Schinkel ‘in Athens’: Meta-Narratives of 19th-Century City Planning

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This book proposes a fresh appraisal of Karl Friedrich Schinkel’s urban design legacy and his involvement in the design of modern Athens in the 1830s. From the 1830s onwards, the incompatibility between Schinkel’s position as a civil servant and his vocation as a scholar inspired by Fichte led him along a transcendental path of life. Transcendentalism set its own terms and conditions under which Schinkel’s project of a palace atop the Acropolis of Athens (1834) might be understood. The ‘contextual analysis’ of Schinkel’s work in this book challenges the view of this proposal as a utopian scheme, detached from the realities of nineteenth-century Greece. On the other hand, the first plan of Athens, supposedly the work of two of his former Bauakademie students, ratified a year earlier, in 1833, proposed the location of the royal residence in the new town at a few hundred metres north of the Acropolis. But, though the two options for Otto’s palace were topographically dissimilar they did retain a common strong, topological significance – which, along with other factors analysed in this book, provides ample evidence for re-thinking the authorship of the new plan of the capital city of Greece. Schinkel ‘in Athens’, by all means! Cover Ruins of Athens Title Page Copyright Page Contents Page Quote Preface On the Narrative and the Meta-narrative On the nature of ‘Biography’ Karl Friedrich Schinkel George Christian Gropius Eduard Schaubert, Stamatios Kleanthes and ‘their’ plan of Athens Introduction (A) Introduction (A) Back to Euclide’s Elements of Geometry Figure 1. Late Ottoman Athens plan The plan is drawn according to the 1831-1832 survey plan, scale 1:2000 (1-7, clockwise, from top, the gates of the 1778 fortification wall) (author’s re-drawing). Figure 2. The new Athens plan, ratified in July 1833, attributed to Stamatios Kleanthes and Gustav Eduard Schaubert (author’s re-drawing). Figure 3. The ‘geometry’ of the 1833 Athens plan – design priorities and local understanding. Pa: the Royal residence, St: the Panthenaic Stadium, L: Hadrian’s Library. ‘d’ indicates the relation of the vertical axis of the synthesis to the north-south axis, (drawing by the author). The north-south and east-west axes anchoring the plan Figure 4. The two main axes of the design in relation to the old town and its focal points. A: Agioi Asomatoi, K: Kapnikarea, H: Horologion, E: Erechtheion, 1-7: the gates of the 1778 wall. (drawing by the author, the vertical direction is aligned to the North). Figure 5. The Tower of the Winds and Eόlou street behind, just opened, running to the north, c. 1843. ’Elgin’s Tower’ appears on the left and the 17th century Ottoman ‘medrese’ is depicted on the right. Figure 6. The church of Kapnikarea (10th-11th c.), c. 1840. Along with another Byzantine church, the Agioi Asomatoi, several metres to the west, Kapnikarea defined the route of the long east-west axis of Ermou street, prominently featuring in the new 1833 Atrhens plan. The over-estimated Propylaia and the under-estimated Library of Hadrian in reading the 1833 plan Figure 7. The west side of Hadrian’s Library (132 AD), and part of the small church of Ag.Asomatos (12th c.) attached to it. Also, partly seen on the left, an 18th century mosque. Within a few square centimeters of paper three different historical periods, spanning almost two thousand years, are ‘conveniently’ located. Figure 8. Detail from a panoramic view of Athens (1850-1860), as seen from the northern wall of the Acropolis. Eόlou Street runs from bottom left to top centre. A new plan or an extension plan for the old town? Figure 9a. Plan of Athens, 1843 Figure 9b. Plan of Athens by von Stranz, 1862. An Urban Interlude on 17th-19th c. European Extension Plans Copenhagen Introduction - Interlude Figure i. Copenhagen, extensions of the medieval town to the 19th century. 