UIA Rhein-Main 2002

Architecture in Hesse: Frankfurt am Main
What do architects think of when they hear the word 'Frankfurt'? Of the 'New Frankfurt' by Ernst May from the 1920s? The museum river bank which arose in the euphoria of the 'Golden Eighties'? Or the impressive skyline, unique in Germany and Europe, which just seems to keep on growing?
Frankfurt am Main, the smallest global city in the world, is all of these things at once. See for yourself.

Contents

Historical overview
The historical core
The new Frankfurt and the modern age: 1920-1930
The 'Golden Eighties' and post-modernism: The museum river bank
Frankfurt today


Ernst May and the New Frankfurt 1925-1930
Römerstadt residential estate
Bruchfeldstrasse residential estate ('Zickzackhausen'/zigzag estate)
Hellerhof residential estate
IG-Farben tower building
Wholesale market hall
Technical administration building of Hoechst AG
Central station (Hauptbahnhof)


Museums
Schirn Arts Hall
Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Applied Art / Arts and Crafts
German Architecture Museum
German Postal Museum
Museum of Prehistory and Early History - Carmelite Monastery


Construction in Frankfurt since 1990: the skyline
Commerzbank
Main Tower
Trade Fair Tower (Messeturm)
Japan Center
DG Bank tower building

Historical Overview

The historical core
Even today, the "Römerberg" with the silhouette of the town hall is still the heart of the city. No other historical building in the city is as unmistakably typical of Frankfurt as the 'Römer'. About 3000 years of human settlements can be documented in the city centre. The name 'Römerberg' (Roman hill) only came into fashion in the early 15th century after the house known as 'Zum Römer' had been altered for use as the town hall. The most important building on Römerberg was and is the Römer itself, which is still the seat of the municipal government and some of the municipal offices.
The Römerberg was a market and fair area, a market place and an execution site; it was the scene of tournaments, shooting contests, theatre festivals and all sorts of popular festivals. It was also the place were emperors were elected and crowned. The old city, with its old market which became famous because of the processions of emperors and kings from the cathedral to the Römer, was completely destroyed in a night-time bomb raid in March 1944.
One of the few original half-timbered buildings that is still preserved is the Wertheim building. The only part of the "Römer" which was still standing after the air raid was the Gothic facade with its characteristic stepped gables.
The first clearing and reinforcement work on the Römer began as early as 1945/1946. It was not until 1975 that the city went to the expense of a complete restoration of the facade of the Römer as it was in 1897. The picturesque opposite row of half-timbered buildings, the so-called eastern terrace, was completely rebuilt to the original plans between 1981 and 1986. On the middle of the Römer hill, Justitia keeps watch on the Justice Fountain. The architecture of the row of houses in Saalgasse forms a contemporary contrast to the historical Römerberg.

The new Frankfurt and the modern age: 1920-1930
Political and social upheaval resulted from the First World War. Architecture was confronted with two problems: on the one hand, the housing shortage needed to be alleviated in spite of the shortage of public funds. On the other hand, an appropriate stylistic form needed to be implemented as an expression of the changing times. There was no money for impressive buildings to justify the historicist building style of the Wilhelmine era, nor was there any social foundation to appreciate such buildings. The 'New Building Style' and Expressionist buildings presented themselves as a stylistic alternative in the Frankfurt of the early 1920s. The prime examples of Expressionist architecture in Germany include the work of the architects Peter Behrens, who built the administrative building for the Hoechst company, and Hans Poelzig, who designed the administrative building for IG Farben. The wholesale market hall (Martin Elsässer) is another important Expressionist building in Frankfurt.
A large number of buildings in the "New Building" style in Frankfurt document the urban and social involvement of the architectural avant garde of the period. The term 'the new Frankfurt' found worldwide acclaim due to the municipal construction councillor Ernst May and the spacious residential estates which were built under him. Ernst May brought leading architects to the city such as Walter Gropius, Max Taut, Mart Stam, Leberecht Migge and Ferdinand Kramer to solve a variety of construction tasks - not only for residential projects.
His extensions to the city are designed as independent units which are grouped around the existing urban area. Large estates such as 'Römerstadt', 'Bruchfeldstrasse' ('zigzag estate') and 'Bornheimer Hang' were built. Characteristic elements are his free-standing elongated buildings which are set in relation to light, air, nature and the landscape and which have a simple, aesthetic and satisfying design. Within a period of about 5 years, over 10,000 residential units were built in May's estates and groups of buildings.
When May left and 'New Building' fell into ideological disrepute, the construction of modern residential estates in Frankfurt was almost completely halted. It was not until the reconstruction period in the 1950s that his style was followed again, although not with the same quality.

