Symposium: "Positioning - Erich Mendelsohn and the Built Heritage of the 20th Century"

Aims and Goals

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention as well as Erich Mendelsohn’s 135th birthday the “Erich Mendelsohn Initiative Circle” through ICOMOS Israel, ICOMOS Germany and in cooperation with a number of partners organized an international symposium on 21st and 22nd of March 2022. The aim was to identify the potential Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of Erich Mendelsohn’s work for a UNESCO World Heritage transnational serial nomination. For this purpose, experts opened new perspectives on Mendelsohn’s life, his architecture and influence, and consulted on strategies for the nomination process. The symposium was particularly interested in exploring Mendelsohn’s cosmopolitan approach to modernity and reflections on his global impact, as well as on the theoretical positions and technical innovations it was rooted in.

Location

The two-day hybrid symposium took place in the former Metalworker´s Union building in Berlin (IG-Metall-Haus), built by Erich Mendelsohn between 1928 and 1930.
In the evening of the architect’s 135th birthday on 21 March the cinema Klick Kino (some 30 minutes away by public transport) screened the documentary film Mendelsohn’s Incessant Vision (2011). The screening was followed by a discussion in presence of the Israeli film Director Duki Dror and moderated by Ayhan Ayrilmaz, vice-president of the Chamber of Architects.

Media Coverage and Proceedings

• Review of the event by Ulf Meyer: Link
• Videos of the symposium on youtube: Link
• Publication: Positioning: Erich Mendelsohn and the Built Heritage of the 20th Century (ICOMOS - Hefte des Deutschen Nationalkomitees LXXXII) Aachen 2024, ISBN 978-3-943164-85-5. Download the publication

Program

Day 1: 21 March 2022

Location: Chamber of Architects Berlin, former Metal Workers Union House, Berlin 09:00 – 10:00 Opening: Welcome and Greetings by Hosts, Organisers, Supporters Moderation: Jörg Haspel, (ICOMOS Germany, Erich Mendelsohn Initiative Circle)

Welcome

• Theresa Keilhacker, Chamber of Architects Berlin, President
• Tino Mager, ICOMOS Germany, President
• Eran Mordohovich, ICOMOS Israel, President

Greetings

• Roman Luckscheiter, German National Commission for UNESCO (DUK), Secretary General (online)
• Dalit Atrakchi, Israeli National Commission for UNESCO, Secretary General
• Mary Miller, Getty Research Institute Los Angeles, director (online)

Introductory Remarks of the Erich Mendelsohn Initiative Circle

• Regina Stephan, Erich Mendelsohn Initiative Circle, ICOMOS Germany

10:00 - 12:00

Session 1: World Heritage

Session Chair: Katarzyna Piotrowska, Poland (World Heritage Expert)

Transnational Nominations:

Mapping of Attributes and Values conveying the OUV of the nominated Property

• Birgitta Ringbeck, Germany, Federal Foreign Office, Ministerial Counsellor, Coordination of UNESCO World Heritage

UNESCO Transnational Serial World Heritage Nominations – Rules, Advantages, Challenges

• Bogusław Szmygin, Poland, ICOMOS International Scientific Committee (ISC) on Theory and Philosophy of Conservation and Restoration

The Mendelsohn System

• Moritz Wullen, Germany, Kunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Eric and Louise Mendelsohn Papers, Germany and United States

• Maristella Casciato, USA, Getty Research Institute Los Angeles

12:00 - 13:00

Lunch break

13:00 - 15:00

Session 2: The Impact of Spirituality on Mendelsohn´s Oeuvre

Session Chair: Tino Mager, Germany (President ICOMOS Germany)

Erich Mendelsohn's Jewish Cemetery Complex in Königsberg (Kaliningrad): Cemetery Buildings as a Contribution to the Development of Architecture with Jewish Connotations in the Weimar Republic

• Ulrich Knufinke, Germany, Lower Saxony State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments/Technical University of Braunschweig (online)

Zionism in Practice: Erich Mendelsohn from Berlin to Jerusalem

• Alona Nitzan Shiftan, Israel, Technion Haifa, Avie and Sarah Arenson Built Heritage Research Center

Spiritual Heritage - Mendelsohn's Late Synagogue Architecture in the US

• Kathleen James-Chakraborty, Ireland/ USA, University College Dublin (online)

15:00 - 15:30

Coffee break

15:00 - 17:30

Session 3: Life and Work in Exile

Session Chair: Christoph Rauhut, Germany (State Conservator Berlin/ICOMOS Germany)

From Westend to Rehavia, Erich Mendelsohn’s Houses as Milestones of a Cosmopolitan Career

• Jörg Stabenow, Germany, Philipps-University Marburg (online)

Exploring Erich Mendelsohn’s Oeuvre as a Narrative of Place and Diaspora

• Eric Nay, Canada, OCAD University in Toronto

Erich Mendelsohn: Architecture and Exile

• Ita Heinze-Greenberg, Germany, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), Institute fort the History and Theory of Architecture (GTA):

