With his undogmatic designs based on Bauhaus ideals, Egon Eiermann (1904-1970) was to determine like no other architect the image of a young Federal Republic of Germany sworn to modesty. His work includes the "Lange Eugen", the high-rise for members of parliament in Bonn, as well as the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin, which was to take on a verily symbolic character.
The exhibition of this major designer's manifold work is structured such that
it focuses clearly on particularly exemplary projects. Sketches, diagrams of
plans, photographs and written material provide, in addition to models, furniture,
luminaires, interior fittings and other three-dimensional elements, a vivid
picture both of Eiermann's major architectural work as well as the innumerable
pieces of furniture and everyday objects he produced.
… His famous shell
seats, … his vases and luminaries, bedside tables and wind-breaks with
the tactile qualities of stone, color-glazed clay and fine wood. Together they
represent a Noah's Arc of feelings … Eiermann's "alter ego", which was
positively lusting for beauty, now takes its rightful place alongside the ingenious
master of the slide rule …
(Dieter Bartetzko)
The first major retrospective
on the life and work of Egon Eiermann (1904-1970), the internationally renowned
architect and designer, was staged to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth
by the saai – Südwestdeutsches Archiv für Architektur und Ingenieurbau (Archive
for Architecture and Civil Engineering in Southwest Germany) at the University
of Karlsruhe, where the archive of Egon Eiermann's work is kept, in cooperation
with the Staedtische Galerie (Municipal Gallery) Karlsruhe and the Bauhaus-Archiv
Berlin. Die Neue Sammlung – the State Museum of Applied Arts and Design in
Munich – was successful in procuring these partners for a third venue and
is now able to showcase the exhibition in summer 2005 in the Neues Museum,
Staatliches Museum für Kunst und Design in Nuremberg.
