses an art gallery with a collection of fine art from the medieval period to the early twentieth century...
in CologneCologneCologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the... - 2006 Entrance to the ruins of a Roman bath in TrierTrierTrier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
Proposed or under construction
- In 2000, he won an architectural competition to redesign the Pergamon MuseumPergamon MuseumThe Pergamon Museum is situated on the Museum Island in Berlin. The site was designed by Alfred Messel and Ludwig Hoffmann and was constructed in twenty years, from 1910 to 1930. The Pergamon houses original-sized, reconstructed monumental buildings such as the Pergamon Altar and the Market Gate...
in Berlin. His controversial plan proposes large alterations to the building complex which has remained unchanged since 1930. The rebuilding is scheduled to end in 2010.
Writings
- Entwerfen mit Vorstellungsbildern, Metaphern und Analogien. Anmerkungen zu einem morphologischen Konzept, in: Architektur 1951-1990, Stuttgart 1991
- Morphologie. City Metaphors, König, 1982
- Die Thematisierung der Architektur, 1983, published by Technische Universität Dortmund and Walter A.Noebel, Niggli Verlag, 2009, ISBN 978-3-7212-0698-2
- The Dialectic City, Skira Editore, 1997