The 'Golden Eighties' and post-modernism: the museum river bank
Since the beginning of the 1980s, Frankfurt has seen a transition towards the historical, urban and magnificent. A positive development: the 'city as an experience' and 'art' are serviced and encouraged by luxurious museum buildings, impressive office towers and the reconstructed historical setting of the Römerberg. The disadvantage is that this has led to housing shortages and inflationary rent prices.
In 1962/1963 there was a cathedral and Römer development competition. The space between the cathedral and the Römerberg had remained unused as a result of the war damage and was even used as wasteland for car parking, so the city developed a programme which aimed to promote the development of this area for cultural and public purposes. This led to the construction of the Historical Museum and the Technical Town Hall. In 1978 the city council decided to reconstruct the eastern side of the Römerberg with the 'eastern terrace' and 'Black star'.
The functionalist architecture continues in historicist (eastern terrace, Römer extensions), impressive (Schirn, art hall, Römer underground station) and postmodern (Saalgassen houses, Museum of Modern Art) buildings. In spite of these differences in architectural styles - or perhaps because of them - Frankfurt has the special attraction of a surprising coherence of urban design. The museum river bank also reflects this transition. 'Experience' is the prime characteristic and displaces functionalist consistency.

Frankfurt today: the skyline
In Frankfurt's city centre, the groups of buildings in the banking area and the trade fair complex form another highlight of urban development. Both are developing into coherent complexes by the addition of numerous new office buildings. The urban districts which form the traditional centre for finance and trade are in Bockenheimer Landstrasse, Gallusanlage, Taunusanlage, Neue Mainzer Strasse and Ludwig Erhard Anlage. Spectacular new buildings have been and still are being built on the western axes and sites in Hamburger Allee, Mainzer Landstrasse and around the station complex. The skyline in the west of the city is in a constant state of transition and is becoming more and more striking. It forms the economic heart of the city.


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Ernst May and the new Frankfurt 1925-1930

During the period when Ernst May was the director of the Frankfurt building authority, numerous large public buildings and over 15,000 residential units were built by the city of Frankfurt itself or the housing associations, mainly in satellite estates along the Nidda valley. Rationalisation of the construction process and standardisation of the residential layout (e.g. the Frankfurt kitchen by Schütte-Lihotzky) facilitated generous implementation of large-scale building sites and an economically viable reduction in rents. The use of prefabricated wall panels from a municipal panel factory in later residential estates was less successful.
Increasingly systematic rationalisation and the necessity of economies led to ever more standardised estates of elongated rectangular blocks (e.g. Westhausen).

Römerstadt residential estate

1927- 28
Architects E. May, H. Boehm, W. Bangert (planning); E. May, C. H. Rudloff, K. Blattner, G. Schaup, F. Schuster

On the site of an old Roman settlement, this satellite town with 1,220 dwellings extends about 1.5 km along a stretch of high ground above the Nidda valley. The development consists partly of terraced houses with long kitchen gardens (garden architect: Leberecht Migge) and partly of blocks of flats, and the road follows the curve of the high ground. Prominent battlement-like vantage points look down over the Nidda valley. The only infrastructure facilities are a shopping centre on Hadrianstrasse and a school by Martin Elsaesser (Im Burgfeld 1-13, 1928-1929, now the Geschwister-Scholl school, extended 1992-1994 by Günter Behnisch + Partner).

Bruchfeldstrasse estate ('Zickzackhausen/zigzag estate')

Breubergstrasse
1926-27
Architects E. May, H. Boehm, C. H. Rudloff

The Bruchfeldstrasse estate was built in 1926-27 on behalf of a company specialising in small dwellings (AG für kleine Wohnungen). Because of the sawtooth-like ground layout, the estate is popularly known as the 'zigzag estate'. This layout of the residential blocks was designed to achieve the best possible lighting for the dwellings. It also uses design forms which originate from Expressionism. The estate contains terraced single family houses, but most of the buildings are three storey blocks of flats, and there is a multi-story central building which visually dominates and rounds off the narrow eastern end of the residential blocks. The blocks are brick-built and generally contain 6 flats. The space bounded by the buildings between Bruchfeldstrasse and Breubergstrasse is systematically designed as a garden landscape, with zigzag gardens and playgrounds.

