Saint Benno Grammar School, Dresden, Germany


  • Date
    7/20/2013 (creation)
Related people
Addison Godel (was created by)
Gunter Behnisch (was created by)
Date
1992-1996
Description
"This old Catholic choir-school, famous for its music, was repressed by the Nazis, bombed in the war, and revived after the fall of the Wall in 1989. Part of a modern suburb east of the city centre, the site is a long thin plot running north-south. Protection was needed against a busy road to east, which prompted the idea of building along a wall on a linear principle. Entry is from a newly-constructed urban square to south, and the school ends with a large sports-hall to north. Batches of classrooms set at contrasting angles face west, the gaps between them containing the major social spaces: first the hall for assembly and circulation, second the library. The changing orientations of the blocks both articulate the identities of the parts, and allow the linear circulation space behind to develop in a continuously varied manner. The 140m length never becomes oppressive, but is developed as a rich sequence of spatial incidents. The great wall is broken sporadically with windows, stairs and projecting bays, but not enough to destroy its large scale, which registers for those in passing cars and contrasts with the fragmented face behind. As with the school at Ohringen, a bold colour scheme was devised with the help of artist Erich Wiesner." --Jones, P.B. (2000). Gunter Behnisch. Basel: Birkhauser. p.58. Keywords: Germany, Saxony, Dresden, institutional buildings, secondary school, school buildings, St. Benno. Submitted by Zachary Snyder.
Style/Period
1990s (1990 - 1999)
Material
glass
wood or wood products
metal or metal products