The Einstein Tower by Erich Mendelsohn [Architecture Enthusiast]

This was one of Mendelsohn's first major projects, completed when a young Richard Neutra was on his staff, and is his best-known building. Between 1917-1920 Mendelsohn created numerous sketches with the attempt to create a structure that reflects Einstein's groundbreaking theories.
Between 1920 and 1921 he created a building that was as eccentric and nontraditional as the scientific concepts with which it was associated. It brought Mendelsohn fame and established his position in the debates over what contemporary architecture should look like that preoccupied the politicized cultural circles of inter-war Germany.
The Tower unites a domed observatory with an underground laboratory, while housing an unusual optical instrument, an unmovable vertically installed telescope. The requirements for accommodating the delicate optical instruments and other scientific apparatus determined the general elevation and ground plan of the building.
Mendelsohn’s task was to design only an appropriate shell for the technical equipment. For the young and unknown architect this was the first opportunity to realize his own architectural ideas. The Einstein Tower project represented Mendelsohn’s professional breakthrough, bringing him international recognition.
While the scientific requirements of the observatory required a separate foundation for the telescope, the architect had a free hand in designing the architectural shell. He gave the outer facade an organic form with the curves of Expressionism and Art Nouveau.
Mendelsohn planned the tower as a pure reinforced, cast-in-place concrete construction. However, because the technique and the materials were not yet advanced enough, a mixed building technology of concrete and plastered brick masonry had to be used. The effect of a homogeneous concrete structure was achieved with the aid of a fine-grained, ochre-colored plaster finish.
The extravagant appearance makes the building difficult to describe. Its fluid curvilinear, concave and convex forms let it appear sculptured rather than built, resembling in its shape a wind swept submarine with the sprawled arms of a sphinx.
Outcroppings on both sides of the building serve as drain spouts. Unusual features include the angled windows placed in stream-lined niches which are molded into the round corners.
Stylistically, the building is seen as an example of the art of Expressionism, and it has been praised both as the epitome of architectural individuality and as the embodiment of modernity.
Mendelsohn referred to the plasticity of his design as ‘dynamism’.
It is said that Albert Einstein was conservative in his architectural taste and didn’t like the building much. After having been shown through the building by Mendelsohn he gave a one-word review by whispering into the architect’s ear: “ORGANIC”.
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The Einstein Tower by Erich Mendelsohn [Architecture Enthusiast]
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