My Favorite Architect of the Week (09/29/09)

My Favorite Architect of the Week is a Bauhaus post-modern designer from Offenbach am Main, Germany, by the name of Gottfried Böhm.  Mr. Böhm (pictured left) was born in Germany in 1920 to a family of architects (both his father and his grandfather had been designing churches throughout Germany for years) and came to study in America in 1951. 

Mr. Böhm's style has been described as creating "connections" and integrating different architecture methods with common surroundings and urban environments.  He likes to utilize the materials found in the area of the buildings he designs and has adapted with new technologies by using new materials.  In the past, many of his buildings were of cast concrete, as seen to the right. 

In more modern times he has been able to utilize glass and metals in ways that were never possible before. He is very conscious of the effect of Architecture on humans and strives to "spiritually enrich human values in architecture" while at the same time reducing "overcrowding the environment with unnecessary design features."  Pictured below to the right is an example of his more modern work utilizing much glass and metal, almost making the building seem light and airy. 

Gottfried Böhm is noted as the only German to win the Pritzker award, the “Nobel prize” of architecture. He won the award in 1986. His design of the Berlin flagship store (shown left) is an example of why he won such a prestigious award.