DOI issue:
No. 132 (February, 1908)
DOI article:Deubner, L.: Professor Läuger's gardens at Mannheim
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28253#0317
Prof. Lauger s Gardens at Mannheim
BATH-HOUSE, MANNHEIM EXHIBITION
DESIGNED BY PROF. MAX LAUGER
The balh-house (see above and p. 299) formed
the central point of the entire scheme. The idea
of the architect was to provide the possessor
with the amenities of open-air bathing combined
with the aesthetic gratification afforded by the
garden environment. In addition to a domed
apartment which serves as a bath-room, the house
contains a comfortably equipped dressing-room
and a pleasant sitting-room. Communication
with the outside bath, which is a rectangular
basin without covering, is through a forecourt,
the columns of which, like the entrance - lobby,
are decorated with brightly - coloured Lauger
tiles.
The two rose-gardens which Professor Lauger
designed for the exhibition (see pp. 298, 300 ) were
additional to the fifteen above mentioned, and were
intended less as adjuncts to a dwelling-house than
as independent ornamental gardens. In that to
the left of the main entrance (p. 300) the
effect, as carried out, in spite of the almost
perplexing display of architectural accessories,
is much more subdued than would appear from
the drawing. This result was reached by varying
the level of the ground in different parts of the
garden, in consequence of which they appeared
to be more sharply divided than if they had been
of uniform level. Thus the innermost portion
with the fountain was on the same level as the
peripheral sections, while surrounding the inner-
most portion the ground was raised so as to form
a terrace from which the whole of the garden could
be surveyed.
Professor Lauger has without doubt provided a
fruitful source of suggestion in these Mannheim
gardens. But the problem of artistic garden-
planning, as it presents itself at the present day,
cannot be entirely solved by exhibition gardens. The
garden which is to conform to the conditions of life
nowadays cannot be moulded on the formal French
garden of the 17th and 18th centuries, nor must it
follow the garden of theso-calledBiedermeyerperiod,
with its flavour of sentimentalism, however much
may be learned from them both. The condition
which the modern garden has before all to fulfil is
that of a pleasant out-of-door habitation, and the
needs of everyday life must determine its develop-
ment. L. Deubner.
301
BATH-HOUSE, MANNHEIM EXHIBITION
DESIGNED BY PROF. MAX LAUGER
The balh-house (see above and p. 299) formed
the central point of the entire scheme. The idea
of the architect was to provide the possessor
with the amenities of open-air bathing combined
with the aesthetic gratification afforded by the
garden environment. In addition to a domed
apartment which serves as a bath-room, the house
contains a comfortably equipped dressing-room
and a pleasant sitting-room. Communication
with the outside bath, which is a rectangular
basin without covering, is through a forecourt,
the columns of which, like the entrance - lobby,
are decorated with brightly - coloured Lauger
tiles.
The two rose-gardens which Professor Lauger
designed for the exhibition (see pp. 298, 300 ) were
additional to the fifteen above mentioned, and were
intended less as adjuncts to a dwelling-house than
as independent ornamental gardens. In that to
the left of the main entrance (p. 300) the
effect, as carried out, in spite of the almost
perplexing display of architectural accessories,
is much more subdued than would appear from
the drawing. This result was reached by varying
the level of the ground in different parts of the
garden, in consequence of which they appeared
to be more sharply divided than if they had been
of uniform level. Thus the innermost portion
with the fountain was on the same level as the
peripheral sections, while surrounding the inner-
most portion the ground was raised so as to form
a terrace from which the whole of the garden could
be surveyed.
Professor Lauger has without doubt provided a
fruitful source of suggestion in these Mannheim
gardens. But the problem of artistic garden-
planning, as it presents itself at the present day,
cannot be entirely solved by exhibition gardens. The
garden which is to conform to the conditions of life
nowadays cannot be moulded on the formal French
garden of the 17th and 18th centuries, nor must it
follow the garden of theso-calledBiedermeyerperiod,
with its flavour of sentimentalism, however much
may be learned from them both. The condition
which the modern garden has before all to fulfil is
that of a pleasant out-of-door habitation, and the
needs of everyday life must determine its develop-
ment. L. Deubner.
301