Lecture9 totalitarian architecture

Totalitarian Architecture
in the 1930’s
Architecture of Politics and Propaganda

Totalitarian
Totalitarianism (or totalitarian rule) is a political system where the
state, usually under the control of a single political person, faction, or
class, recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate
every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible.
Totalitarian regimes or movements maintain political power through
an all encompassing propaganda disseminated through the state-
controlled mass media, a single party that is often marked by personality
cultism, control over the economy, regulation and restriction of speech,
mass surveillance, and widespread use of state terrorism.
Joseph Stalin-Soviet Dictator
(1924-1953)
Benito Mussolini-Ruler of Italy
(1922-1943)
Mao Zedong - Founder and ruler of
Communist China (1949-1976)

World War 1 (1914-1918) World War 2 (1939-1945)
The period between WW1 and WW2 saw the rise of dictatorial
governments in several European nations.
Period also saw the suppression of modern architectural ideals in
these the totalitarian states:
 Germany
 Spain
 Italy
 Soviet Union
The totalitarian regimes demanded that architecture be used as
propaganda and images of the state emphasizing:
 Monumentality
 Strength
 Celebration & achievements of political power
 Housing projects based on local national traditions.

Architecture of Politics and
Propaganda

Architecture & The State
 The representation of power and ideology of the state is largely a
historicist approach - conservatism.
 Modernism is deemed unsatisfactory due to its tendency to
reduce all forms to abstraction and the failure of abstract forms to
communicate any architectural and emotional experience.
 Therefore, the term „the new tradition’ was coined in 1929 to
classify this particular conservative trend - a consciously ‘modernized’
classicism.
 Main factors for the emergence of this new approach:
Rise of new nationalism.
Reductionist tendencies of modernist deemed inadequate to
portray power and ideology - failure of abstract forms to
communicate.

The Nazi revolution in Germany needed architecture to bequeath a new image to history.
Architecture of the Third Reich

Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the colloquial English names
for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National
Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP), which established a
totalitarian dictatorship that existed from 1933 to 1945.
Third Reich
The emblem and identity in the form of
the hooked cross of the swastika to
becomes a mighty and frightening
symbol of the Nazi Party.

 Art became a weapon in the Nazi regime’s arsenal - an important
element in the strengthening the Third Reich and purifying the nation.
 Art and architecture to overcome the differences in social classes
and unifying the Germans as one ideal race.
 The task of art in the Third Reich was to shape the population’s
attitudes by carrying political messages with stereotyped concepts of
art forms - political aims and artistic impression becoming a single
element - Hitler portrayed as national saviour in all propaganda
posters
 Modern art had no place in the Third Reich.

 Hitler - propaganda must be aimed at people’s emotions rather
than their intellect.
Poster of Hitler depicting him as a kind, gentle leader with
immense strength and passion for art and culture.
 Role of artists’ was to portray Germany as:
Peaceful or
Drawn into a struggle to defend it.

Josef Thorak
Comradeship 1937
Sculpture was used to express the National
Socialist obsession with race and biology -
depicted what an typical Aryan would be like
in physical perfection - the National Socialist
ideal of the human form.

 Speer invented the theory of ‘ruin
value.’ - all new buildings would be
constructed in such a way that they
would leave aesthetically pleasing
ruins thousands of years in the
future. Such ruins would be a
testament to the greatness of the
Third Reich, just as ancient Greek
or Roman ruins were symbols of the
greatness of their civilizations
 sometimes called 'the first architect
of the Third Reich'. He was Hitler's
chief architect in Nazi Germany.
 Replaced Paul Troost as the Party’s
chief architect in 1934.
Albert Speer – the architect

Rejection of the Modern Style
 Modern Architecture rejected because it was deemed cosmopolitan
and degenerate, except for use in efficient industrial buildings and
factories.
 The regime opted for the adoption of:
 the quaint vernacular style for housing
 a monumental style for public buildings.
 Regime did not reject modern technology:
 Advance building techniques hidden behind neoclassical
facades.
 Reductionist tendencies of modernism did not represent the power
and ideology of the state.

