Studio: international art (24.1902)

Artists Colony at Darmstadt

"vases" by peter behrens

I am not greatly enamoured of the gentleman's people no longer felt and perceived the practical

room, which is in violet-japanned poplar wood, utility of the object, and thus the desire to use it

The effeminate tone and the monotonously linear was decreased. Then came the realisation of the

ornamentation are, to my mind, displeasing. The physical pleasure existing in the useful and the

bath-room, with its walls in mosaics, deserves a suitable, and by degrees people wanted to see the

word of praise. intention, to observe the suitability of things.

The space on the attic floor has been most They advanced further, and laid stress on the

cleverly utilised. The lining of the ceilings, the floor purpose and the construction; made them more

boards and furniture, being all made of the same prominent, and produced forms which invited use;

material (natural pine), harmonise very well. and finally arrived at the point of logical obser-

After this somewhat bald description of Professor vation in its artistic aspect. This development of

Peter Behrens' house, it would be well to hear artistic perception, combined with the progress

what the artist himself has to say about his inten- made in our technique and the newly discovered

tions. He remarks— materials, is at once a guarantee of the fertility of

"Architecture is the art of building, and the modern style and its justification. Thus we

comprises . in its name two ideas : the mastery shall now be able, owing to the combination of the

of the practical, and the art of the beautiful, two ideas of art, to speak of architecture corres-

There is something exhilarating in being able ponding in the highest degree with the spirit

to combine in one word the two ideas—that of of the time.".........."In the house

practical utility and that of abstract beauty— erected by myself, I was constrained by local
which unfortunately have too often been opposed conditions to confine the area of the ground
to each other. But we have left that time behind plan to the utmost possible extent, and, on
us, and we may affirm with satisfaction that the the other hand, compelled to provide the rooms
indications of conciliation are becoming more required for the accommodation of an average
pronounced. The practical object does not family. On that account the rooms had to be
seem to be any longer entirely subservient arranged in a way providing for convenient inter-
to mere utility, but combines therewith a communication between the rooms belonging
certain degree of pleasure. Efforts were made together by reason of the purpose they served,
formerly to relieve the bareness of every-day My idea was that members of the family should
utility by embellishing it, adding ornaments to have the opportunity of being together or retiring
plain, serviceable objects, and hiding the mere into privacy, just as they pleased. This was effected
prosaic purpose. The object was often loaded by a system of constructing rooms of various
with unnecessary, purposeless additions, and thus dimensions. In order that the music-room—really
lost all its value. In other respects, too, these the principal apartment of the house—should be
superfluous additions had a detrimental effect; loftier than the rooms surrounding it, it was neces-

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