The firstWerkbund Exhibition of 1914 was held atRheinpark inCologne, Germany.
TheDeutscher Werkbund, was a group of architects, designers, artists, and industrialists whose aim was to promote the collaboration of art, industry, and craftsmanship through education, publications, lectures, and other means. Founding members includedHermann Muthesius,Peter Behrens,Theodor Fischer,Fritz Schumacher, andHeinrich Tessenow.
The Werkbund exhibition of 1914 in Cologne was the first exhibition of the Deutscher Werkbund. It opened to the public on May 15, 1914. The exhibition lasted only three months and was prematurely shut down due to the outbreak of World War I.[1]
The innovativeGlass Pavilion was built by German architect Bruno Taut in 1914. Glashaus has been identified as an early example of theExpressionist architecture movement.[2](financed by the German glass industriesto promote the use of glass in building)
The Werkbund Pavilion was a model factory and office building designed byWalter Gropius andAdolf Meyer.[3]
The Farbenschau Pavilion by Hermann Muthesius was aneoclassical style. The building features a large dome and paired columns along the front facade. This pavilion showcased exhibits for chemical dyes.[4]
The Festive hall by Peter Behrens was also a ofneoclassical style with resemblance toPalladio's designs.[4]
The Werkbund Theater is the work of Belgian architectHenri van de Velde. The theater building could be described as a trailblazer for a style we now understand is theInternational Style. The Werkbund Theater is featured in Walter Gropius's Bauhaus bookInternational Architecture (1925).[4]
The theater housed many contributions from German artists, including the fountain in front of theater, sculpted byGeorg Kolbe. The sculpture in the middle of the fountain was a human form standing on one leg in a bath of water, centered in the front of the entrance to the building.[4]
In a different style,Hermann Obrist had multiple sculptures around the theater including two relief sculptures resembling the shape of an eye. Obrist also had two freestanding sculptures, one was a fountain unconnected to a water source. His contributions to the theater had a theme of nature, but instead of being smooth and sleek like the buildings facade or Kolbe's sculpture, Obrist's designs included many sharp points. Van de Velde seemed to debate the addition of Oboist's contributions due to their overwhelming contrast, and the pieces were added just in time for the exhibition.[4]
Some of the other art contributions occurred inside the theater, includingMilly Steger's sculptural relief,Ludwig von Hofmann's painted murals, along with Lisa Brentano's painted tiles.[4]
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