Hellerhof residential estate

Frankenallee 152-174a
1930-32
Architect M. Stam

This estate of 1,194 residential units between Frankenallee and the railway lines is split into four quadrants by a crossroads. Two-storey end buildings screen the east-west blocks from Frankenallee. The central facilities and shops are situated where the main roads cross. The third, northern part of the development was rebuilt in a different form after the destruction of the Second World War.
The Hellerhof residential estate was built in several phases between 1929 and 1932 to plans by the architect Mart Stam. Work on the estate was continued between 1934 and 1938 under the architect Karl Blattner. Elongated blocks of three to four storeys between Frankenallee and Idsteiner Street were deliberately rounded off by lower transverse wings facing Frankenallee. These two-storey buildings with their zigzag layout are among the best examples of social housing projects in the Bauhaus style. In the Hellerhof residential estate, as in Westhausen and Praunheim, the buildings have outdoor access balconies. In spite of the high social and economic expectations associated with this type of building, it did not become established in Frankfurt.

IG-Farben building

Grüneburgplatz / Fürstenbergerstrasse
1929-31; 1998-2001
Architects H. Poelzig; Dissing + Weitling

Hans Poelzig's modern administration building was built as the central headquarters of the chemicals company IG Farbenindustrie AG. A south-facing, convex administrative wing links six transverse buildings with a pillar-free structure which permits a variable sub-division of open plan offices and individual offices. The symmetrical axis of the ensemble, which is 240 metres in width, is accentuated by the succession of rooms in the entrance area and the north casino building with its exterior access stairs. The main building and casino are steel skeleton structures with travertine facade cladding. Although the ensemble has individual elements taken from 'New Building', the dominant style is monumental and classicist, which has led some to malign the architect's alleged 'pre-Fascist' style. After the Second World War, this administrative building was used as the headquarters of the US forces in Germany. Today, after renovation and careful alterations (architects: Dissing + Weitling, Copenhagen), the building is used by humanities faculties of the University of Frankfurt.

Wholesale market hall

Sonnemannstrasse / Oskar von Miller Strasse
1927-28
Architect M. Elsässer

When it was constructed, this building by Martin Elsässer, with its ground area of 250 x 50 m, was regarded as the largest of its kind. The 250 metre long building, which is close to the city centre and supplied directly by rail and from the harbour, has two reinforcing end buildings (administration, cooling house) and a pillar-free roof of 15 arched sections with a thickness of 7.5 cm and a span of 50 metres. The outer walls consist of a reinforced concrete framework. They are glazed on the long side of the hall and bricked at the ends. At the same time as the main hall, outbuildings and supplementary buildings were also built (import hall, residential wing). At present, a possible use of the building by the European Central Bank is being discussed.

Technical administration building of Hoechst AG

Brüningstrasse 64
1920-24
Architect P. Behrens

The administrative building of Hoechst AG by Peter Behrens is one of the outstanding examples of expressive architecture in Germany. It is opposite an older office block of the company on the other side of Brüningstrasse and consists of two slightly angled administrative blocks which follow the line of the road and are joined to the dominant central section. Next to the main entrance is the clock tower which has become the company's icon and links to a parabolic connecting bridge to the old building. The main entrance leads into the central hall of pillars with its walls of bricks - darker at the bottom and lighter at the top - and is illuminated by three glass skylight domes, creating an almost sacred atmosphere. The hall was restored in the 1980s.

Central station (Hauptbahnhof)

1883-88, 1924
Architect H. Eggert

As the first prizewinner in a competition in which Wallot, Mylius and Bluntschli also participated, the Prussian councillor for construction, Hermann Eggert, built the central station (Hauptbahnhof) which was designed to replace the different western stations and which became the largest building of its type in Europe. The design of the reception building is vaguely based on the infantry barracks in Gutleutstrasse which were built ten years earlier. A central hall combines with tower-like corner buildings and the lower buildings in between to form an impressive facade facing the city. The Perron halls were built under councillor Schwedler and have arched steel girders and glazed end lunettes. Two extra platform halls were added to the station in 1924.

