Paul Maximilian Heinrich Schneider von Esleben (28 August 1915 – 19 May 2005), known as Paul Schneider-Esleben, was a German

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Early life

Paul Schneider-Esleben was born in 1915 in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

to Elisabeth and Franz Schneider-Esleben, an architect. Before completing his secondary school ''

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

'', he worked at his father's architectural practice and went on to study architecture at the

University of Applied Sciences Stuttgart The Hochschule für Technik Stuttgart - University of Applied Sciences (german: Hochschule für Technik Stuttgart, HFT Stuttgart) is one of ten institutes for higher education in Stuttgart. It was founded in 1832 as a school for construction cra ...

in 1937. He graduated in 1947; from 1939 to 1945 he suspended his studies to participate in the Second World War.

Career

Schneider-Esleben opened an architectural firm in Düsseldorf in 1949. His early designs, including the —a multi-storey carpark constructed in 1951, and the building that made him famous—followed the principles of the

New Objectivity The New Objectivity (in german: Neue Sachlichkeit) was a movement in German art that arose during the 1920s as a reaction against expressionism. The term was coined by Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub, the director of the ''Kunsthalle'' in Mannheim, who ...

movement of the 1920s. In 1955 he won a competition to design the expansion of ,

Mannesmann Mannesmann was a German industrial conglomerate. It was originally established as a manufacturer of steel pipes in 1890 under the name "Deutsch-Österreichische Mannesmannröhren-Werke AG". (Loosely translated: "German-Austrian Mannesmann pi ...

's head office in Düsseldorf, which was the first German building to be constructed with a steel frame structure and curtain walls. He worked with artist members of

Zero 0 (zero) is a number representing an empty quantity. In place-value notation Positional notation (or place-value notation, or positional numeral system) usually denotes the extension to any base of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system (or ...

—

Günther Uecker Günther Uecker (; born 13 March 1930) is a German sculptor, op artist and installation artist. Biography Uecker was born in Wendorf, Mecklenburg.Heinz Mack Heinz Mack (born March 8, 1931) is a German artist. Together with Otto Piene he founded the ZERO movement in 1957. He exhibited works at documenta in 1964 and 1977 and he represented Germany at the 1970 Venice Biennale. He is best known for ...

, Josef Piene and

Joseph Beuys Joseph Heinrich Beuys ( , ; 12 May 1921 – 23 January 1986) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism, sociology, and anthroposophy. He was a founder of a provocative art mov ...

—in 1957–1961 to design the . From 1962 to 1970 he oversaw the redesign of the

Cologne Bonn Airport Cologne Bonn Airport (german: Flughafen Köln/Bonn 'Konrad Adenauer') is the international airport of Germany's fourth-largest city Cologne, and also serves Bonn, former capital of West Germany. With around 12.4 million passengers passing throu ...

into a layout that was adopted by numerous other international airports and led to his being hired as a consultant to architectural projects for many worldwide airports. Schneider-Esleben was a professor at the

Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg The ''Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg (HFBK Hamburg)'' is the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg. It dates to 1767, when it was called the ''Hamburger Gewerbeschule''; later it became known as ''Landeskunstschule Hamburg''. The main build ...

from 1961 until 1972 as well as a visiting professor of the

Vienna University of Technology TU Wien (TUW; german: Technische Universität Wien; still known in English as the Vienna University of Technology from 1975–2014) is one of the major universities in Vienna, Austria. The university finds high international and domestic recogn ...

in 1965. He was also a furniture designer, and often created specific furniture designs for his buildings, such as the "PSE 58" chair. Schneider-Esleben's work slowed in the 1970s as his modernist style became outdated in favour of

postmodernism Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or Rhetorical modes, mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by philosophical skepticism, skepticis ...

. He died in

Tegernsee Tegernsee is a town in the Miesbach district of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the shore of Lake Tegernsee, which is 747 m (2,451 ft) above sea level. A spa town, it is surrounded by an alpine landscape of Upper Bavaria, and has an e ...

in 2005, aged 89.

Recognition and impact

Schneider-Esleben is credited as an influential figure in the post-World War II

modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

architectural movement in Germany. An obituary published by

Deutschlandfunk Deutschlandfunk (DLF, ''Broadcast Germany'') is a public-broadcasting radio station in Germany, concentrating on news and current affairs. It is one of the four national radio channels produced by Deutschlandradio. History Broadcasting in the ...

described him as a pioneer of modern architecture. He received the

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

State Prize for Architecture in 1956, the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

in 1968 and 1987, and an honorary doctorate from

RWTH Aachen University RWTH Aachen University (), also known as North Rhine-Westphalia Technical University of Aachen, Rhine-Westphalia Technical University of Aachen, Technical University of Aachen, University of Aachen, or ''Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hoch ...

in 1993. In 2015, a retrospective of Schneider-Esleben's work was exhibited at the

Architekturmuseum der Technischen Universität München Architekturmuseum der Technischen Universität München is an architectural history research museum belonging to the Technical University of Munich in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It is by far the largest collection of architectural exhibits in Germ ...

, as part of the

Pinakothek der Moderne The Pinakothek der Moderne (, '' Pinakothek of the Modern'') is a modern art museum, situated in central Munich's ''Kunstareal''. Locals sometimes refer to it as the ''Dritte'' ("third") ''Pinakothek'' after the Old and New. It is one of the world' ...

in Munich. The exhibition marked the centenary of his birth.

Family

He was the father of

Florian Schneider Florian Schneider-Esleben (7 April 194721 April 2020) was a German musician. He is best known as one of the founding members and leaders of the electronic band Kraftwerk, performing his role with the band until his departure in 2008. Early li ...

, one of the founding members of electronic music pioneers

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...

.see entry in Deutsche Biographie: Schneider-Esleben
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References

External links

* (in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Schneider-Esleben, Paul 1915 births 2005 deaths 20th-century German architects Modernist architects from Germany People from Düsseldorf Academic staff of the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Architects from North Rhine-Westphalia German military personnel of World War II