RADICAL ANTIQUITY

June 26 – September 26, 2021

Above all in the Rhineland in Central Germany, Krefeld native Heinz Bienefeld (1926–1995) designed and realized numerous ecclesiastical buildings and residential buildings over a period spanning some 40 years.

It is not easy to categorize the style of his architecture, which alternates between the classicism of a Palladio and the contemporary modern. Bienefeld, who trained at the Cologne Art and Crafts Schools (Kölner Werkschulen) under Dominikus Böhm and later worked for the latter’s son Gottfried Böhm as well as Emil Steffann placed a special focus on details and materiality in his work.

His buildings stand out for the precise profiling of their lines, exact connections between windows and brickwork and the harmonious laying of bricks. Bienefeld relied on models made of Plasticine as a means of arriving at the right shape and would create a large number of architecture sculptures that helped him develop his ideas for buildings.The exhibition presents selected buildings and projects in the form of a series of drawings, photographs and original models.

Radical Antiquity – Heinz Bienefeld’s Villas and Churches

The publication in German and English accompanying the exhibition focuses on the new photographs of the models and buildings, supplemented by examples of the planning materials on show. Two essays explore Bienefeld’s architecture. Architect Alfred Bremm, who for his doctorate examined Bienefeld’s estate intensively, discusses the early buildings and churches. In particular, he describes Bienefeld’s structural principles. In her essay, architect Katleen Nagel considers the aging and patina of Bienefeld’s masonry brickwork.

Edited by Philipp Sturm and Peter Cachola Schmal
Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM)
Frankfurt am Main, 2021

74 pages, German/English
ISBN 978-3-939114-09-3

Available at the museum shop for EUR 15,-