He is one of the fathers of industrial design: Who is Peter Behrens?

(1868-1940) German architect, and industrial designer. He pioneered the development of architecture suitable for the requirements of the industrial age. He was born in Hamburg. Like some contemporary architects, he started out as a painter. Between 1886 and 1889 he studied painting and graphics at the applied arts schools in Karlsruhe and Düsseldorf. After 1890, like many of his contemporaries, he turned to the applied arts and then to architecture, with the influence of the ideas spread by the British designer William Morris that artists should also take part in the shaping of industrial products. While he was working as a painter and graphic designer in Munich, he was among the founders of the New Art (Art-Nou-veau) movement in this city in 1893. In 1897, he became one of the founders of the "Vereinigte Werkstatten (United Workshops) artists' union, which aims to introduce art into handicrafts".

In 1899, he joined the "Künstlerkolonie" (Artists' Colony) founded in Darmstadt, following the call of the Grand Duke of Hesse. One of the aims of these artists, who also called themselves "Sevens", was to establish a closer relationship between the various branches of fine arts. Behrens also built his first architectural work, his own house, in this city in 1901. In 1902-1903, he directed the courses opened by the Nuremberg Applied Arts Museum, and in 1903 he was appointed as the director of the Düsseldorf Applied Arts School.

In 1907, he accepted a proposal that could be considered a turning point for him and went to Berlin, where he became an art consultant in the design unit of AEG, which produces electric vehicles. His duties included designing various structures for this firm as well as being an industrial designer; This caused him to turn to architectural problems. Behrens was appointed director of the Architecture Department of the Vienna Academy in 1922. In 1936 he was appointed head of the Architecture Department of the Prussian Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin. He died in this city four years later.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when Behrens was active, European art was under various influences. The Arts and Crafts movement, which started in England, had an impact on applied arts, especially with its thoughts on designing industrial products by competent artists. New-Art, a style with a predominant decorative side, developed by those who opposed the use of historical styles in fine arts and architecture, was the leading art movement in almost all European countries between 1890 and 1910. An association called "Deutsche Werkbund" was established in Germany in 1907. The aim of this association, of which the leading artists and designers of the time were members, was to realize a collaboration between fine artists, applied artists, and architects in order to put an end to the confusion in the field of design in general and industrial design in particular. These years were also a time when the German economy was quite strong. Germany sought wider political influence to put itself ahead of other industrial countries. Parallel to this, its industry began to open up to initiatives that would emphasize and symbolize the power of this country. Berlin had become one of the important centers.

Behrens, who started to work in such an environment, was influenced by these movements on the one hand and was also influential with his own works. His early works were paintings and graphics under the influence of New-Art. Among his work in Munich is the design of glasses to be produced in series for a glass factory. He entered architecture first with the arrangement of exhibition pavilions, followed by the design of a series of residences, starting with his own house in Darmstadt. By the time he came to AEG, he had reached a certain level of experience in both design areas. Works here only include lamps, fans, dynamos, etc. It covered not only the design of electric vehicles such as the company, but also the design of the packaging, brochures, posters, and titled papers of this company. In addition, the arrangement of sales places, exhibition areas, and the design of production structures were among his duties, this last one led him to create some important works of industrial age architecture called contemporary architecture.

The most important structure of Behrens in Berlin is the Turbine Factory of the AEG company. This building is considered one of the first original architectural works of the industrial age. It has a rectangular plan, and the span between its side walls is 25.6 m. The top of the building is covered with a steel-glass construction, allowing the workshops inside to benefit from natural light. Behrens provided a rhythmic movement by protruding the steel carrier legs that taper down and resting on the hinges on the face of the building, and by arranging the glass surfaces between them with an inclination that is drawn in as they rise, thus giving this functional structure a great expressive power. The narrow face of the factory, on the other hand, has a more massive effect with the corner pylons on both sides. Earlier architectural styles were not a source of inspiration in the shaping of the building, and some of its details even pioneered the forms used in the future.

Behrens also designed other production structures for this company in Berlin until World War I. He also designed the housing settlement established in Henningsdorf, near Berlin, for the workers of this company. In this period, there are also structures that he created with a neo-classical (neo-classical) understanding. These are management structures made for owners who want to symbolize themselves with a sense of monumentality.

Behrens turned to designs in line with German expressionist architects in the years following World War I. Bricks and tiles are also dominant in his structures, and a certain plastic effect was desired by using them in a way reminiscent of stalactites and stalagmites. But Behrens returned to simpler forms after a while. His works in this period are no longer as influential as before. However, in England in 1925-1926 WJ. The Basset-Lowke House has made an impact in this country as one of the few examples of contemporary architecture built up to the early 1930s.

Behrens is important because he pioneered two branches of design, one in industrial design and the other in architecture. It was the first time that a versatile artist-architect like him (who was also involved in theater while in Darmstadt) was appointed as the art consultant of a leading industrial institution, It is a turning point in industrial design. The industry, which previously did not mind leaving the shaping of products to non-experts, is starting to share the concerns that artists have been expressing for a while, accepting that daily tools and equipment can be treated as works of art and making the first attempts to ensure the contribution of artists to their design. This is one of the factors that led to the development of industrial design, which has become an independent field of activity today.

Behrens' main contribution is to the field of architecture. With his works, he became the pioneer of a new era by adding the design of production buildings, a subject that was not considered in the field of interest of architects until that time, to this field of activity. He gave the first original examples in this field with the factories he built and influenced the architects after him. Although he used elements specific to the formal language of traditional architecture such as embedded columns and gable roof pediments in his works, his works do not need to be repeated with their simplicity in their details, sometimes with their forms that reflect the load-bearing structure, with their steel carriers and large glass areas, using contemporary building materials and construction methods. they were able to become structures that reached a monumentality without being seen.

There is another important factor that makes Behrens stand out in terms of contemporary architecture and makes it interesting to examine his life and works. This is because it has turned its office in Berlin, one of the leading design workshops of its time, into a place where young architects have the opportunity to work. Indeed, three of the four greatest architects of our century seem to have benefited from this opportunity: Walter Gropius 1907-1910, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe 1908-1911, and Le Corbusier worked in Behrens' office in 1910-1911. His contribution to the international arena should be evaluated from this perspective as well.

Behrens is among the architects who made the most important contribution to the development of contemporary architecture at the beginning of the 20th century, with his works, his approach to architecture, and his influence on the next generations.