DOI Heft:
No. 104 (November, 1901)
DOI Artikel:Fred, Alfred W.: The work of Prof. J. M. Olbrich at the Darmstadt artists' colony
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19874#0104
Professor J. M. Olbrich
the art of transforming an artistic idea into details, the decoration of the doorway contrasts well
of utilising it to its last shred. Herein, however, with the white of the plaster applied to this as
lies the chief fault in his manner, for, like almost to all of Olbrich's houses. The interior of
all artists, he has the defects of his qualities. the house has, in the upper storey, a central hall,
Very often Olbrich's houses, more especially intended for small exhibitions, and to the right
his interiors, suffer from a superabundance of ideas and left the studios of the several colonists—two
and details. Thus it will happen that they some- rooms for each member, placed one behind the
times lack repose, and lose the uniformity which other, and separated towards the fagade by a
should never be absent from a constructive design, corridor. By this arrangement good light is pro-
But it must be admitted that Olbrich has shown vided from above as well as from the sides, and
considerable improvement in this respect. Any the artist is able to vary his distances, as he has
one knowing his work of former years must be the whole depth of the building at his disposal,
aware how he has devoted himself latterly rather The lower storey contains living rooms for the
to the simple and the constructive than to the bachelors, commercial rooms, as well as the
decorative. general fencing, gymnastic and recreation rooms
Passing through the gate of the Colony, for the artists,
and proceeding down the street past Behrens' Right and left of the Ernst Ludwig House the
house, we arrive at an open space, with a slight colony spreads out with the dwelling-houses of
downward gradient. On the top, in the centre of Gliickert, Christiansen, Keller, Habich, and Deiters,
the site presented to the
Colony, stands the Ernst
Ludwig House—so called
after the Grand Duke, the
creator and protector of the
Settlement—and beside it
the artists' common working
and "representation" build-
ing. The House extends
lengthwise, and, dominating
the other buildings, forms
the middle portion, the
intellectual centre of the
whole. The Ernst Ludwig
House has two storeys, of
which, however, only the
upper one—looked at from
below—is fully seen in the
facade, as, owing to the fact
that the house has been built
on a gradient, it has been
found possible to extend the
ground floor at the back as
a full, high storey. The
house has a flat roof. The
facade receives its character
from the portal, which, placed
in the centre, is reached by
an open flight of steps. It
is broadly constructed and
flanked by two heroic figures
of a man and a woman, by
Ludwig Habich, the sculptor
of the Colony. Some gold house designed by j. m. olbrich
ornamentation employed for prom « olbrich Architiktur" (Berlin ■ Ernst Wasmuth).
92
the art of transforming an artistic idea into details, the decoration of the doorway contrasts well
of utilising it to its last shred. Herein, however, with the white of the plaster applied to this as
lies the chief fault in his manner, for, like almost to all of Olbrich's houses. The interior of
all artists, he has the defects of his qualities. the house has, in the upper storey, a central hall,
Very often Olbrich's houses, more especially intended for small exhibitions, and to the right
his interiors, suffer from a superabundance of ideas and left the studios of the several colonists—two
and details. Thus it will happen that they some- rooms for each member, placed one behind the
times lack repose, and lose the uniformity which other, and separated towards the fagade by a
should never be absent from a constructive design, corridor. By this arrangement good light is pro-
But it must be admitted that Olbrich has shown vided from above as well as from the sides, and
considerable improvement in this respect. Any the artist is able to vary his distances, as he has
one knowing his work of former years must be the whole depth of the building at his disposal,
aware how he has devoted himself latterly rather The lower storey contains living rooms for the
to the simple and the constructive than to the bachelors, commercial rooms, as well as the
decorative. general fencing, gymnastic and recreation rooms
Passing through the gate of the Colony, for the artists,
and proceeding down the street past Behrens' Right and left of the Ernst Ludwig House the
house, we arrive at an open space, with a slight colony spreads out with the dwelling-houses of
downward gradient. On the top, in the centre of Gliickert, Christiansen, Keller, Habich, and Deiters,
the site presented to the
Colony, stands the Ernst
Ludwig House—so called
after the Grand Duke, the
creator and protector of the
Settlement—and beside it
the artists' common working
and "representation" build-
ing. The House extends
lengthwise, and, dominating
the other buildings, forms
the middle portion, the
intellectual centre of the
whole. The Ernst Ludwig
House has two storeys, of
which, however, only the
upper one—looked at from
below—is fully seen in the
facade, as, owing to the fact
that the house has been built
on a gradient, it has been
found possible to extend the
ground floor at the back as
a full, high storey. The
house has a flat roof. The
facade receives its character
from the portal, which, placed
in the centre, is reached by
an open flight of steps. It
is broadly constructed and
flanked by two heroic figures
of a man and a woman, by
Ludwig Habich, the sculptor
of the Colony. Some gold house designed by j. m. olbrich
ornamentation employed for prom « olbrich Architiktur" (Berlin ■ Ernst Wasmuth).
92