20:00

Evening Event

Welcome: Ayhan Ayrilmaz, Germany (Vice President Chamber of Architects/ICOMOS Germany)

Movie night on the occasion of Mendelsohn's 135th birthday – screening of the documentary film “Mendelsohn’s Incessant Visions” (Israel, 2011) followed by a discussion with its director Duki Dror

Day 2: 22 March 2022

Location: Chamber of Architects Berlin, former Metal Workers Union House, Berlin 9:00 - 10:00

Morning Event

Guided tour of the former Metal Workers’ Union House (IG-Metall-Haus) by the Berlin Chamber of Architects and the Erich Mendelsohn Initiative Circle

10:00 - 12:00

Session 4: International Influence on and Through Mendelsohn ́s Work

Session Chair: Andrea Jütten, Germany (DOCOMOMO Germany)

Erich Mendelsohn and the Reception of Modernism in England, 1920-1933

• Alan Powers, UK, University of Kent (online)

BERLIN MADRID BILBAO

• Patxi Eguiluz & Carlos Copertone, Spain, Architectural Critics, Curators and researchers

On the Global Impact of Erich Mendelsohn's Architecture. Sergio Larraín's Oberpaur Building in Santiago and Modern Architecture in Chile

• Marco Silvestri, Germany, University of Paderborn

12:00 - 13:00

Lunch break

13:00 - 15:00

Session 5: Mendelsohn ́s Placement in Architectural History

Session Chair: Eran Mordohovic, Israel (President ICOMOS Israel/Technion Haifa)

Erich Mendelsohn: the Crisis of the Modern Movement and Historiographical Criticism

• Anat Falbel, Brazil, European Architectural History Network

Bay Region Modern Meets Mendelsohn

• Wim De Wit & Daniel Gregory, USA, Architectural Historians, Curator and Editor (online)

In the Shadow of Expressionism: Erich Mendelsohn’s Architecture in the 1950s and 1960s

• Emily Pugh, USA, The Getty Research Institute

15:00 - 15:30

Coffee break

15:30 - 16:30

Closing: Panel Discussion

Moderation: Michael Worbs, UNESCO Ambassador (ret.) of the Federal Republic of Germany

• Marleen Meißner (German National Commission for UNESCO)
• Birgitta Ringbeck (German Federal Foreign Office)
• Eran Mordohovich (Technion Haifa / ICOMOS Israel)
• Leo Schmidt (ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on 20th Century Heritage)
• Regina Stephan (ICOMOS Germany, Erich Mendelsohn Initiative Circle)

16:30 - 17:00

Recap, Outlook and Thanks

17:00 - 17:15 Farewell

Steering Committee

Jörg Haspel and Regina Stephan (ICOMOS Germany) as well as Eran Mordohovich and Inbal Ben Asher Gitler (ICOMOS Israel), Initiators of the Initiative Circle for a multinational network on outstanding works of Erich Mendelsohn

Preparatory/Scientific Committee

• Inbal Ben Asher Gitler, Sapir Academic College, Co-chair of the Israel Chapter of DOCOMOMO International, ICOMOS Israel
• Maristella Casciato, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles
• Jörg Haspel, ICOMOS Germany, Technische Universität Berlin
• Kathleen James Chakraborty, University College Dublin
• Eran Mordohovich, Technion Haifa, President ICOMOS Israel
• Alona Nitzan Shiftan, Technion Haifa, Head of the Arenson Built Heritage, Research Center
• Regina Stephan, University of Applied Sciences Mainz, ICOMOS Germany

Press coverage

On the International Day for Monuments and Sites, 18 April 2024, ICOMOS Germany presented the latest publication from its series "Journals of the German National Committee": "Positioning: Erich Mendelsohn and the Built Heritage of the 20th Century" deals with the potential of Erich Mendelsohn's oeuvre for a transnational serial nomination to the UNESCO World Heritage List. The publication documents the international conference of the same name, which took place in Berlin on 21 and 22 March 2022 to mark the 135th birthday of Erich Mendelsohn (1887–1953). In total, there are 24 articles on Erich Mendelsohn's legacy, his spiritual and international influences, his life in exile, and on Mendelsohn's position in architectural history. The presidents of the ICOMOS National Committees of Germany (Dr Tino Mager), Poland (Prof Bogusław Szmygin) and Israel (Eran Mordohovich) presented the publication together with the members of the Erich Mendelsohn Initiative Circle, Prof Jörg Haspel (Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz), Prof Regina Stephan (Mainz University of Applied Sciences) and Dr Sergey Gorbatenko (ICOMOS St. Ptersburg). The Erich Mendelsohn Initiative has set itself the task of identifying the potential Outstanding Univer-sal Value (OUV) of Erich Mendelsohn's work for a transnational serial nomination to the UNESCO World Heritage List. A particular interest lies in exploring Mendelsohn's cosmopolitan approach to modernism and relating his philosophical and political convictions to other representatives of interwar modernism.