Adoption of the Neoclassical
Neoclassicism had the function of giving expression to the existing
form of government; legitimizing them and of contributing to its
consolidation.
An architecture of permanence and with historical reference was
adopted:
Expression of historical relations with past empires
Expression of the power and stability of the state.
In the Nazi regime, the format for formal government buildings
became monumental.
The recognition of architecture as being central to the regime was in
the fact that Hitler viewed himself as master builder of the Third
Reich.

3 primary roles of Nazi Architecture:
1.
2.
3.
Stage - Nazi buildings were stages for communal activity,
creations of space meant to embody the principles on which
Nazi ideology was built.
Symbolic - representation of Greek and Roman tradition
Didactic - Instructive or intended to teach or demonstrate,
especially with regard to morality.
 they saw architecture as a method of producing buildings not just for
a function, but also served a larger purpose.
 For example, the House of German Art had the function of housing
art, but through its form, style and design it had the purpose of being
a community structure built using an Aryan style, which acted as a
kind of temple to acceptable German art.

 For example, the House of German Art had the function of housing
art, but through its form, style and design it had the purpose of being
a community structure built using an Aryan style, which acted as a
kind of temple to acceptable German art.

Paul Ludwig Troost
The House of German Art
Munich
1934

House of German Art
Paul Ludwig Troost 1933-37
Had the function of housing art, but through
its form, style and design it had the purpose
of being a community structure built using an
Aryan style,
Served as a kind of temple to acceptable
German art.

Paul Ludwig Troost
Temples of Honour Munich 1933

Opening of the 1934 “Party Congress” in
Luitpold Hall (Documentation Centre).

Thingplatz , Berlin 1934
The Nazi Propaganda Ministry under Joseph Goebbels began a movement
based on the „Blut und Boden‟ (Blood and Soil) ideology - called the ‘Thing’
movement.
A Thing was an ancient Nordic/Germanic gathering of the people, in an
outdoor setting. The Nazi Thing gatherings were to be held in specially-
constructed outdoor amphitheaters theThingplatz or Thingstätte.
The Thing sites were to be built as much as possible in a natural setting,
incorporating rocks, trees, water bodies, ruins, and hills of some historical or
mythical significance.

The people would gather
for meetings and to view
theater and propaganda
presentations written especially
for the Thing style.

Architecture became the most forceful expression of the National Socialist idea:
Here ‘the word had become stone’ in order to express true German greatness.

Lecture9 totalitarian architecture

Albert Speer
Tribune, Zeppelin Field Nuremberg

Albert Speer
Zeppelin Field, Nuremberg1934
Ceremonies

Olympic Stadium, Berlin
The government saw the Olympics as a golden
opportunity to promote their Nazi ideology. Film-
maker Leni Riefenstahl, a favorite of Hitler, was
commissioned to film the Games. The film, titled
Olympia, was arguably a piece of propaganda.
Prora 1936 -39
A Nazi-planned spa on the island Rügen, Germany.
The eight buildings are identical, and while they
were planned as a holiday locale, they were never
used for this purpose.

Welthauptstadt Germania , Berlin
„World Capital‟ - projected renewal of Berlin, part
of his vision for the future of Germany after the
planned victory in World War II.
It was designed to become the ultimate
architectural realization of National Socialist
ideology,
It had a giant avenue from south to north, which
was the highlight of the new city.
Adolph Hitler
New Triumphal Arch over the
Brandenburg Gate, Berlin1925

Albert Speer
The Great Hall of the German Empire, Berlin 1942

Nazi Propaganda and Censorship
http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007677
Fascist architecture in Germany
http://www.nyc-architecture.com/ARCH/Notes-Fascist-GER.htm
http://brainz.org/10-most-evil-propaganda-techniques-used-nazis/
10 Most Evil Propaganda Techniques Used by the Nazis

Lecture9 totalitarian architecture

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