1-a: The medieval town; 2: the 17th century ‘Kongens Nytorv’ (the King’s New Plaza) and Charlottenborg palace behind; 3: the 18th century Amalienborg district. Introduction - Interlude Figure ii. Copenhagen, the Amalienborg district with the four detached palace buildings, located on four sides of the octagonal square; (the drawing indicates the mid-20th century building layout). Berlin Figure iii. ‘Stadtplan mit einer Rekonstruktion von Alt-Berlin entsprechend dem Stand von 1688’. A 1688 map of Berlin indicating: the original, medieval nucleus of Berlin-Cöln and Friedrichswerder (A, B, C on the map), encircled by a wall with 13 bastions and a moat, and the first western extension, Dorotheenstadt (E on the map), named after the mona Figure iv. ‘Friedrich Wilhelm I. besichtigt die Bauarbeiten in der Friedrichstadt’. Berlin, King Friedrich Wilhelm I (the ‘King Sergeant’, 1713-1740) observes construction in Friedrichstadt, after an 1890 lithograph (painting by Hugo Vogel, 1855-1934). Vienna Figure v. A 1740 map of Berlin by J.Homann (the North is downwards). The three emblematic squares, with the octagonal ‘Achteck’ in the middle, define the western side of Berlin. The circular square on the top is the ‘Rondel’. This is cartography and map making at its best. Vivid colours appear on the original version, enhancing the town-country antithesis. Homann was a renowned German cartographer, later Imperial Geographer and member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. Figure vi. Vienna, Opernring with the Opera House in the centre, in 1905. Mainz Figure vii. On the left: the Vienna Altstadt in the early 19th century, indicating the location of the Hofburg Imperial Palace. On the right: part of the Vienna ‘Ring’ at the end of the same century, indicating the ‘infill’ and extension of the town, and the majority of principal new public buildings neighbouring the Imperial palace. Clockwise, 1: The Opera; 2: The Museums of Natural History and Art History; 3: The Parliament; 4; The Burgtheater (new location); 5: The Rathaus (Town Hall). (The north is to the top – Scale: 1:40,000). Figure viii. Mainz, plan of the city in 1898. (a: the old town – from the Middle Ages to the 1870s; b: the ‘Neustadt’ – 19th century extention of the city). The two parts are united by means of two axes indicated in black: ‘Kaiserstrasse’, in a sw-ne direction and ‘Hinderburgstrasse’, in a nw-se direction. (Cardinal points are indicated on the top left of the map, along with the scale of design). Nancy Figure ix. ‘Plan de Nancy en 1633 d’après Anthoine de Fer’;  ‘Ville Vieille’ and ‘Ville Neuve’. (The North is on the left, upwards by approx. 30o, the length of the ‘Place de la Carrière’, the long square in the ‘Ville Vieille’, is approx., 250 m). Figure x. ‘Plan general des deux villes de Nancy’ (1754). Nancy, the layout of the old and new towns as a single unity. (a: Ville Vieille; b: Ville Neuve; 1: Place de la Carriere; 2: Place Stanislas; 3: Stanislas str.). Cologne Figure xi. Alternative design patterns in a part of the late 19th century Cologne extension plan. Figure xi (a). The two white lines, on top, indicate the in-between them early Cologne extension area, following the 1881 demolition of the fortification wall. (C: the Cathedral). The area indicated by the white circle is the one shown in Figure xi. Figure xi (b). ‘Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring – Stadterweiterung, Blick Westseite (1886)’. Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring, city extension, west side (1886). Figure xi (c). Buildings along the Hohenzollernring, in 1896 Cologne, fifteen years after the demolition of the fortification walls. The street-lay out on the left indicates the star-shaped pattern adopted in the extension plan. Barcelona Figure xii. Details from the Barcelona extension plans of 1854. On the left, the Cerdà plan (implemented), on the right the Rovira plan (rejected). In both cases, the new building plots are indicated in black. (Author’s redrawing after Lavedan, 1952: 240). Figure xiii. Rovira y Trias Plan that won the 1859 City of Barcelona competition for an expansion plan. Figure xiv. Ildefons Cerdà i Sunyer: extension plan for Barcelona, ordered and approved by the Government of Madrid The Athens Extension Plan – 1830s to 1860s Figure 10. Plan of Athens, Chenavard, 1843. Introduction (A) Figure 11. Detail from the 1862 von Strantz Athens plan. The building plots constructed until the 1860s appear in black (author’s redrawing). (1: Town Hall, 2: Municipal Theatre, 3: Mint, 4: Covered market, 5: The Royal Stationery Office). Figure 12. John Nash’s Regent Street superimposed on Horwood’s London map of 1792. The compulsory purchase scheme in this predominantly Crown property area took a relatively long time to complete. Almost 780 houses had to be demolished. Figure 13. Regent Street front in 1827. Figure 14. Eólou Street, c. 1900. The street focuses on the Tower of the Winds and the Erechtheion on the Acropolis. The photograph was taken from a point half-way between the far-end of the street below the Acropolis and Omonoia Square behind the photographer. The junction of Eolou Street with Kolokotroni Street, commented in the text, is but a few metres ahead on the left. The junction appering here: Eolou Street / Evripidou Street. Figure 15. A paradigm of the Greek version of compulsory purchase of land in 1862, for a straight new street (Kolokotroni) cutting through the built-up environment. (Bastea, 2000: 117). Figure 16. Detail from the Stauffert – Schaubert 1836 plan of Athens. The scheme shows (on its right side) the intended extension of Kolokotroni, as a straight thoroughfare, until it meets Eólou street below. Figure 16a. The 1833 plan of Athens in relation to the modern city. ‘L’and ‘H’ in the centre stand for Hadrian’s Library and the ‘Horologion’respectively. The small buildings in black refer to churches. Figure 17. Athens, c. 1850, looking from the west. Τhe Royal Palace is in the far background, on the right – and impossible to miss. The street on the left, running to the north towards the palace, is Ermou. The train and tracks are part of the first railway connection of Athens with its future port, Piraeus. Introduction (B) The Roman paradigm Introduction (B) Figure 18. Romes’ Piazza del Popolo. On the right is a detail from Nolli’s plan of 1748, and on the left, a map by Angelo Uggeri (1826), including the Valadier re-design, 1816-1824. Eclectic relations between the Athens plan and Schinkel’s architecture and urban design (1) Figure 19. The Schloss Tegel, Berlin, c.1930 (K.F.Schinkel, 1820-1824). Figure 20. ‘Berlin, Unter den Linden, Entwurf zur einem Kaufhaus, Perspektivische Ansicht’. The Kaufhaus (Bazaar), Unter den Linden, Berlin (K.F. Schinkel, 1827). Figure 21. ‘AU BON MARCHE’, or, ‘ΠΑΖΑΡ ΤΗ ΕΥΘΗΝΙΑ’ An unrealized project in Athens (1889), with shops on the ground floor and flats for the retailers above. Figure 22. The Théâtre National de Bordeaux (arch. Victor Louis, 1780). Eclectic relations between the Athens plan and Schinkel’s architecture and urban design (2) Figure 23. The ‘(Altes) Neues Museum’, Berlin (K.F.Schinkel, 1822-1830): front view, groundfloor plan and cross section. (Plan and section relationship introduced by the author, on Schinkel’s plans). Figure 24. ‘Altes Museum am Lustgarten. Innere Ansicht der Haupttreppe’. ‘Transparency at its height’ – inside the Berlin Altes Museum: the upper vestibule, above the entrance, (K.F.Schinkel). Figure 25a. ‘Entwurf zur Gestaltung des Lustgartens’. The Lustgarten open space in Berlin (the Neues Museum on the top). The Unter den Linden, on the left, enters the space through the ‘Schloss-brücke’, over the Spree. Figure 25b. ‘Berlin, Unter den Linden, Entwurf zur Gestaltung des Lustgartens’. The final, revised form of the Lustgarten area, extending between the palace and the Neues Museum. Figure 26. ‘Blick