Max Bill (1908-1994) was a leading representative of Concrete Art. He was active in both the theory and practice of art, design and architecture. Today his constructive sculptural works are displayed in public worldwide. As a furniture designer he became known by designing the »Ulmer Hocker« (Ulm stool) which can be used as a tray, a shelf or a stool. Max Bill received numerous prizes and honours for his work.

www.bill-stiftung.ch

Gottfried Böhm (1920-2021) is the only German architect so far to be awarded the prestigious Pritzker Prize in 1986. He built numerous churches, more than forty in total, most of them in the Rhineland. His work is characterised by an individual architecture of concrete and glass. Böhm’s best known building is the sculptural/expressionistic pilgrimage church in Neviges. Among his secular buildings are the town hall in Bergisch Gladbach-Bensberg, the Stadthaus in Ulm and a town hall with a cultural centre in Bocholt. The idea of roofing the Reichstag building with a glass dome also comes from Böhm.

Gret Palucca (1902-1993) As a young ballet student, Gret Palucca went to see a dance performance by Mary Wigman in Dresden. This caused the young girl to find a new direction beyond classical dance. As Wigman’s student and a member of her dance group, Gret Palucca developed a jaunty, cheerful dancing style. In 1924 she began her solo career, and became a leading representative of expressive dance. In 1925 she opened the Palucca-Schule in Dresden, later with offshoot projects in Berlin und Stuttgart. Contacts with Dada artists and with the early Bauhaus made New Art into one of Palucca’s themes.

Frei Otto (1925-2015) was one of the leading representatives of a biomorphic architecture. He developed structures for his buildings based on pneumatic and biological principles from his intensive study of nature and natural forms. Best known are his tent-like roofing constructions, for instance the Olympic Stadium in Munich. Other major works are the German Pavilion for the World Exhibition in Montreal 1967, »eco-houses« for the IBA (international building exhibition) in Berlin 1985 and the temporary umbrella constructions for Pink Floyd’s tour in 1977. Frei Otto has been famous worldwide for his experience with light construction, cable nets and lattice shells.

www.freiotto.com

Margarethe Schütte-Lihotzky (1897-2000) was the first woman in Austria to complete a degree in architecture. Her designs were influenced by the then still nascent tendency towards functionalism in design. She became well known through her design of the “Frankfurter Küche” (Frankfurt kitchen), considered a prototype of the modern fitted kitchen. In 1941 she was arrested by the Gestapo during a journey to Vienna while attempting to secretly contact the Austrian Communist resistance movement and sentenced to 25 years in prison. In 1945 she was liberated by US troops. Later she received commissions in Bulgaria, the People’s Republic of China, Cuba and the DDR. In 1980 her work was belatedly recognised by Austria. She was awarded the Architekturpreis der Stadt Wien (architecture prize of the city of Vienna).

Together with his wife, Friedrich Spengelin (1925-2016) run an architecture bureau in Hamburg, with a branch in Hannover. They have realised numerous pieces of work together, such as the Kunsthalle Emden and the town hall and spa building on Heligoland.

Oswald Mathias Ungers (1926-2006) was an influential architect during Germany’s post-war period. His architecture is based on basic geometrical forms, such as circles, squares and cubes. Using these primal forms, he established an unmistakable elementary building style, outside of all modern trends. As one of the leading theorists of his time, he developed »German rationalism«. Well-known examples of his building art include the Galerie der Gegenwart (Gallery of the Present Day) of the Hamburger Kunsthalle and the Alfred-Wegener Institut in Bremerhaven.

www.omungers.de