Paul Scheerbart

by Glass! Love!! Perpetual Motion!!!-A Paul Scheerbart Reader Josiah McElheny

  between transparent walls. For such rooms, however, wallpapers and

  wall-fabrics are to be avoided because of fire risks, and wood-pan-

  elling is no longer appropriate — it is as impermanent as paper and

  fabrics, encourages woodworm and is potentially inflammable.

  Another wall cladding material must now be found. Reinforced

  concrete is not easy to handle artistically; it is as hard as granite, and

  enamel and niello are not all that cheap, anyway. Imitation pearls

  are coated with Ukley mother-of-pearl. This coating is perhaps to be

  recommended for walls as well. It could easily be embellished with

  semi-precious stones and glass brilliants.

  But it is quite possible that a mother-of-pearl coat, applied to

  an uneven surface, could do the job alone. Whether this artificial

  mother-of-pearl retains its colour when daylight is kept away from it

  would have to be tested.

  Dome-like undulating bulges may be very effective if they occur

  regularly and symmetrically.

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  Wired glass

  For the walls, a good glass material is still, of course, the most worth-

  while. After glass mosaic, however, the most durable glass material

  is the fairly familiar wired glass, which is particularly suitable for the

  external wall. Nowadays, wired glass can be handled in such a way

  that the wire mesh is scarcely visible. In the external wal the mesh

  does not matter because to an outside viewer it is practically invisible.

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  The vertical in architecture, and how to overcome it

  The brick architecture of the past often overcame the problem of the

  vertical by domes, but to escape from the vertical in walls seemed

  impossible. In glass architecture it is quite different. The large Palm

  House in the Botanical Gardens in Berlin no longer has vertical walls;

  the upward curve begins at a height of three metres.

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  The developments made possible by iron construction

  Iron construction permits walls of any desired form. Vertical walls

  are no longer inevitable. The developments made possible by iron

  construction are thus quite unlimited. One can shift the overhead

  dome effects to the sides, so that, sitting at a table, one has only

  has to glance up sideways to appreciate them. Curved surfaces are

  also effective for the lower parts of walls — it is specially easy to get

  results in smaller rooms which are even less tied to verticals. The

  importance of the ground-plan in architecture will be reduced by

  such means; the building’s silhouette will now be more significant

  than it used to be.

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  Movable partitions in the home and the park

  The Japanese constantly changes his living space by dividing it into

  smaller areas by partition-screens. Different silk materials are laid

  over these screens from time to time, so that the smaller ‘room’ can

  have a frequently varying appearance. The same can be done in the

  living-rooms of glass houses by mobile and sliding glass partitions.

  If one introduces movable glass walls, which of course do not

  have to be vertical, into a park, one can create wonderful perspec-

  tives, and a very delicate architecture of higher wall-screens could

  give the park a new architectural significance. This novelty would be

  perpetually flexible.

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  Overcoming the danger of fire

  After what has been said, it is probably obvious that glass architec-

  ture makes fire-protection superfluous. By avoiding all inflammable

  materials fire insurance can be abolished. But the exclusion of fire

  risks should always be borne in mind in architecture; in the applied

  arts and interior decoration, only materials which do not burn should

  be permitted.

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  Vanquishing vermin

  That in a glass house, if properly built, vermin must be unknown,

  needs no further comment.

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  Floodlights in the park, on towers and house-roofs

  As coloured glass greatly softens the strength of light, we have far

  too little electric light at the present time. But we should have a

  thousand times as much, if, wherever there is running water, we

  installed turbines, as is feasible. Given adequate light, we can have

  far more floodlights than before, and night can become day. The night,

  indeed, can be more glorious than the day, quite independently of

  the splendour of the starlit sky, which when it is clouded, is invisible

  to us anyway.

  Even the private citizen will have his ‘park’ flood-lit, and there

  will be flood-lights on all roof constructions and roof-gardens. And

  a tower without flood-lights will then be entirely unfamiliar and look

  unnatural. Aeronauts will show their indignation at unlit towers.

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  Getting rid of the usual illumination effects

  Glass architecture will be scornfully called ‘illuminations architecture’

  by its opponents, who natural y should not be ignored. This contempt

  is unjustifiable, for nobody will want to illuminate a glass house the

  way a brick house is lit up today; when it is lighted inside the glass

  house is in itself an illumination element. When there are many such

  elements, the effect cannot be so harsh as the primitive elements

  of present-day illumination. By manipulating mobile reflectors, the

  floodlights can project a thousand beams of every conceivable colour

  into the sky. Mirrors (used with discretion) and floodlights together

  will oust the usual illumination. The new illumination will be essen-

  tially for airship travel, to guide the aeronaut.