von Schinkel’s Wohnung auf dem Monte Pincio auf Rom’. ‘Veduta di Roma da mia Locanda in Monte Pinso [sic] presso la chiesa di St. Trinita dell Monte’, (K.F.Schinkel, 1803). Act One Act One, Scene I Question the First Question the Second Question the Third Figure 27a. A: The ‘Central School’ in Aegina (Kleanthes and Schaubert, 1830). B: ‘Outline’ design of the front facade of the ‘Schloss Tegel’ (Schinkel, 1824) (Nikolaos Karydis, 2020). Act One, Scene II Figure 27b. Gropius’ house in Athens, by Kleanthes and Schaubert (1831-1832). Figure 28. Detail from a Panorama of Athens by George Christian Gropius (c. 1820), in pencil, drawn from the north-east corner of the Acropolis. The entire drawing measures over 2.25 m x 0.41 m. Figure 29. ‘Eine Vorfuhrng im Diorama…- der Hafen von Boulogne’. By Jean Henri Marlet (1771 - 1847), diorama event in Paris (1821-23). Figure 30. ‘Panorama von Palermo’ by K.F.Schinkel (1808). Figure 31. ‘Das Kapitol in Rom’, Schinkel’s sketch of the Capitoline Hill in Rome for a diorama show. Figure 32. The atelier of the Gropius Brothers in Berlin (E. Gärtner, c.1830). Figure 33. An 1832 announcement of the Gropius Art-Gallery at Brüderstrasse 1, Berlin. Act Two Act Two, Scene I Figure 34. ‘Eduard Schaubert und Stamatios Kleanthes: Alten Stadtplan, 1831/32’, the so-called ‘Berlin Plan (after M.Kühn, 1989). Act Two, Scene II Figure 35. K.F.Schinkel, the Acropolis Palace (plan and south elevation, 1834). Figure 36. ‘Blick aus der Säulenhalle des Museums aus den Lustgarten und das Berliner Schloss, nach 1843’. The Neues Museum, view from the upper level of the portico towards the Lustgarten and the Palace (C.D.Freydanck, 1843). Figure 37. ‘Athen, Akropolis, Palast des Königs Otto von Griechenland. Prachtsaal’. Acropolis – Palace, interior of the main reception hall (K.F.Schinkel, 1834). Act Three Act Three, Scene I Figure 38. The area around the Bauakademie, the ‘Werdersche Kirche’, and the Royal Mint, c. 1836. 1: Friedrich Werdersche Church; 2: Royal Mint; 3: Bauakademie; 4: Spree; 5: Royal palace; 6: Viewing point. The Spree runs from bottom left to top right. (The author’s ink drawing following Schinkel’s own of the area, reversing the black and white representation of the built-up area and the open public – private spaces). Figure 39. An 1833 view of the Bauakademie and the surrounding area, with the river-front and distant view of the twin towers of the Werderche church (viewing point 6 in the previous drawing). Figure 40. The open space in front of Friedrich’s Werderche church (K.F.Schinkel, 1830). Figure 41. The Royal Mint, built in 1800, after a plan by Heinrich Gentz, in the Werderche market area. Figure 42. Schinkel’s planning interventions in central Berlin, between 1816 and 1841. s: Schauspielhaus: fw: Friedrichwerder kirche; b: Bauakademie; sb: Schlossbrükce; nw: Neue Wache; l: Lustgarten; nm: Neues Museum; np: Neue Packhof). Figure 43a. Detail from Schinkel’s 1817 map of central Berlin. 1: Unter den Linden; 2: The Bebelplatz, with the ‘Alte Bibliotek’-the curved building and the State Opera opposite, and St. Hedwig’s Cathedral diagonally to the south; 3: The ‘Neue Wache’, the first of Schinkel’s projects in the area (1815); 4: The Royal Figure 43b. Detail from J.C.Selter 1843 map of Berlin (reproduced to the same scale as Schinkel’s). By this time, the Werdersche church, opposite the Mint, and the Bauakademie by the Spree had fully defined the ‘Werdersche markt’, as had the Lustgarten open space, including the ‘Neues Museum’ opposite the palace and the ‘Packhof’ (Customs) to the northw Act Three, Scene II Figure 44. The ‘Circus’, a popular place of entertainment, close to the Brandenburg Gate, as depicted in S.Spiker’s 1833 guide to Berlin. Figure 45. The ‘Mühlendamm’, in central Berlin, the medieval link between Cölln and Alt-Berlin, in a view of 1833. Act Three, Scene III Act Three, Scene IV Figure 46. Hamburg, plan of the central area shortly before the 1842 fire: 1: The Stock-Exchange (Börse), 2: Johannis Square, 3: Alster. (The author’s redrawing, from an official survey map: ‘Plan des Brandes vom 5-8 Mai, 1842’). Figure 47. Hamburg, after the fire: final proposal by Alexis de Chateauneuf. 