Background
Gunter Behnisch was born the second of three children, in Lockwitz near Dresden.
(In 1972, when Germany invited sports people from all over...)
In 1972, when Germany invited sports people from all over the world to the Summer Olympics, the intention was to make a new German identity tangible internationally. This was also expressed by the light, open tent structure of the roofing, which Behnisch had designed and executed In terms of engineering technology, the construction of a tent roof that was to stretch over the stadium, the sports hall and the swimming pool was a huge challenge That this approach was successful is shown by the unbroken popularity of the Olympiapark to this day.
(In 1990 Behnisch's Museum for Communication was opened in...)
In 1990 Behnisch's Museum for Communication was opened in Frankfurt. The building is dominated by a glass semicone, by which the interior is generously supplied with daylight. Steel, glass, and wood give lightness to the museum, and the open spaces and large window areas convey the concept of "open communication." Since 2007, the museum can also be seen via the virtual world Second Life The Plenary Hall built in Bonn in 1992, before the move of the Bundestag to Berlin, is also intended to demonstrate openness, and to dispel distancing aura of political authority: Behnisch saw the hall as a workspace rather than a building designed to impress the public, and so it is both technologically advanced and devoid of pretentiousness of any kind Observable from outside, it symbolizes the principle of democratic surveillance of the government's work, and the closeness of the government to the electorate. Today, after the change in capital, the hall is the centerpiece of the new World Conference Center in Bonn.
(Openness is also the watchword of Behnisch's most recent ...)
Openness is also the watchword of Behnisch's most recent Berlin building, the Academy of Arts on Pariser Platz close to the Brandenburg Gate. This was completed in 2005 after eleven years’ work by Behnisch Si Partner with Werner Durth In the interior of the glass facade of the building, the remnants of the old Academy building, in particular the historic skylit halls of the Palais Aimm-Boitzenburg, are preserved Staircases, ramps and bridges of steel and glass dominate the interior of the new structure. Here, as he does in general, Behnisch turns away from the monumental stone architecture that he firmly rejects, particularly for ideological reasons.
2005
(With his urban structures, schools, and other public buil...)
With his urban structures, schools, and other public buildings, Gunther Behnisch has made his mark on postwar architecture in the Federal Republic of Germany, and thus taken up a position in favor of an open and unpretentious manner of building and mentality The library of the University of Eichstatt is among his most important works in this area. The architect has clearly distanced himself from the heavy, rigid forms that belong to the political past This is reflected in his attitude to planning.
Gunter Behnisch was born the second of three children, in Lockwitz near Dresden.
He attended a number of schools, due to the fact his Social Democrat father was arrested, sacked and redeployed to Chemnitz by the new Nazi government.
In 1939, Behnisch volunteered to join the navy (Kriegsmarine), aged 17, which was a less onerous alternative to compulsory labour service, or army conscription. He eventually became a U-boat officer and served aboard U-952. In October 1944, he became one of the youngest U-boat commanders,when he commissioned U-2337. At the end of the Second World War he surrendered his submarine to the British and became a prisoner of war in Featherstone Castle in Northumberland.
Behnisch initially trained as a bricklayer then, in 1947 enrolled to study architecture at the Technical University in Stuttgart.
One of his most notable buildings was the new parliament in the West German capital, Bonn. Although he won the architectural design competition in 1973, the construction only began in 1987, and was completed in 1992.
He established his own architecture practice in Stuttgart in 1952, which in 1966 became Behnisch & Partner.
His son Stefan Behnisch established a separate firm, Behnisch Architekten in 1989.
Olympic Park
(In 1972, when Germany invited sports people from all over...)
Plenary Complex of the German Parliament
(In 1990 Behnisch's Museum for Communication was opened in...)
State Clearing Bank Landesgirokasse
Control tower at Nuremberg Airport
North German State Clearing Bank
Genzyme Center
Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research
Quotations: "I feel one cannot and should not regulate everything Otherwise what you get in the end is a sort of prescriptive architecture, which tries to control every-thing. No, in my houses there can be contradictions, they do not necessarily have to be right They are open to many things, including alterations to them selves."