This German architect, author and diplomat was born Adam Gottlieb Hermann Muthesius in 1861
in a small village in Sachsen-Anhalt as the son of a master builder. This
pioneer of design is little-known in the Anglo-Saxon world, but is seen as a
pivotal person in the development of modern design and architecture throughout
continental Europe. He is renowned for promoting the ideas of the Arts and Crafts
Movement within the German-speaking world. He is best-known for influencing
early modernism in architecture and design as one of the founders of the Deutscher Werkbund and Bauhaus.
Muthesius started his academic career studying
philosophy and history in Berlin, but changed to study architecture in
Charlottenburg after two years in 1883 whilst working as an architect
apprentice. After completing his studies he worked in Tokyo between 1887 and
1891 before returning to Germany to work for the Prussian Ministry of Public
works. In 1895 he studied in Italy on a stipend before accepting the position
of cultural attaché at the German Embassy in London. Here he worked for the next
six years, returning to Berlin in 1902. As an avid admirer of English culture
he was met with some resistance and accused of unpatriotic behaviour in Germany.
He was also accused of spying by the British. I will focus on the first volume:
Band 1 Entwicklung des Englischen Hauses
(Development of the English House).
Hermann Muthesius also wrote books and articles. His most
famous work is Das Englische Haus, a
three volume report on residential architecture, domestic life and design,
published in 1904-05. In 1908 the joined edition was first published. The book
starts with the observation that the English have their own sensibilities and
customs that set them apart from continental Europe. Although a narrow channel
separates the island from the mainland there have been few influences from
there. Instead, Muthesius states, cultural influences have been taken from
further afield and have been appropriated by the English. [This isn't completely true but fits well with how the English saw -and
still see- themselves.] This particular character is especially expressed
in their buildings. [This is the premise
of the book "The English House".]
The title page of Das Englische Haus (the second
edition of 1908) on the left. In the middle a typical floor plan of a house by
an Arts and Crafts architect with a free asymmetrical layout. On the right a
picture of an example of a house with a dominant chimney stack that was included in the book as typical for an English domestic home.
Muthesius draws attention to the tradition of the
free-standing single dwelling, comparing London to an expanded village opposed
to the continental urban metropolis. Also he makes mention of the phenomenon of
commuting into the city for work whilst living in a semi-rural environment of
street after street of small family houses at travelling distance. He
attributes this to the emphasis placed on owning a house, a cultural fixation
of on the countryside and the dream of a self-sufficient life. He also cites
the climate as a reason. The damp and often cloudy days promote indoor living. This
all stems from a deeply conservative nature, Muthesius concludes. The yearning
for country living, expressed in cities littered with gardens and the
countryside being built over with files of free-standing homes, is innate to
every Englishman.
Muthesius than proceeds with a history of the
development of the English home. He starts with buildings in Norman times and
works towards the 1860s, in his view the glory days of English house building.
There are several paragraphs on old architecture dating back to Norman, early
and late gothic and Elizabethan times. The examples featured include solely residences
and castles of the nobility.
In the 17th century there is a clear influence from
both France and Italy. Muthesius calls this the Period of Palladianism. This
coincides with baroque architecture in continental Europe, but examples of this
style are few and far between and more akin to the understated Dutch Baroque (also
known as Dutch Palladianism in Britain). This classicist style also dominates
the 18th century with Vitruvius Britannicus (1715-25) as the key publication.
Muthesius includes several plans of buildings in this style, often on a strict
axial layout.
The first domestic building featured in the book dates
from the 1800s. It is used to point out the specific rooms of an English house
-derived from grand mansions- such as the (with)drawing room, the parlour, the
scullery and the pantry. The development of the single family dwelling expands
greatly in the 19th century. In a separate train of thought Muthesius also
points to Scotland as the place where romanticism originated in the British
Isles. He also draws attention to some forms of romanticism being rooted in
orientalism and chinoiserie.
The second and third sections of the book delve deeper
into domestic architecture. The book shows examples of urban dwellings that
emulate grand mansions inspired by the Italian renaissance, classical temples
and the gothic era, all without a clear preference and with the thoroughly
modern use of cast iron in construction and ornamental detail. As an admirer
Muthesius devotes a lot of attention to the "Glasgow School" and
William Morris an opposes this -in his mind better and more instinctive
architecture- to the eclectic styles that are the norm at the time. Pictures of
old farmhouses are included in the book. He sees the Arts and Crafts Movement
as the beginning of a more artistic approach with country buildings as the source
of "honest" contemporary domestic architecture.
In this modern English domestic house chimneys take
centre stage as the defining feature of the building. The architectural style
can vary widely from the vernacular style of the Glasgow School to a return to
gothic, medieval and English profane baroque. Although some symmetrical house
types remain, the real change of this time is the free floor plan with
corridors and separate sometimes linked rooms (en suite). Several examples of
named Arts and Crafts architects are presented in the book. Often these have
floor plans and images of the exterior.
After 200 pages the Garden City Movement is mentioned
for the first time. Mind you this movement is only a few years old when Muthesius
produces this first volume in 1904. He lumps the Garden City together with
model villages like Port Sunlight and Bourneville and the Millbank Estate, the
Boundary Estate and some Peabody Estates. Only 10 pages are dedicated to these
recent examples of social housing. In 1908 a short general history of garden
design in England was included after this. It focuses on the development of
gardens with examples in the French and Dutch style and informal chinoiserie
and landscape gardens.
This book was very important for the spread of
vernacular architecture and the Garden City Movement in the German-speaking
world and countries under its direct influence. It is also an exemplary book on
how to discuss architecture.
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