1: The Stock Exchange (Borse); 2: Johannis Square; 3: The Kleine Alster, 4: Resendammsbrücke; 5: Binnen Alster. (The author’s redrawing, from a rough sketch). Figure 48. Johannis Kirche and Kloster in Hamburg. Above: the church as seen in 1825, from the east; Below: the location of the religious complex in its medieval context, occupying the area later designated for the new Rathaus. Figure 49. Hamburg, after the fire: the first proposal by Gottfried Semper: 1: Stock Exchange; 2: Town Hall; 3: Binnen Alster. (Author’s re-drawing from a rough sketch). Act Four Act Four, Scene I Figure 50. Schinkel’s transcendental ‘Path of life’. (nw: Neue Wache; s: Schauspielhaus, sb: Schlossbrükce; fw: Friedrichswerder kirche, nm: Neues Museum; np: Neue Packhof; bz: ’Bazaar; l: Lustgarten; b: Bauakademie, mb: Moabit plan; Ac: Athens Acropolis palace; Or: Orianda (Crimea) palace. Act Four, Scene II Figure 51. ‘Tieck, Friedrich. Büste Karl Friedrich Schinkel Marmor, 1819’ (Karl Friedrich Schinkel, portrait bust, 1819, by Christian Friedrich Tieck). Figure 52. Bust of Friedrich Gilly, 1801, by Johann Gottfried Schadow. Act Four, Scene III Figure 53. Allegory of Christian Peter Beuth riding Pegasus (K.F.Schinkel, 1838). Figure 54. ‘Bellérofon et Chimère’ (after Decharme, 1886: 627, Figure 161). Act Four, Scene IV Figure 55. ‘Berlin, Klosterstrasse. Gewerbeinstitut. Beuth in seiner Dienstwohnung’ Peter Beuth in his official flat in the Gewerbe-Institut in Klosterstrasse, Berlin (Schinkel, watercolour, 1838). Act Four, Scene V Figure 56. The Orianda Palace, Crimea, on the Black Sea (K.F.Schinkel, 1838). Figure 57. Proposed layout plan for the Orianda Palace in the Crimea (K.F.Schinkel, 1838). Figure 58. ‘Schloss Orianda auf der Krim. Antikischer Entwurf’. Orianda Palace (north and south facades and cross section) – (K.F.Schinkel, 1838). Figure 59. ‘Schloss Orianda auf dem Krim. Antikischer Entwurf. Museum im Schnitt und perspektivische Ansicht’. Orianda Palace, cross section of the central building (K.F.Schinkel, 1838). Figure 60. ‘Schloss Orianda auf dem Krim. Antikischer Entwurf. Empfangshalle, Kaisergarten’. Orianda Palace, view of the great atrium; the stairs on the right leading to the top of the podium, where the small but elegant Ionic temple stands (K.F.Schinkel, 1838). Figure 61. ‘Der Wasserfall bei Wildbad Gastein’. The Gastein waterfall (K.F.Schinkel, 1813). Figure 62. ‘Entwurf fur ein Denkmal Friedrichs II’. Friedrich Gilly’s legendary design for a monument to Frederick the Great, 1796. Figure 63. ‘Schloss Orianda auf dem Krim. Antikischer Entwurf. Korenhalle’. Orianda Palace: the caryatid portico and the lateral semi-circular bays on the terrace (K.F.Schinkel, 1838). Figure 64. The National Technical University of Athens (1864), by the architect Lyssandros Kaftantzoglou. (Interior view of the Reception Hall, with part of the glazed panels on the left). Figure 65. The National Technical University of Athens (1864), by the architect Lyssandros Kaftantzoglou. On the left, façade of Reception Hall on the second floor overlooking the Atrium, on the right, a detail of the same façade. Act Four, Scene VI Figure 66. ‘Unbekanter Stecher noch J.C.Selter, 1843’. Plan of Berlin, recorded and drawn up with the approval of the Royal Academy of Sciences, (J.C.Selter, 1843). Figure 67. Detail of a Berlin map of 1841. The ‘Moabit area’, on the left side, above the Spree, including the vast artillery grounds and the Royal Gunpowder factory. Figure 68. The ‘Charité’, in Berlin’s Moabit area (in 1833). Figure 69. Peter Joseph Lenné’s plan for the Berlin Moabit area (1839). Figure 70. K.F.Schinkel’s counter-proposal for the Berlin Moabit area (1840). Epilogue Illustration Credits Bibliography Index