| Description |
Political factions, states, nations and empires have used architecture as an expression of power for thousands of years - and there seems to be little chance of stopping. In the Interwar period of 1933-1939, a time of great nationalistic fervor, many nations throughout the world, including the United States and the German Reich, witnessed radical moves in the maintenance of their own political identities. Although this recharge in national identity was widespread, this argument's main interest lies in the direct comparison of the United States and Germany, given their now infamous, sparring identity in history. After almost a century since the ending of World War II, history continues to place these two nations as one of its foremost set of enemies - the paramount symbol of democracy fighting, and eventually defeating, fascist National-Socialism. In our minds, the Americans stood for everything the Nazis didn't, and vice versa. Yet, even with an undoubtedly powerful list of political, economic and social variances, these two countries' use of bureaucratic-derived architecture, a tool proven extremely functional in generating and maintaining a nationalistic identity, draws too many mentionable similarities to go unnoticed. Respective to the past, the Ehrentempel (1935) in Munich and the Jefferson Memorial (1935) in Washington DC both present a similar regard to the past with an emphasis in re-memorializing a particular person(s) to solidify a more glorious history. Looking to the German and American use of architecture to maintain present-day administrative functions, the Reichskanzlei or Reich Chancellory (1939) in Berlin and the Solomon Federal Building (1933) in Chattanooga, Tennessee reinvoke the glories and legends of political dominance from regal Rome. Lastly, this discussion will focus on the educational structures of Vogelsang Ordensburg (1939) in the Eifel Mountains in North-Rhine Westphalia and the Cathedral of Learning (1937) in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania to highlight each's similar regard for the manifestation of education, while separating fashion from the previous mentioned buildings. |