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  The end of the window; the loggia and the balcony

  With the introduction of electricity for cooling and heating, the chim-

  ney must unquestionably be abolished. People claim that such an

  introduction would be expensive, but forget that the tempo of techni-

  cal development is continually quickening. Admittedly, this happens

  in the workshop and the expert’s room; where talking a lot about

  oneself is frowned upon. But the enthusiasm is no less.

  When glass architecture comes in, there will not be much more

  talk of windows either; the word ‘window’ will disappear from the dic-

  tionaries. Whoever wants to look at nature can go on to his balcony

  or into his loggia, which of course can be arranged for enjoying nature

  as before. But then it will not be spoilt by hideous brick houses.

  These are visions of the future, which we must none the less keep

  in mind, if the new age is ever to come about.

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  Stone mosaic as paving

  Up to now, we have not adequately discussed how to pave the surface

  underfoot. Stone flags are recommended for all paths and paved

  areas in gardens, but inside the house only magnesite has been

  mentioned for floors, in rooms of secondary importance. For better

  rooms, stone mosaic alone is advisable. Of course, the colours of

  the floor must be made to match the glass walls or to contrast with

  them. Perhaps a fibre-glass carpet woul
d also be practicable. But

  inflammable materials must be rejected, and carpets of materials

  not fire-proofed, even if this is difficult.

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  Models for glass architecture

  The most important objective would be for a number of models of

  glass architecture to be exhibited. Let us hope this happens at the

  1914 Werkbund Exhibition in Cologne, for which Bruno Taut has built

  a glass house, in which the entire glass industry is to be represented.

  It does not seem right to me to produce models of glass architecture

  of pasteboard and selenite, but brass and glass models would not be

  cheap. A new model-building industry ought to be created to make

  models only for glass architecture, including church buildings, from

  good materials. Perhaps it would be advisable to use a different imi-

  tation glass for larger models. About twenty years ago there was a

  substance cal ed Tektorium — it was transparent, coloured, leather-like

  material on wire netting. For model purposes it would be admirable,

  but for buildings it would not be durable enough, although it could

  always be mended.

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  Mountain illumination

  So much sounds fantastic, which actually is not fantastic at all. If

  one suggests applying mountain illumination to the Himalayas, this

  is just a ridiculous fantasy outside the realms of practical discussion.

  Illuminating the mountains near the Lake of Lugano is quite another

  thing. There are so many hotels there which would like to be part of

  the scenery, that they would be well disposed to glass architecture,

  if the proposition were not beyond their means. Their means are not

  inconsiderable, and the il uminations of the mountains by il uminating

  the hotels, if these were built of glass, can no longer be described

  as fantastic. The rack-railway, which ascends the Rigi, could also be

  illuminated very easily and effectively by flood-lights.

  When aeronautics have conquered the dark, the whole of

  Switzerland will have her mountains colourfully lit up at night by

  glass architecture.

  We constantly forget how many things have changed in the last

  century. In the 1830s the aged Goethe did not see the coming of the

  railways. Less than a hundred years have passed since then, and the

  whole earth is encompassed by steel rails. Mountain illumination,

  which today still seems a fantasy to many, can develop just as quickly.

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  Park illumination

  But park il umination wil develop sooner than mountain illumination.

  If only we have more electric light, much will evolve of its own accord.

  Above all, we should consider towers of various forms in the parks

  for guiding airships (as already discussed).

  A glass tower should not only be equipped with flood-lights; many

  of the glass surfaces could be made to move and so bring about

  kaleidoscopic effects. Here also the possibilities are boundless.

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  Ghostly illumination

  When we speak of light, we are generally thinking of the glaring

  light of gas and electricity. In the past fifty years light has progressed

  quite surprisingly. It is all happening so quickly that one can hardly

  keep up. But if we had light in greater quantity (and this is perfectly

  feasible by using more turbines and dynamos), it would not have to

  be harsh in its effect and could be softened by colour. It can be so

  reduced by colour that it looks ghostly, which to many people would

  perhaps seem sympathetic.

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  The solid wall as background for sculpture

  Where one either cannot or will not remove a solid non-transparent

  wall, it may perhaps be suitable as background for plastic art. This

  need not be statuary. Ornamental work stands out very effectively

  against a wall, and plant motifs are also simple to apply. But painting

  should not be used. In any case, it detracts from the architectural

  unity of a building.