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Museums

Kunsthalle (art hall)

Schirn
Am Römerberg
1983-85
Architects D. Bangert, B. Jansen, S. Scholz, A. Schultes, Berlin

The Schirn Kunsthalle (art hall) was one of the most controversial projects in the rebuilding of the historical area between the Römer and the cathedral. The massive, sandstone-faced building follows the historical East-West axis (cathedral-Römer). A circular segment in the north and the south theatre mark the north-south line of the old city traffic route. The idea of 'penetrating the circle' is implemented by the basic elements of the gallery and the round tower.
The higher round building, with its glass dome which is barely visible from the outside, underlines the intersection. In front of the circular segment building there is an enormous raised concrete slab which serves no functional purpose. The building contains exhibition rooms, a youth music school, a café and an art bookshop.

Museum of Modern Art

Domstrasse / Braubachstrasse
1987-91
Architect H. Hollein, Vienna

The design by the Austrian architect Hans Hollein started with the restrictions of an elongated, triangular plot and the wish of the client (the city of Frankfurt) to give architectural character to this point in the city which had become rather nondescript as a result of war damage and reconstruction. The building is treated as a solitary structure, and it covers the entire available area. The museum is arranged axially around a central hall which is lit from above. The main line of access, which begins at the entrance in the south-west corner and which the architect calls a 'by-pass', disturbs the symmetry.
In the interior, the building has 3 main storeys which are reached via the wide hall and the sequence of staircases and walkways distributed through the building, which create unusual spatial contexts and views. Playfully applied applications and the symbolic use of reverential forms with an archaic character are elements of a post-modernist spatial design with an artistic force which competes with the exhibits. The materials used for the museum's exterior are related to the structural style of the surrounding buildings.

Museum of Applied Art / Museum of Arts and Crafts

Schaumainkai 17
1982-85
Architect R. Meier, New York

The new museum building by Richard Meier is part of the overall concept of the museum river bank. It therefore had to take into account the existing Villa Metzler, the park with its mature trees and the general landscape of the river Main. The ground layout and elevation of the building arose from observation, repetition and multiplication of the dimensions and scale of the Villa Metzler. The resulting square structural pattern is continued in the park design, the passages and the park architecture. The intellectual character of the design is underlined by the white porcelain enamelled metal panel facade. It conveys lightness and clarity. When it was completed, the building was regarded as a design which strongly advocated the viability of modern construction without post-modernist additions.

German Architecture Museum

Schaumainkai 43
1981-84
Architect O. M. Ungers
www.dam-online.de

The original neo-classicist villa was unsuitable for use as a museum building, so its core was removed and the interior was completely rebuilt. The result was a building within a building, which stimulated the architect to continue the process: in the middle of the building he built a literal building within a building which people can walk through. Exhibitions in keeping with the significance of the German Architecture Museum were only possible after the addition of the new parts of the building around the villa, especially the light courtyard. The red sandstone of the extensions at the front of the building is the same material that is commonly used in buildings in the area, but it contrasts with the grey colour of the original villa.

Museum of Communication/German Postal Museum

Schaumainkai 53
1984-90
Architects G. Behnisch + Partner, B. Wichmann, M.-W. Kahl

The three-story new building parallel to the side boundary of the plot is clearly set apart from a previously existing villa and contains only some of the exhibits - the rest being housed on two levels below the garden of the villa. The two exhibition areas are linked by a glass-roofed foyer which looks like an oblique cylindrical segment. The structure above ground level is slim and "technical" in its design, which corresponds with the desire of the postal service to present itself as a modern communication system. Its colour and form fit in with the neighbouring villa. The villa is used for administrative purposes.

