26 September 2014

Thinking "Architecture in the Alps ≠ Modern Architecture"? - Surprise!


If you by chance were thinking "Architecture in the Alps ≠ Modern Architecture" - you would be in for a big surprise.

Every time I go to Munich – I just came back – I'm astonished how much modern architecture is put into place in this area, public and private. Actually, I don't stop and document interesting construction often enough. And it pops up not only in Munich, a cosmopolitan city with a metro population of  1.49mm.

No – you see interesting examples of Modernism in small villages in farm areas, which are very much imprinted by typical alpine architecture influenced by functionality (i.e., an integrated barn, roof overhangs to protect stacked firewood from snow, etc).
But perhaps not by accident was this beautiful pre-alpine area (locally referred to as "Das Blaue Land") home to then-radical modernism before: The "Blaue Reiter" school of painters, formed in 1911.

A few examples observed over the last weeks:

http://www.ModernSouthFlorida.com/



http://www.ModernSouthFlorida.com

Modern Florida architecture by estate agent Tobias Kaiser
(from top: Linde HQ, Pullach; Buchheim museum, Berg; Kindergarden, Feldafing; traditional Bavarian house and modern construction directly opposite, Feldafing; Highschool, Grünwald; Elementary School expansion, Starnberg) Photos: Kaiser

Have you been in the Munich area? Architecturally, what did you notice?