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  Cars, motor boats and coloured glass

  Now let us transfer glass architecture to the world of movement — to

  cars and motor boats. In this way the landscape will become quite

  different; it has already been permanently transformed by the steam

  train — so transformed that for decades people could not grow used

  to the change. The coloured automobile, with its glossy glazed sur-

  faces, and the glass motor boat, however, will alter the landscape

  so pleasantly that mankind, let us hope, should adjust itself to the

  change more quickly.

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  The steam and electric railway lit up in colour

  When glass architecture has once successfully captured the car and

  the motor boat, there will naturally be no course open to the other

  vehicles, especially those which scorch along rails, except to accom-

  modate themselves to it. We shall then enjoy a wonderful impression,

  if we see an express illuminated in colour speeding by day or by night

  through the countryside. The railway, greeted so sourly by sensitive

  natures to start with, will in the end reach a level of artistic charm

  beyond our present powers of description.

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  Nature in another light

  After the introduction of glass architecture, the whole of nature in al

  cultural regions wil appear to us in quite a different light. The wealth

  of coloured glass is bound to give nature another hue, as if a new light

  were shed over the entire natural world. There wil be no need to look

  at nature through a coloured piece of glass. With al this coloured glass

  everywhere in buildings, and in speeding cars and air- and water-craft,

  so much new light wil undoubtedly emanate from the glass colours

  that we may wel be able to claim that nature appears in another light.

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  Reinforced concrete in water

  Reinforced concrete, as is wel known, has proved itself in water; it

  is practical y indestructible. It is therefore suitable for a new Venice,

  which must have foundations that are non-transparent, stable, rust-

  free and indestructible. Upon this sound base the most colourful glass

  architecture can rise and be reflected in the water. A new Venice in this

  style wil eclipse the old one. Water, because of its intrinsic capacity to

  reflect, belongs to glass architecture; the two are almost inseparable,

  so that in future water wil be introduced wherever there is none at the

  moment. If, after the example of the old Venice, a ‘colony’ were to be

  laid out with canal-streets, the traditional Venice façade-architecture

  would have to be renounced from the outset; it does not agree with

  glass buildings which, when they are to be several storeys high, have

  in any case to be built in pyramid shape with terraces; otherwise too

  few of the glass wal s come in contact with the daylight.

  Should the individual sites be very close to one another, care must

  be taken over suitable boundaries. These can be walls of reinforced

  concrete, perhaps sheltering a covered way, o
pen on one side. But

  they could be made in plenty of other ways.

  Anyone can develop the theme further, even a non-architect.

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  Floating architecture

  If reinforced concrete, as has often been asserted in many quarters —

  even by the State Material-testing Commission* — cannot be attacked

  by water, then it is capable of carrying the largest building, like a

  ship. We can talk in all seriousness of floating architecture. For this,

  of course, everything which was said in the previous chapter holds

  good. The buildings can obviously be juxtaposed or moved apart in

  ever changing patterns, so that every floating town could look differ-

  ent each day. The floating town could swim around in regions of large

  lakes — perhaps in the sea too. It sounds most fantastic and utopian,

  but it is far from being so, if reinforced concrete, shaped to the form

  of an indestructible vessel, carries the architecture. Indestructible

  boats have already been built out of reinforced concrete in German

  New Guinea. We must learn to accept that new building materials,

  when they really are of unrivalled strength and free from rust, can

  guide the architecture of the whole world into new paths. Reinforced

  concrete is one such material.

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  River and lake shipping in coloured lighting

  As soon as there is floating glass architecture, ships — both great and

  small — will be fitted out in glass. The rivers, lakes and seas will then

  become very gay. It does not take much perspicacity to predict this

  development in lake and river shipping, once a floating building is

  erected and is imitated.

  * The German here is staatliche Materialprüfungskommission [Ed.].

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  Aircraft with coloured lights

  It is generally known that the aeronauts would like to take over the

  night. That they have not so far done so is easily explained; on the

  earth the night is not yet light enough. But when, thanks to glass

  architecture, it has become light down below, it will also be light up

  in the air; the aircraft will be equipped to project coloured lights,

  which will also form the vocabulary of a signal-language, understood

  everywhere by the light-projecting stations of the earth-towers and

  giving a practical value to the colour display both above and below.

  Here the elements of progress fit smoothly together and are slowly