Carmelite Monastery, Museum of Prehistory and Early History

Karmelitergasse 1
from 1246, 1424, 1460-1523, 1955-57, 1989
Architects M. Gerthener, J. P. Kleihues

The mendicant order of the Carmelites set up a monastery near the former city wall from 1246 onwards. Its church was originally spanned only by a wooden vault, but from 1424 it was extended in the late Gothic style under Madern Gerthener. After it was destroyed in the war the convent was rebuilt in 1955-57, but the original coherence of the complex was only restored with the elongated new building designed by the architect Josef Paul Kleihues. The new museum building on the grounds of the former Carmelite monastery completes the existing block structure and restores the character of Mainzer Gasse as a distinctive street setting. Openings in the natural stone facade provide views of the historical monastery buildings. The exhibition area also includes the late Gothic monastery church; the roof above its nave has a supporting structure of cut steel sheeting in the style of pointed Gothic arches.


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Construction in Frankfurt since 1990: The skyline

Commerzbank

Taunustor, Kirchnerstrasse
1997
Architects Sir Norman Foster + Partners

The building rests on 111 pillars which are 1.5-1.8 metres in diameter and reach down to a depth of 50 metres. A slab with a thickness of 1.5-2.0 metres and edges of 60 metres rests on these pillars. Above this slab, the steel frame structure of the tower building rises up to a height of 259 metres. With its antenna, the building has a total height of about 300 metres. The floor loads in the individual storeys are supported by eight-storey frames. In the equilateral triangular building with its arched segments, all nine storeys have a winter garden which partly replaces the air conditioning system. The curtain facade is traditional in its visual design.
The windows can be opened, are equipped with the most advanced technology and consist of two layers to facilitate ventilation and heating.

Main Tower

Neue Mainzer Strasse 52
Architects Schweger + Partner

As an expression of the city and the company, the tower building seeks to reflect a social responsibility towards the employees and the people of the city. With its innovative concept and its resolution of the shaft structure into a square and a circle to express the duality of the city side and park side, the tower won the international competition in 1991. Its goal of ensuring an unmistakable appearance, long-term rentability, low operating costs and ecological compatibility are fulfilled in the building's provisional title as a 'low-energy building'.

Trade Fair Tower (Messeturm)

Ludwig-Erhard-Anlage 1
1988-1991
Architects H. Jahn, R. Murphy

The tallest office building in Europe, the Trade Fair Tower (Messeturm), rises close to the festival hall (Festhalle) and hall 1 of the Trade Fair complex. The tower uses the forms of Art Deco and the resources of technology to symbolise wealth, creativity and a spirit of innovation. The tower was built in 1988-91 under the direction of Tishman Speyer Properties. The height of 256 m was reached by slip form construction. The classical sub-division into the plinth, tower shaft and tip can be clearly seen. From the square plinth rises a tower shaft which initially has a square floor plan, but then has flattened corners. The cylinder of the upper tower then leads into the three-storey pyramid of the tip of the tower.

Japan Center

Office tower building
Neue Mainzer Strasse / Taunustor 1-3
1993-1996
Architects Ganz + Rolfes, Berlin

With a height of only 114 m and a strictly square sub-division inside and outside, the new building for the Japanese trade centre not only fits in with the surrounding architecture and garden architecture, it also shows similarities with oriental aesthetics. The dimensions and details of the overall shape are reminiscent of the Tatami mat which measures 1.8 x 0.9 metres. The austerity of the outside facade is alleviated by a sub-division of the tower into three sections of 6 storeys and a slightly overhanging roof. The roof area contains a restaurant with small, intensively planted Japanese gardens. Similar gardens are also found on the ground floor.

DG tower building

'Kronenhochhaus' (crown tower building)
Mainzer Landstrasse 58
1990-93
Architects Kohn Pedersen Fox, New York, with W. Nägele, D. Hofmann, J. Tiedemann + Partner, Frankfurt am Main

One of the most idiosyncratic and "intelligent" new buildings in the banking district is the DG Bank tower known as the 'Kronenhochhaus' (crown tower) because of its overhanging roof section. It consists of a horizontal section of 8-12 storeys, which includes a loading area and winter garden, and contains stacked and interlinking elements which reflect and blend with the architecture of the surrounding area . This 'sub-structure' leads upwards in two shafts which are linked by a rail-like element. At 50 storeys the tower reaches a height of 208 m. The chapter-like top of the building seems to bear up the sky.
The design was commended in 1988 by the American periodical 'Progressive Architecture'.

Further information on Frankfurt am Main can be obtained under the following addresses:
www.frankfurt.de
www.boomtown-frankfurt.de