BERLIN PHILHARMONIE

Hans Scharoun was one of my early heroes. Here was a modernist, yet one who embraced organic geometries and responsive enclosures. I do believe that it was Scharoun’s organic pieces, most notably the Berlin Philharmonie, that opened my eyes to the richness of the curved line.  We first looked Scharoun thru his contribution to the Weisenhoff Housing estate here.

The Philharmonie is a rich and complex geometrical construct. The floor plan does not have two parallel lines. And the three dimensional form has complex curves. Some have described it more like a tent. This resultant organism was captivating to me decades ago, and continues to inspire today.

I visited the building during a college tour thru Western Europe over 35 years ago. This was before architecture entered my life. So my architectural memories and perceptions may not have been as awakened as they could have have been. Nevertheless I do remember my amazement at the building, sitting there in the heart of Berlin, with empty land all around it and the Wall close by. I found the organic expression of the building to be commensurate with the organic qualities of music. Flowing. Overlapping.  Free.

Yet despite my worship of the building and my being in it, I realized that I did not know how it really worked. So I visited the building, again, but this time thru drawing. These drawings are my efforts to understand better this iconic work. I used photos from the web, although I realized after the fact that I have a book of photographs dedicated to this building.

After doing these drawings, I now realize how far more sophisticated this building is than I originally thought. These simple drawings do not do justice to the fine grain of the geometry. While I cannot say that I completely understand it, my understanding has been vastly increased.